Rick Ankiel

[© tweed]

I just put a picture of Rick Ankiel in my signature.

Does anyone besides me know his story?

[JohnFKennedy]

Just asked in another thread but are you a Cardinals fan? I saw them beat the San Francisco Giants by one run to nothing a few years ago.

[© tweed]

Just asked in another thread but are you a Cardinals fan? I saw them beat the San Francisco Giants by one run to nothing a few years ago.

No I'm a Mets fan, put that doesn't stop me from pulling all-out for Rick!

[7,052,770]

no, I don't know his story.  please tell it

[© tweed]

no, I don't know his story.  please tell it

Sure thing, it is long-winded however.  In a few minutes.

[The Dowager Mod]

He was the next phenom until he couldn't throw a strike to save his life anymore.
Short version.

[Akno21]

He broke into the big leagues in 2000. Looked good, then couldn't throw a strike and was sent down in 2001.

[MHS2002]

I remember the playoff game vs. the Braves. He had like 5 wild pitches or something. He coming back or something?

[Akno21]

I remember the playoff game vs. the Braves. He had like 5 wild pitches or something. He coming back or something?

The Cards still won that game. I think he's trying to come back, he's working his way through the minors.

[MHS2002]

I remember the playoff game vs. the Braves. He had like 5 wild pitches or something. He coming back or something?

The Cards still won that game. I think he's trying to come back, he's working his way through the minors.

Yeah, as a Braves fan I remember that. Personally I'd like to see him do well again.

[© tweed]

Okay, here it goes:

Rick Ankiel, at 18 years of age, was drafted and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in the second round of the amateur draft.  He got the biggest signing bonus of anyone in the 1997 draft.  Not wanting to hurt their prized prospect, the Cardinals decided not to assign him to the minor leagues until the start of the 1998 season.

At the start of the 1998 season, Ankiel was assigned to the Cardinals low-A affiliate in Peoria.  In his seven starts with the club, he went 3-0 with a 2.06 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 35 innings, and didn't allow a home run.  He quickly was promoted to the high-A affiliate of St Louis, in Prince William.

Ankiel, who turned 19 in his stay in Pr. William, was just as dominating.  He struck out 181 batters in 126 innings in A+, and went 9-6 with a 2.79 ERA in 21 starts.  He was named the best prospect in both the Carolina and Midwest leagues after the season, and at age 19, was names the third best american baseball prospect by baseball statistician Jim Callis.

1999 in the minors was no different for Rick Ankiel.  He breezed through two minor league levels before surfacing in the bigs in August.  His combined stats from 1999: 13-4, 2.53 ERA, and 233 strikeouts in 170.2 innings.  That November, Jim Callis rated him baseball's top prospect.

Ankiel was handed the third slot in the Cardinals rotation in the spring of 2000 and was impressive.  He ended up leading the cardinals in ERA (3.50), strikeouts (194 in 175 innings), and finished second in the NL rookie of the year race to Brave shortstop Rafael Furcal.

Going into the playoffs, Ankiel came down with a serious case of Steve Glass disease; he couldn't throw a strike.  In the first of two playoff starts for Ankiel, he lasted only 2.2 innings, walking six and throwing five wild pitches.  In a serious stroke of Cardinal luck, the Cards ended up winning the ball game.  They decided to give him another chance in game two of the championship series against the Mets.

In short, watching Ankiel try to pitch in game 2 brought tears to my eyes, as a diehard Met fan.  Lasting only 2/3 of an inning, he walked 3 and threw two top the backstop en route to a cardinal loss.  Here is the play-by-play of Ankiel's first inning:

METS 1ST: Perez was called out on strikes; Alfonzo walked;
Ankiel threw a wild pitch [Alfonzo to second]; Piazza walked
[Alfonzo to third (on wild pitch by Ankiel)]; Zeile hit a
sacrifice fly to center [Alfonzo scored]; Ventura walked [Piazza
to second]; Agbayani doubled [Piazza scored, Ventura to third];
REAMES REPLACED ANKIEL (PITCHING)

The Cardinals gave him one more shot in relief, On October 16th.  With the game out of reach, Tony LaRussa brough him in.  Ankiel's last warmup toss went to the backstop, and the crowd chanted 'Wild Pitch' to the mentally battered Ankiel.  I went around my section at Shea, telling everyone to shut up.

Anyway, the 2/3 of an inning was a disaster, as could have been predicted.  After retiring consecutive batters (Hampton on a sacrifice and Timo Perez on strikes), Ankiel walked two batters.  He also threw two consecutive wild pitches to Edgardo Alfonzo.

That was the end of Rick Ankiel's, and the Cardinal's, 2000 season, as they fell to the Mets in 5 games.

End of Part One

[© tweed]

Part Two

Since they had bet the future on him, The Cards decided to give Ankiel another shot in 2001.  It wasn't pretty.  In six starts in 2001, Ankiel walked 25 in 24 innings, gave up seven home runs, had an ERA of 7.13, and opposing batters went 25-91 against him.  After those torturous starts, the Cards told Ankiel to go home for a few months to Fort Pierce, which he did.  After a few months back home, Ankiel was optioned to the rookie-level Appalacian League, where he enjoyed success, striking out over 16 per nine innings.

In 2002 Ankiel was given every oppurtunity to make the team, but he looked like the guy who threw a warmup to the backstop 18 months earlier.  That April, when pitching in the minors, it was learned that Ankiel needed Tommy John surgery.  He was out until at least the middle of 2003.

When he came back in 2003, the club had no idea as to what to do with Ankiel.  He was a great hitter, so many fooled with the idea of moving him to left field, but 2 years away from the batting cage had eroded Ankiel's offensive skills.  Ankiel never played in the minors in 2003 and had minor surgery after the season.

In 2004 Ankiel was not physically ready in time for spring training.  However, he has worked hard since then and resurfaced in the minor leagues just a month ago.

This year, Ankiel strikingly resembles the guy who was the next big thing at only 18 years of age.  For the Palm Beach Cardinals of the A+ Florida state league, he struck out 11 in 8.2 innings and had a 2.08 ERA.  But his most impressive statistic: 0.  The number of batters he walked.

Ankiel is now with the Tennessee Smokies, in AA.  In two starts in Tennessee, he has gone 1-0, 9 innings pitched, 7 strikeouts, only 2 walks, and a 0.00 ERA.

The Cardinals plan to recall Ankiel when rosters expand on September first.  At that time, the Rick Ankiel story will resume.

[ilikeverin]

something nice

[AuH2O]

I mean, it would be impressive if he could come back... but the guy is kind of a head case, or at least he was.

I kind of wonder if there was some undiagnosed injury affecting him. Steve Blass disease is just another way of saying "can't throw strikes anymore," but it can happen in more than one way.

It was funny when he was in the Appy, because I remember seeing the box score of one game where he pitched well and hit 2 home runs. I'm a big minor league fan (Twins are my team) so I followed his whole ordeal to some extent.

[ATFFL]

Mets fans should call it "Doug Sisk disease" after one of the few men to pitch in the majors I think I would be better than.  He struck out a batter at a game I was at once.  The only time I heard Shea louder was game 6 in 1986.

No one knew what happened to him (ANkiel.)  A lot of people suspect he had the injuries that sidelined him for a long time and hid them.

I hope he comes back strong.  And goes to the Mets.

[© tweed]

Rick Ankiel has been recalled from AA today.  With the injury to Steve Kline, he has a decent shot at making the postseason roster.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1872213

Go Rick!

[© tweed]

Ankiel pitched a scoreless inning on September 7th against San Diego.  He may get a spot start or two so the Cardinals can reshuffle their rotation for the postseason.

[© tweed]

Rick Ankiel failed in his attempt to return from Steve Blass disease, as he was still inexplicably wild.  He has been converted to right field.

He will well as the everyday rightfielder for low-class A swing of the Quad Cities, and now is playing in AA with with the Spingfield Cardinals.  His batting average is low, but he is a big home-run threat: he has 10 dingers in just 136 AA at-bats.

There's an outside shot he will be recalled to the big-league Cardinals when the minor-league season ends.

WE LOVE YOU RICK!  (or at least I do.  why?  I don't know)