Montgomery Bullock/IF-84.19

Rumor / Community Lore
This article contains lore created collaboratively by the Blaseball community. It is just one of many Rumors that we've found in the Interdimensional Rumor Mill. You can find more Rumors about Montgomery Bullock at their Rumor Registry.

History

Montgomery Bullock (Moco for short), or as they were originally known, Collected Debris From the River Floor Located in 39°02'39.7"N 77°16'28.7"W (39° for short), was one of a series of specialised constructs created by a powerful Maryland-based wizard, Sylvester Bullock I, infused with the throwing ability possessed by each and every member of their namesake, Montgomery County. They consist of a collection of magically-infused seaweed and river debris from the Potomac River, given life and a craving for blaseball.

Moco is around seven feet tall, throws left, and utilizes the submarine pitch windup style, making them an extremely unorthodox and intimidating opponent to hit. They are a huge fan of the Chicago Firefighters, and often watch their games when they have time off.

Background

The state of Maryland, the site of the cursed ritual undertaken by Sylvester Bullock I, has been a gathering place for magical energy for centuries – theorized by leading experts to be because of the horrifying proximity to Washington DC, and its own centers of power. Montgomery County, in particular, has said to “harbor an inherent, shuddering spiteful aura” built up from its layered, endless suburbs and the secrets they contain, trapped between the ancient chaos of Baltimore and the malevolent forces of control emanating from the nation’s capital.

Bullock I was obsessed with tapping the evil energy of the county in which he lived, and he constructed his series of constructs created with soil and material from the Montgomery County area in order to tame the dark forces that swirled throughout the cursed county, using an arcane ritual. The evil energy, siphoned out from every living creature in the area, would be trapped inside the artificial body – and Bullock would have full control over his newly-created Frankenstein. This would give him “enough power to challenge even the Olde One itself”, turning him into a god.

As collected records from his scorched library show, Bullock I pushed past countless failures to perfect his ritual. Drawing a sigil using the borders of the county, Bullock I attempted multiple times to contain the massive energy in one place. Investigators have recovered the blown-apart scraps of countless constructs, scattered around his lair. His success, though it did come, was tinged with an irony he would not expect.

The Incident

On the eve of Bullock I’s final ritual attempt, he had been watching a particularly-exciting Crabs-Tigers game on his upstairs TV set, before venturing downstairs at the correct time to begin his ritual – forgetting to turn it off. His construct this time was 39°, a collection of seaweed and river debris from the Potomac, stuffed into some random clothes he had lying around… one of which was a ragged Claws t-shirt.

Experts disagree on the exact details of where the ritual went wrong, but most agree that the blaseball TV-wave interference from the game acted as an interfering catalyst, throwing everything off – though otherwise, Bullock I had set everything up perfectly. Instead of the collected evil magical force of Montgomery County, a portion of the blaseball skill inherently possessed by every single person (in particular, the ability to THROW a blaseball) flowed into the construct, bringing it successfully to life.

The effects of this siphoning were felt right away. Blaseball Dads everywhere quickly found that their harmless games of catch could no longer proceed with both parties unable to throw the ball even several inches. Organized crime took a dive, as betting in bloxing and blasketball becomes difficult when players can no longer purposely throw matches. Throw rugs everywhere suddenly vanished from sight, causing a small import boom in furniture stores.

Bullock I’s robes were found at the scene of the botched ritual, alongside a massive scorched mark. Some believe the evil energy, deprived of a vessel, forced its way inside his body instead, destroying it from the inside out. Others believe he simply moved to P.G. County (which would make him utterly untraceable).

Transition to Blaseball

39° was found at the site, watching the TV ballgame intensely. State troopers, fearfully training their rifles on the monster, recall the construct drawing a picture of a blaseball with some of the burnt charcoal on the floor and gesturing to it energetically. A blaseball was quickly provided to the monster as a measure to end the one-sided standoff.

According to eyewitness accounts, 39° took the ball with an extended tendril, tossed it up in the air curiously… then pitched it with such terrifying speed that all present felt a shockwave rip through their body. They were then taken into custody, and scheduled for destruction.

Realizing that the construct had excellent potential, hooded- and clawed- representatives from the Baltimore Crabs negotiated the construct’s release, in exchange for a contract with the storied blaseball team. 39°, now renamed Montgomery (after the county which unknowingly donated its skill towards them) and Bullock (after their disappeared father/creator), was only too happy to join their regular lineup. They have now been a regular, beloved fixture of the team for many seasons, and are a mascot of Montgomery County.

Intricate Rituals

Besides just their pitching skills, Bullock has a constant low level connection to the people of Montgomery County, often absorbing random passing thoughts and skills as they go through their day to day life. One of the skills they have become enamored with is the creation of small dolls and toys, and they possess a collection of dolls based off of teammates, both former and current. It is thought that this might be a way to help distinguish what parts of their identity belong to them, as opposed to what they have inherent from the people or Montgomery or from Bullock I.

Return to the Crabs

After being moved to the Hawaii Fridays in Ascension, Bullock spent seven seasons between the Fridays and the Georgias before finally landing back where they started in Baltimore. But not exactly where they started - since Bullock was now batting for some reason. This didn’t stop Bullock from sliding back into their old rhythm, helping their recovering captain Kennedy Loser with his haunting problem (after all, who knows more about the act of being inhabited than Montgomery Bullock). Luckily Bullock’s position was corrected quickly, and even came with an infusion for their trouble making a triumphant return to the Crabs pitching rotation in season 20, exactly 10 seasons after he had left it in the first place.

Back on the mound Bullock was a familiar presence for the Baltimore Crabs up until being faxed out by an unfortunate activation of Equal Sun in Season 23. Bullock took the time to relax in the Crab’s shadows, giving tips to fellow pitchers, and keeping up with the goings on of the league. When the Crabs became unstable in season 24 Bullock was taken to the Canada Moist Talkers by the Gleek’s thieves guild - something that was difficult to swallow as they watched their team play though their instability, and hoped alongside the rest of the league that they made it out unscathed.