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.