The Utility Man

This has nothing to do with my collection of memorabilia, but if you like the 1980s Cardinals, you'll probably like this. If you like the Sklar Brothers, you'll probably like this. And if, like me, you like both the 1980s Cardinals and the Sklar Brothers, then you'll definitely like this.

Rick Ankiel

This is another one of my very favorite pieces of memorabilia...for many reasons. First of all, the picture is of Rick Ankiel. I don't know that there has ever been a baseball player that I've rooted harder for than I've rooted for Ankiel.


Secondly, it's one of my favorite pieces because it's actually a picture that I took. I had seats one night right down by the field. I took my camera and my zoom lens and...voila! There you have it. I had it blown up to an 8x10 and waited for the opportunity to have Ankiel sign it, an opportunity that came a year or so later when I was working at Enterprise and Ankiel rented a car.

If you're reading this, you're probably a baseball fan. And if you're a baseball fan, you probably know Ankiel's story. At one time the top pitching prospect in baseball, Ankiel burst onto the scene at the end of the 1999 season. I was seated down low, behind home plate at a game against the Padres late that season when Ankiel pitched two innings of relief, striking out six. I've NEVER seen a pitcher have more electric stuff than he had that night. The only batter to reach base against him was Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, but even that comes with an asterisk. A pitch before Gwynn singled, Ankiel actually froze him on a 2-2 curve ball that I will go to my grave saying was a strike, but 19-year old rookies don't get called third strikes against the likes of a Tony Gwynn. In my mind though, that was the evening Ankiel actually struck out seven in two innings!

Ankiel's 2000 season was highly successful. Then, inexplicably, he completely lost the ability to control where he was throwing the ball. I was at game 1 of the 2000 NLDS when it all began with six walks and five wild pitches in less than three innings. It is to this day one of the most mystifying things I've ever seen.

The next season, Ankiel's wildness continued. He would end up falling to the lowest levels of the minor leagues, only to eventually work his way back to the majors almost four years later at the end of the 2004 season. Ankiel pitched well, walking only one batter in 10 innings pitched, and hopes were high for him coming into the 2005 season.  

During spring training of 2005 though, Ankiel abruptly announced to the team that he was going to retire. The mental strain of pitching in the big leagues was more than he wanted to bear. The Cardinals management asked Ankiel to consider trying to be an outfielder instead. He agreed to the plan and returned once more to the lowest levels of the minor leagues.  

After spending nearly three more years in the minor leagues, Ankiel made it to the majors for the third time. On August 9, 2007 he made his big league debut as an outfielder. I am not ashamed to say I shed a tear or two when, in the seventh inning, he hit a three run homer off Doug Brocail.

Now, four seasons later, Ankiel is the starting center fielder for the Washington Nationals, who happen to be in St. Louis playing the Cardinals. This morning Rick Ankiel took out this ad in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It prompted me to think about what a classy guy he is and what a wonderful example he is of perseverance. And it prompted me to think of the autographed photo that appears at the top of this entry. Good luck, Rick, with the rest of your career, and thank you too!

UPDATE (May, 2017): Make sure to check out Rick's book, The Phenomenon, authored with Tim Brown.

Seat Cushion Night

If you are unaware of what the above pictures are, it's a pretty safe bet you weren't a Cardinal fan in the 1980s.  From 1985-1988, the Cardinals and the Mets each won the NL East twice. It was an incredibly heated rivalry as the two teams battled for divisional supremacy.

On April 18, 1987, the two teams did battle in St. Louis. The Cardinals fell behind 5-0, only to score five in the fourth inning, capped off by a bases loaded walk to Tom Herr. Fans rejoiced at the Cardinal comeback by littering the field frisbee-style with the seat cushions given out as promotional souvenirs. There were so many thrown on the field that there was actually an announcement made that the Cardinals would have to forfeit the game if it continued.

After the field was cleaned up, the Cardinals took the lead in the sixth on an RBI double by Herr, only to see the Mets score two in the top of the ninth to take an 7-6 lead. The Cardinals tied it in the bottom of the ninth in typical Whiteyball fashion as Ozzie Smith walked, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Herr, stole third and scored on the wild throw by the catcher.

In the tenth, the Mets took the lead once more, only to see the Cardinals tie the game on a Tom Pagnozzi single, load the bases, and, well, that's when this happened.

A little trivia here...Question: How many home runs did Herr hit in his career? Answer: 28 (which also was Herr's uniform number). I'm not sure how many of those I saw in person, but I know I saw at least one of them. And unlike just about everyone else who was there, I still have the seat cushion to prove it!

The Baseball Card Show

Yesterday my son and I did something I hadn't done for at least a few years...we went to a baseball card show.  While he was most concerned with insert cards containing either autographs or a scrap of player's jersey, what I found most fun was seeing (and purchasing) some of the cards that I collected when I was his age and younger.

We both came away from the show a little poorer but with smiles on out faces. He got a couple autographed cards (Jack Morris and Mizzou alum Max Scherzer) and a Tony Gwynn jersey card.  I was proud of him for his good taste in players to collect as well as the good bargains he got on all three.

As for me, I found a bunch of fun cards that brought back memories from my youth.  My favorite vendor was one who was selling cards from the 70s that were in less than mint condition.  He had an album full of cards and was selling them four for a dollar.  Below is a sampling of some of what I was able to get at a quarter a pop.

Shoeless Joe Novel Signed By Bill Kinsella

Today I want to look at a slightly different item than I'll regularly focus on in this space.  My all-time favorite movie is Field of Dreams.  I'm not saying it's the best movie ever made (that would be Casablanca), but it's my personal favorite.  I don't have time to go into all the reasons why this is true, but in the end it is because of what the movie is about: fathers and sons, dreams and opportunities, and (of course) baseball.

It is based on the novel Shoeless Joe, written by Bill Kinsella.  A number of years ago, a friend of mine named Jon Blackwell went to a book signing by Kinsella.  To my surprise and excitement, he got a copy of the book for me and had it autographed.  To this day it is one of my favorite autographs, not just for what the item is, but for the message included in the author's signing of it.