SB Nation St. Louis Editor's Pick

Strasburg reminds of what might have been

by stickman179 on Jun 9, 2010 1:13 PM EDT

Maybe this should be a fanshot, because I'm referencing a post by the great Joe Posnanski. I dunno. There was a line in his live blog recap during the 7th inn. He simply stated that since 1920, only 11 pitchers the age 21 or younger had struck out 10+ in a game without walking a batter. Nolan Ryan, Vida Blue, and Dwight Gooden had done it twice. Only one pitcher had done it 3 times. Any guesses?

This is where it gets depressing. That one pitcher is Rick Ankiel. In 2000 Rick was 20 years old and having a dominating rookie season. The future was bright, especially on these 3 days.

May 25th against the Marlins. 6 2/3 innings from Ankiel on this day. 11k to 0 BB. Despite what must have been dominant stuff he did allow 7 hits and 4 ER. But that performance was good enough for a W.

June 4th in an interleague matchup against Cleveland. Ankiel took a no decision that day only throwing five innings. In those 5 innings, he struck out 11 of the 19 batters he faced while allowing 5 hits including 2 solo home runs.

Then Sept. 13th at Pittsburgh. Just like against the Marlins, 6 2/3 with 11k and 0 BB. Also 4 runs allowed in a W that day, but this time only 2 were earned.

Now, if you look at the game scores for those games, those were not his best games. In fact, the Cleveland game had the highest game score of the three and that game was only his 16th best of the season.

What if Matheny never got that hunting knife as a gift? What if LaRussa didn't over protect his prized rookie pitcher in the press conference? What Kile had just thrown Game 1? So many what ifs? So much what might have been.

Hopefully, this phenom's career will be the hall of fame career we are all envisioning, and not a case of what might have been.

Tweet Comment 13 comments | 1 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

/tear

"Franklin has no patience for bloggers who believe because he pitches to contact, his start last season was something of a fluke."
Austin Wilson, please don't be a tease!

by BVHeck on Jun 9, 2010 10:02 PM EDT reply actions

As someone who only became a Cards fan relativley recently

I only really knew Ankiel the Hitter, not Ankiel the Phenom. However, this has compelled me (again) to try and read up on his story on the internet, although i can’t find it in great detail anywhere, which is unfortunate.

Its the kind of story that would make a great movie (Starring Kevin Kostner as a grizzled old Ankiel, naturally) its a shame that his story doesn’t have the happiest of endings so far. But i’m fairly certain pretty much anything could happen to Rick Ankiel considering all thats gone before.

FREEZE... icey, freezing, winter ice, cold, ice, freeze, freeze... FREEZE, chill, cold, ice, winter, cold, frosty, freezing.... freeze, FREEZE, FREEZE

by Aranathor on Jun 10, 2010 9:42 AM EDT reply actions

read 3 nights in august

there’s just a chapter on Ankiel, but the entire book is incredible.

"Them Cubbies can kiss my ass" -Dizzy Dean

by Molina4MVP on Jun 11, 2010 1:15 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

What if...

TLR hadn’t hung him out to dry in a playoff game. I remember that game well. I remember saying to my boss as we were watching it on tv…“this kid might never be the same again.”
and he wasn’t. I’ll never understood why the let him stay in as long as they did.

I got to see him pitch twice at Busch, both were just dominating performances. What a future he had.

Von McDaniel had a similar thing happen to him.

Baseball first, teams second, players third, agents last.

by Dave Pendleton on Jun 10, 2010 2:21 PM EDT reply actions

why have i seen this four times

4x the depression i guess

Rasmus can hit lefties
cardinalred
St. Louis Sports blog

by stlcardsfan4 on Jun 13, 2010 1:03 AM EDT reply actions

Ankiel's curve

was like Bugs Bunny, starting at the batters head and ending at his feet. People yakked about Zito’s yakker, but Ankiel’s was much better.

I have tape (since converted to DVD) of a few of Ankiel’s 2000 starts, and I have his second MLB start in 1999 against Atlanta. It’s tough to go back and watch.

by Michael_68_1999 on Jun 15, 2010 12:12 PM EDT reply actions

Ankiel Curve was a different beast.

Zito’s Curve has a lot more movement, it kinda loops to the plate. What made Ankiel’s curve so insane was that it started pretty straight. It looked like a change-up or fastball coming out of the hand; looked straight until the last 5 feet; and then just went straight down.

by BigJawnMize on Jun 23, 2010 2:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Did not know where else to put this

After 3 games, Strasbourg’s OPS against vs. righties is .268. Yes, you read that right.

by stlfan on Jun 19, 2010 10:21 AM EDT reply actions

two words

Carlos Hernandez

This guys so good(Pujols) He should be illegal-Pirates announcers

by punchinjudy on Jun 21, 2010 10:49 AM EDT reply actions

It's only 3 games...

If Strasburg is doing this 3 years from now, then write articles like this.

I mean, the guy we didn’t pick in favor of Pete Kozma was great his rookie season, then flamed out.

by DiscoJer on Jun 21, 2010 7:28 PM EDT reply actions

There's a reason we used to call Ankiel "The Natural,"

back when it seemed like 40 homers was a distinct possibility. I’m so glad that he made it back and I wish his time as a Cardinal would have ended on a higher note.

"I'm gonna throw the nastiest curveball I have ever thrown...if he hits it, I'll tip my cap, but if not we're going to the Series."

--Adam Wainwright on the final pitch of the 2006 NLCS

by bgh on Jun 22, 2010 12:20 PM EDT reply actions