Yardwork: One Helluva Return
Uncategorized August 10th. 2007, 8:15am
St. Louis 5, San Diego 0: Here’s probably the second best individual feel-good story of the season, after Cincy’s Josh Hamilton: prized pitching talent Rick Ankiel, banished in 2001 after a mysterious bout with control issues, returned to the majors Thursday … as an outfielder. Naturally, he homered. One blogger is very happy this morning.
Chicago 10, Colorado 2: About time, guys. Jacque Jones went 4-for-5 as the offense broke out of the Soriano-induced slump and Teddy Lilly won his 13th game of the season.
Atlanta 7, New York 6: It’s nearly midnight, John Maine. His Cinderella season may have hit the skids – two straight stinkers – and the Braves rode dingers from Tex and Larry to the victory. After taking two of three at Shea, the Braves are 3.5 back. Oh, and Pedro got rocked in a minor league start.
Detroit 1, Tampa Bay 8: Scott Kazmir kept the Tigers off the scoreboard for six innings and amazingly, the Devil Rays took the season series from the defending AL champs. If you’re like us and you’ve got Jeremy Bonderman in fantasy, just quit using him. Four straight losses. May want to quit on Tigers starters in general – one win in their last 22 games. Fans are concerned.
Los Angeles 5, Cincinnati 4, 11 innings: Rafael Furcal of all people jacked the game-winning homer as the Dodgers averted a sweep and stopped a six-game skid.
15 Responses to “Yardwork: One Helluva Return”
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August 10th, 2007 at 9:03 AM
Executives at Disney are extremely upset they didn’t dream up the Ankiel story before he actually played it out.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:04 AM
After all the Bonds mess the past few months, it was refreshing to see Ankiel back and hitting a HR in St. Louis. That is what makes a good story.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:05 AM
Not to split hairs, but I would probably rate Ankiel’s comeback ahead of Hamilton’s. Hamilton overcame a self-inflicted obstacle, but Ankiel has worked around a condition that no one really understand (except a few guys like Mark Wohlers). The fact that he’s returned to the Major League level as a position player is mind-blowing.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:28 AM
Shouldn’t we rank both behind the Lester kid in Boston?
August 10th, 2007 at 9:39 AM
Right on, IUgrad.
What makes the story even better is that the Cardinals *need* this guy. Their outfield is old as hell with Edmonds, Taguchi, Preston Wilson… I keep expecting to see Ray Lankford still out there.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:43 AM
Lester is above and beyond everyone this year in the comeback category. The kid had CANCER and had to miss a year! As for Ankiel, waaaaaaaahhhh I was a crappy pitcher, waaaaaaahhhhh everyone feel bad for me because I had to wait a few years to come BACK to the bigs, waaaahhhhhhhh everyone give me a standing O because now I’m playing in the outfield and had a couple hits.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:43 AM
What was even more refreshing, was the shot of the hot chick in the red halter holding up a Welcome Back Ankiel sign.
*s1rweeze, I hear Tito Landrum is making a comeback
August 10th, 2007 at 9:46 AM
Damn, sportsgal, having a bad morning?
I never remember Ankiel wanting anyone to feel bad for him. Any Major Leaguer who goes back and plays in short season rookie ball in Bumfuck, West Virginia is OK in my book.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:52 AM
I’m at work, of course I’m having a bad morning!
Sorry, but of all the “feel good” stories of the year, this Ankiel one doesn’t come anywhere near the top. Lester had cancer, he has the best story, nothing else comes close. Period.
August 10th, 2007 at 9:54 AM
ankiel is wearing whitey herzog’s number (24).
coincidence? i think not. the spirit of the white rat smiles upon him.
August 10th, 2007 at 10:28 AM
i’m greatly disappointed that he chose not to wear the knee high striped socks.
the guy deserves some credit. i don’t think we should be comparing him to lester from boston because that’s not really a fair comparison for ankiel.
i don’t know that much about ankiel’s background, but it takes one hell of an athlete to make it to the majors as a pitcher, then when that fails, become a position player who can hit the shit out of the ball (32 homers in triple-A before called up) as well as hit major league pitching. something to be said there.
August 10th, 2007 at 12:23 PM
Thats one thing I like about deadspin, Leitch actually has a favorite team… and a name…
August 10th, 2007 at 12:46 PM
Wow, sportsgal, you need to hit the North Avenue Beach – bad!!!
Ankiel’s story is amazing to me, as you almost never see this type of thing happen – a baseball player switching from pitcher to an actual defensive position. Overall, a pretty good lesson in perserverance.
The Lester story, while touching in a different way, also defines perserverance. I don’t see anything wrong with two stories that show how people overcome difficult, yet very different, obstacles.
August 10th, 2007 at 12:52 PM
Sorry guys, I dont know what is all that mindblowing about learning another position. Batting is the hardest thing to do in baseball, so really fielding im sure was a secondary transition for ankiel. i think the most impressive thing of all this is that he has such power, after being a pitcher for upwards of probably around 10 years in high school etc beyond, for a guy that probably never took much BP, to bust 32 HR’s in AAA is pretty damn good. Changing positions and being able to field different positions is called being a COMPLETE PLAYER. in my baseball days, i played every spot on the field because versatility is quite valuable, as rick has shown. baseball players shift positions all the time. i think that a guy overcoming a drug dependancy that would have killed him is a far nicer story, IF HE STAYS CLEAN, because in all reality, ankiel not making it back to the majors would be a far less earth shattering tragedy than a promising young athlete dying of a drug overdose. try to keep things in perspective, i know everyone wants to see dingers! but really the far more important story is not ankiel, although it IS exciting as hell. Its like watching one of your buddies succeed against all odds.
August 10th, 2007 at 1:38 PM
Gal’s right – forgot Lester. He’s got to be tops.