By Ian TassoSo much of sports is psychological. Every player, coach and fan emotionally lives and dies with the games that are played. Whether you’re on the field playing or on your couch watching, emotional attachment comes with every occurring play: each fan wanting to witness history, and each player wanting to make it. But for every team that makes history, another one is denied it, and for every player that reaches his goals, there’s another that falls short.
Someone once told me that the real story of a game can be felt in the locker room of the losing team; not the winning one. Very rarely does the public get to see how it feels to lose so much so quickly. Instead, they constantly hear about the glory of victory - never the agony of defeat.
But for every public that doesn’t fully understand the truth about defeat, there’s one player who gets hit in the face with it. In outfielder Rick Ankiel’s case, he’s faced the ugly mug of failure more times than most could ever dream of. His most recent encounter was a full speed, headfirst collision with the brick outfield wall in Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The collision landed him on the 15-day DL, and sparked many around baseball to deem him ‘done,’ or at least a long shot to return to his old form.
It appears many around baseball haven’t done their research – or don’t fully understand the beast that is Rick Ankiel.
Back in 1997, USA Today named Ankiel the high school player of the year after he posted an unworldly 11-0 record and .47 ERA on the mound. After being drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in ’97, it took this phenom only a year and a half to catapult himself from the lower levels of the minor leagues directly to the majors. Ankiel struck out an amazing 194 batters in 137.2 innings along the way, and received Cardinal’s Minor League Player of the Year Honors in both seasons.In 2000, his first full season as a major leaguer, Ankiel grabbed 11 wins and posted a very respectable 3.50 ERA, propelling his St. Louis Cardinals into the National League playoffs.
However, things quickly turned ugly for the Cardinals, and even more so for Ankiel.
After helping his Cardinals win the NL Central Division, Ankiel saw his first action of the 2000 postseason when he was handed the ball with a 6-0 Game One lead against the Atlanta Braves.
Ankiel then proceeded to seemingly do everything he could to blow that lead, allowing four runs on only two hits, walking four batters, and throwing five wild pitches. After the game, Ankiel joked about the inning after being notified about becoming the first pitcher to throw five wild pitches since 1980 – but the joke soon turned serious.
In Game Two of the NLCS, Ankiel’s erratic problems continued, getting removed in the first inning after throwing five more pitches past the catcher. Ankiel made one final appearance in Game Five, walking two more batters and throwing two more wild pitches. The Cardinals went on to lose the NLCS against the Mets, four games to one.
The next year, Ankiel’s mysterious decline continued, as he walked 25 batters in his first 24 innings, resulting in an official demotion to the minor leagues. Unfortunately, in AAA his problems grew, as Ankiel walked 17 batters in 4.1 innings; ballooning his ERA to 20.77. With all seeming lost, Ankiel was then dropped as low as the Rookie League to play for the Johnson City Cardinals.
Succumbing to his emotions, Ankiel finally called it quits and threw in the towel – sort of. Making quite possibly one of the hardest choices of his life, Ankiel decided to give up on his pitching career forever, and step into the batters box for a change. Ankiel was going to attempt a comeback as an outfielder.
In 2005, his first season playing in the field, Ankiel posted amazing statistics in batting as well as fielding, quickly advancing through the ranks of baseball. After suffering a season ending injury in 2006, Ankiel was asked to try out for the Cardinal’s in 2007. Ankiel showed up despite his many doubters, including St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa who said “it would be a bad move for him and us” of Ankiel’s return to the Cardinals. Unfortunately, Ankiel was again denied a spot on the team. Instead, he was named the starting outfielder for AAA Memphis, the Cardinal’s minor league affiliate.
Ankiel responded to this demotion by being named the starting outfielder for the 2007 Triple-A All-Star game after hitting 32 home runs and 89 RBI with a .267 average through August. Because of this, Ankiel was finally promoted to play for the Cardinals on August 9, 2007. In his first game back in the majors, Ankiel not only drew resounding standing ovations for his hard-work, effort, and perseverance, but also clocked a 3-run homerun that helped St. Louis defeat the San Diego Padres 5-0
This outstanding display caused manager Tony LaRussa to soften his stance a bit, saying that his only “happier and prouder moment in a Cardinal’s uniform was when [he] won the 2006 World Series.” Two days after his first game in the majors, Ankiel made a game saving catch in the outfield in the 8th inning as well as hitting two more home runs, generating a thunderous cheer from the crowd, as well as a collective smile from the entire country.
And Ankiel deserved it. After being so high and then falling so low, he was asked to perform what most would deem impossible. So few people ever get to reach the major leagues once in their life – and he was supposed to do it twice?
Yes, he was. And yes, he did. Seven years later he finally did. Now he gets to hear every day on the loudspeaker at Busch Stadium in front of 65,000 – “Now, starting in center field for your St. Louis Cardinals – Rick Ankiel…” as it’s drowned out by cheers. As he waves to his fans only one thing crosses his mind: “what if...” But then he grabs his hat and his glove, and he runs out to the field thinking not what if, but “what is,” all because he made it that way - and nobody else.
To think that a mere outfield collision could keep Ankiel out of the game would be ignorant. And to think that it would prevent him from playing the game the way great players do, well that would be downright stupid.
After facing the ultimate pitching collapse, a season ending injury, demotion after demotion, and denial after denial, only one thing is certain when it comes to the unpredictable Ankiel.
It’ll take more than an outfield wall to stop this guy from playing.
Did this come from that paper you wrote last year? haha. Good work as always dude.
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