Rick Ankiel

From Wiki Gonzalez

Rick Ankiel (born 1979) is a former phenom pitching prospect for the Cardinals, and a data point in the debate on the validity of TINSTAAPP.

Ankiel, a left-handed pitcher, was famous for his fastball, difficult home life (his father was a petty criminal and had served time in prison), and early success with the big club (11-7, 3.50 as a fulltime starter in 2000 at age 20). His potential combined with his performance to date drew some comparisons with Dwight Gooden and Fernando Valenzuela.

However, unexpected, uncontrollable wildness (some called it Steve Blass Disease) culminated in a meltdown in the 2000 playoffs versus the Mets, followed by arm and elbow problems that wrecked his career.

Unable to make it back as a pitcher, he switched to hitting in 2005, and is currently an outfielder in the lower levels of the Cards farm system.

On BTF, there was not much talk about the Cardinals compared to other MLB teams, but what there was often centered on Ankiel and his obvious talent, and who if anyone was responsible for wrecking it. There were also updates on the various stages of his comeback.

[edit] References

• Ankiel on baseball-reference.com