Just when you think you've found a truly inspirational story, a really likable guy, someone you can cheer for no matter who your team is, you find out he's been linked to an HGH probe.
Sometimes I really do hate baseball.
Also, more bad news for Baltimore Orioles fans. Not only is your team now 3 losses away from a 10th straight losing season, but as I predicted, Erik Bedard's oblique injury will likely shelve him for the rest of 2007, and with it, any hope he had of winning the Cy Young award. That, too, is a real shame because it would have been a tremendous boost to a team that desperately needs one.
Don't let the headline mislead you. He's not going to the Yankees to be their new setup man. But Rick Ankiel did hit two more homeruns last night against the Dodgers, en route to another Cardinals' win, 6-1.
For those of you keeping score, he now trails current all-time home run leader Barry Bonds by just 755 round-trippers. Ankiel should pass Bonds some time in 2012 if he keeps up his current pace of one homerun every 4 at-bats.
In all seriousness, this guy is one hell of an athlete. He's physically gifted, but even stronger emotionally to have come back from the breakdown he suffered in 2000.
And what I like about him now is, he's grounded.
After the game he told reporters quite simply, "don't hold me to days like this."
Forget the fact that his roster spot was created because of Scott Spiezio's admission that he has a substance abuse problem for which he is now seeking help. Rick Ankiel's return to the St. Louis Cardinals has to be one of, if not the most heart-warming and inspirational story of 2007 (perhaps it's a close second to Jon Lester's return to the Sox).
This guy was dubbed the next Steve Carlton about 10 years ago. He was a $2.4 million second-round pick in '97, and he made his big league debut just two years later. In 2000, he was considered a Rookie of the Year favorite thanks to his high-90's heater, and hard, swooping hammer. He finished a distant second to Rafael Furcal in the voting, but he did record 11 wins, and 194 K's in 175 innings. What we didn't know at the time though, was that his career as a pitcher was already over.
During Game 1 of the 2000 NL Divisional Series, Ankiel had a 6-0 lead going into the top of the 3rd when something happened: he couldn't throw a strike. Not only could he not find the zone, he couldn't even find the mitt. He threw 5 wild pitches in the inning, the first time any big leaguer had done that in 110 years. He also issued 4 of his 6 walks in the frame, and was yanked with 2 outs. The Cardinals won the game, but they'd lost Ankiel for good. In his next, and only other postseason start, (Game 2 of the NLCS against the Mets), he threw 2 more wild pitches, issued 3 more walks, and retired just 2 batters.
In the 2001 season, he was a shadow of his former self. After just 6 starts, which included 5 more wild pitches and 25 walks in 24 innings, the Cardinals sent him all the way down to Rookie Ball to clear his head and start fresh. It was during that time that Ankiel, who could always swing the bat (he hit .250 with 2 homers and 9 RBI in 68 AB's in 2000), dabbled as a DH in-between appearances.
After missing all of 2002 with arm problems, Ankiel spent all of '03 and most of '04 trying to mount a comeback. And he was called up late in the season, but in a relief role. In 5 September appearances he struck out 9 in 10 innings, and appeared to have overcome his wildness, but he just wasn't the same guy. That's when his pro pitching career officially came to a close, and he decided to try his hand at another comeback, as a full-time position player. He made it to triple-A in 2005, only to lose his entire 2006 to a knee injury, but even then he didn't give up.
Fast forward to August of 2007 when Ankiel, who was sitting on 32 homeruns in the Pacific Coast league, finally got the call...he was going back to the big leagues.
So last night, at home, in front of 42,000 fans, Ankiel belted a 3-run homerun off of Padres' reliever Doug Brocial to turn a 2-0 nail-biter into a 5-0 blowout.
Cardinals Manager Tony LaRussa said aside from winning the World Series, it's the happiest he's ever been in uniform. I bet Ankiel might have been even happier.
I was the 1412th pick of the 2002 MLB Amateur Draft, and wrote a book about my experiences in pro ball, called "What Day Is Today?" It is available on Amazon.com. Now, I am a television news anchor and reporter.
Just when you think you've found a truly inspirational story, a really likable guy, someone you can cheer for no matter who your team is, you find out he's been linked to an HGH probe. 
