The Facts Of The Case Of R. Ankiel

Remember Rick Ankiel? Of course you don't. I'd forgotten about him myself, until his name came up in an interesting context the other day. So, seeing as it's a slow news day (unless you care about Paris Hilton or Clay Aiken, which I don't) and the All-Star Break, I thought we'd look back on the goofy career of Rick Ankiel and the turn of events that makes me bring him up today.

When the St. Louis Cardinals drafted Ankiel straight out of high school in 1998, he was basically the best pitcher high school had to offer. And his skills translated directly to the minor league level. In his two years in the minors, Ankiel went 25 and 10, with a 2.50 ERA, a 1.06 walks and hits per inning, and a remarkable 12 strikeouts per nine innings. He won every award a minor league player can win. Needless to say, the Cardinals were quick to call him up to the Majors.

In his first full year with the Cardinals, Ankiel did better than most would expect from a 21 year-old kid. In 30 starts, he went 11 and 7 with a 3.50 ERA (9th best in the league), 7.05 H/9 (2nd best), and 9.98 K/9 (again, good for 2nd). Ankiel was poised to be The Next Big Thing.

And then he forgot how to throw a baseball.

Not that he had an injury and never got his mechanics back; he just completely lost any semblance of the control he once had. In six starts, in 24 innings, he gave up 25 hits (seven of which were homeruns), 25 walks, allowed 19 runs, yet still managed to strike out 27. The Cardinals, hoping to protect their Golden Boy, sent Ankiel down to AAA, where he actually got worse. In three starts, in a whopping 4.1 innings, he gave up three hits, 17 walks, 12 wild pitches, and allowed 10 runs. He was promptly sent down to the Rookie Leagues, the lowest level of organized ball there is.

That's where Rick Ankiel dropped off the map. He went from the guy that everyone was scrambling to pick up in their fantasy leagues to a guy who couldn't throw a strike if you held a gun to his head. He ceased being anything anyone would care about. I know I'd forgotten all about him.

Until the other day. I was reading an article on ESPN.com about how Rick Ankiel has more homeruns than Barry Bonds. Seeing as this was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard, I looked it up. And I'll be goddamned if he doesn't.

Turns out, Ankiel is now an outfielder. He's leading the Pacific Coast League (a AAA league) in homeruns with 26 (Bonds has 17) and is seventh in RBIs with 66. For a major league comparison, his numbers are similar to Ken Griffey, Jr's, who was the leading vote-getter for the National League in the All-Star Game. The guy may have turned out to be a terrible pitcher, but he's also turned out to be one hell of a hitter.

So, maybe we'll see the once-great pitcher in the Majors yet. Slightly different context, but back in The Bigs, nonetheless.