News / Sports
Rick Ankiel Returns to St. Louis Cardinals in Big Way
Rick Ankiel was a promising young pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2000 and 2001 until a minor thing like the strike zone became a problem. The 94-97 MPH fastball coming out of his left hand left hitters clueless especially when he mixed in a devastating curve coupled with a sinker that dropped off the table.
In 2000 Ankiel finished second to another left-handed fireballer, Randy Johnson, in the Rookie of the Year balloting. While Ankiel was highly praised for his 11-7 record along with his average of nearly 10 strikeouts per nine innings his control became an issue in the National League Division Series with the Atlanta Braves. After throwing five wild pitches and walking four in the third inning Ankiel was yanked and the downward spiral was in full effect.
By 2002 Ankiel was on the disabled list and missed the entire season and after making ten starts in 2003 Ankiel once again went on the DL and didn’t return. 2004 saw Ankiel return to the Cardinals as a relief pitcher but by 2005 Ankiel had decided he had enough with pitching and declared that he would move to the outfield. After hitting over .500 in both Single A and Double A the Cardinals invited Ankiel to spring training as an outfielder in 2006 but a knee injury ended his season.
Ankiel returned in 2007 and displayed incredible power in Triple A, leading the Pacific Coast League with 32 homeruns at the time of his call-up on Thursday.
The converted outfielder started against the San Diego Padres on Thursday night and looked a bit out of place against Chris Young. In his first at bat he popped out to short and followed that with a pair of strikeouts in the third and fifth but in the seventh inning with the Cardinals holding a 2-0 lead Ankiel sent a Doug Brocail delivery deep into the seats of rightfield for a three run blast giving St.Louis a 5-0 advantage, a score that would hold up for a Cards victory.
