Rick Ankiel was once the best pitching prospect in baseball. He had a cannon for an arm, and the type of stuff that made teams drool. However after a solid rookie season with the St. Louis Cardinals, he woke up one morning during the NLDS and suddenly could no longer throw strikes. He couldn’t even throw to the catcher, uncorking numerous wild pitches that day.
As his career went, the control never returned. Ankiel was broken, mentally, and would never again be an effective Major League pitcher. However he went to the minors, learned to hit and play the outfield and had a couple of good seasons as a position player and scratched out a living in the Majors after all.
Ankiel even hit 25 homers in 413 at-bats for the Cardinals in 2008.
Its a great feel good story, but all feel good stories must end. The last couple of years haven’t gone well for Ankiel, sure he still showed power, but his average was bad, and he struck out far too often. He reached the end of the line as a ball player. And so on Wednesday Rick Ankiel announced that he was retiring from baseball.
Ankiel still wants to be involved in the game though and is looking to join a major league front office in some capacity. Given his determination in remaking himself as a position player, we wouldn’t bet against Ankiel in this endeavor either.
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