The strange saga of Rick Ankiel

In 1999, Rick Ankiel was the hottest pitching prospect the St. Louis Cardinals had had in a long time. He pitched in the majors part of that season and all of the 2000 season, with a devastating curve ball and outstanding stats for a rookie. He was picked to start the first game of the National League division series and did OK for two innings. Then, inexplicably, he blew up in the third inning, throwing five wild pitches. He came back in game two of the league championship series, but was still hopelessly wild. After surgery, he appeared to get his control back, but announced that he was not going to pitch again.

Ankiel was invited to the Cards' 2007 spring training camp, and eventually worked his way to the majors as an outfielder. He played in the outfield through the 2013 season. In eleven major league seasons, he had a .240 average, 76 home runs and 251 RBIs. His best hitting season was 2008 when he had 25 home runs, 71 RBIs and a .264 average.

There were the obvious comparisons to Babe Ruth when Ankiel switched from pitching to hitting. However, the Babe was considerably better at both positions, having put up what possibly would have become  Hall of Fame numbers as a pitcher (2.28 career ERA), and you know what he did as a hitter. That is not to take away  from Ankiel's accomplishments, which were remarkable in themselves.