Don’t Forget Ankiel’s Story

Back in 1999 I can recall watching a cheesy infomercial with my brother during a rain delay in which the onscreen personality pitched what he had deemed collectors baseball cards. What piqued our interest was not the actual set, or even the Keanu Reeves-esque acting, but rather that amidst showing off cards of Barry Bonds, Chipper Jones and Pedro Martinez, the guy enthusiastically promoted a Rick Ankiel card. Not really knowing anything about prospects at the time, my brother and I turned to each other, completely confused, wondering who this supposed superstar was that we had never heard of before.

Ankiel burst onto the scene in 1999 as a power lefty with the Cardinals. In nine games he posted a 10.6 K/9, fanning 39 hitters in 33 innings of work with a 3.27 ERA. Ankiel continued to show why his baseball card might be worth major money one day by producing a 3.50 ERA in 175 innings of work the very next season. He fanned 10 hitters per nine innings but lost a bit of control, with a BB/9 of 4.6.

And then the playoffs happened… in one of the most disturbing series of events I can recall watching on a baseball field, Ankiel imploded in the third inning of NLDS Game 1 against the Braves, not for mechanical reasons but rather due to a form of the ipps. He walked four hitters and threw five wild pitches before being removed. Though he laughed the situation off, more of the same occurred in the NLCS against the Mets as Ankiel continued to walk hitters and throw wild pitches.

In 2001 he made just six starts, walking 25 hitters in 24 innings before being demoted to AAA. Things only worsened in the minors and Ankiel soon found himself in the rookie league, quite the unlikely playground for the Rookie of the Year runner up just the season before. He thrived there both pitching and hitting, a bit of foreshadowing.

Elbow injuries and Tommy John surgery kept the former stud prospect out of action for the 2002 and 2003 seasons but he did manage to return to the big league club in 2004. Though he logged just 10 innings in a small sample of five appearances, his issuing of a lone free pass definitely induced sighs of relief from the Cardinals faithful. The success would be shortlived, however, as Ankiel’s wildness resurfaced before the 2005 season began. It was at that point when Ankiel decided to try his luck as an outfielder.

A knee injury kept him out of action for the 2006 season but Ankiel made the major league squad in 2007, playing 47 in games primarily in center- and rightfield. A +3.1 UZR rating coupled with a .364 wOBA helped Ankiel put together +1.4 wins in very limited time, a very impressive number. Last season he played 120 games, the bulk of which were spent in centerfield. Despite a UZR bordering on 10 runs below average, a .360 wOBA helped prove Ankiel definitely could hit at the major league level.

All told, Ankiel produced a league average, +2 win season in 120 games of action last season, incredibly remarkable given his past and virtually seamless transition into everyday outfielder.

Cliff Lee’s tremendous and out of nowhere season garnered much of the spotlight last season as did Josh Hamilton’s comeback from a drug addiction. In fact, Ankiel’s teammate Ryan Ludwick even earned more air time from most of the media. Very rarely have we seen a pitcher convert into an everyday position player and then it gets largely ignored upon actually coming to fruition? Ankiel might not be an all star or future hall of famer but his career has certainly been remarkable and deserves to be chronicled just as much as any other great story in baseball.