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Ankiel to try outfield
Topic Started: Mar 9 2005, 12:49 PM (91 Views)
Mantlemurcer
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Ankiel converting to outfielder

March 9, 2005
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) -- Rick Ankiel is ending a pitching career plagued by record wildness and will try to make the St. Louis Cardinals' roster as an outfielder.

Ankiel, 25, had yet to appear in a spring training game as he tried to revive a career interrupted by control problems and injuries. He was to have pitched in a ``B'' game Wednesday, but it was rained out.

``We are fully supportive of Rick's decision to convert to an everyday outfielder,'' Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty said. ``Rick will continue to train with the major league club this spring, and we look forward to seeing his development as a full-time batter and outfielder.''

Ankiel missed most of the 2003 and 2004 seasons after reconstructive elbow surgery, and also sat out the entire 2002 season with a sprained left elbow.





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Good luck to the guy. Tough break.
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BaseballFan4
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Good luck Rick Ankiel.
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Ray
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lol I remember Ankiel in the 2000 NLCS against the Mets......boy was that an ugly ugly performance for him.
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Zidanman
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rick ankiel was the oliver perez of four or five years ago. some of the best you've ever seen, but with amazing control issues. it's sad to see that he has never gotten his stuff together.
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TheOne
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Metsfan4life
Mar 9 2005, 12:25 PM
lol I remember Ankiel in the 2000 NLCS against the Mets......boy was that an ugly ugly performance for him.

those were the days!!! :no1:
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MastaR316
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It's a huge risk to play him in the OF. Imagine if he has to throw the ball to home plate? Instead, it would probably hit a fan. :no1:
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MSUMet85
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MastaR316
Mar 9 2005, 03:18 PM
It's a huge risk to play him in the OF. Imagine if he has to throw the ball to home plate? Instead, it would probably hit a fan. :no1:

:lmao: :lmao:
But seriously it was sad to see his pitching career tank like that after his first full season, good luck to him on being an outfielder
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Ray
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Zidanman
Mar 9 2005, 01:17 PM
rick ankiel was the oliver perez of four or five years ago. some of the best you've ever seen, but with amazing control issues. it's sad to see that he has never gotten his stuff together.

LOL how was it the best we've ever seen? He looked like he was trying to pitch drunk in the NLCS!

He threw the ball like 10 feet above the plate. He didn't impress me at all.
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TheOne
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Metsfan4life
Mar 9 2005, 03:55 PM
Zidanman
Mar 9 2005, 01:17 PM
rick ankiel was the oliver perez of four or five years ago. some of the best you've ever seen, but with amazing control issues. it's sad to see that he has never gotten his stuff together.

LOL how was it the best we've ever seen? He looked like he was trying to pitch drunk in the NLCS!

He threw the ball like 10 feet above the plate. He didn't impress me at all.

that's the series where timo perez actually looked like a good player!!! ;)
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Zidanman
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Metsfan4life
Mar 9 2005, 03:55 PM
Zidanman
Mar 9 2005, 01:17 PM
rick ankiel was the oliver perez of four or five years ago. some of the best you've ever seen, but with amazing control issues. it's sad to see that he has never gotten his stuff together.

LOL how was it the best we've ever seen? He looked like he was trying to pitch drunk in the NLCS!

He threw the ball like 10 feet above the plate. He didn't impress me at all.

no one can argue that rick ankiel had some of the best stuff of our generation. that doesnt necessarily equate with success. ankiel's rookie year, he gave up a .219 opposing batting average. that's superstar level oba, and he was just a rookie. plus he had 194k in 175 ip. that's not even a debatable point. he clearly had some of the best stuff we'll ever see. but he's a failure irregardless


2000 STL 31 30 11 7 0 0 0 175.0 137 80 68 21 90 194 3.50 1.30 .219
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VICTORious
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hey you know whos oba is similar? V. ZAMBRANO

ankiel really had good stuff too, i feel sorry for him. He had the potentiol to be a superstar pitcher, just couldnt find the plate.
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Gategem
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MastaR316
Mar 9 2005, 03:18 PM
It's a huge risk to play him in the OF. Imagine if he has to throw the ball to home plate? Instead, it would probably hit a fan. :no1:

What is he going to be, the Mackey Sasser of right field?

Many years ago the Pirates had a pitcher by the name of Steve Blass who was one of their top pitchers. The guy was a control pitcher and success came from pin point location. The last game he ever won was in a WS. The year after he started to just miss until it got worse and worse and he had to give up baseball. It’s a shame about Ankiel because he had some nasty stuff.

The Orioles had a pitcher whose name escapes me but he throw will over 100 mph. They said this guy threw harder then any pitcher before or after him. But you never knew were his ball was going. Nobody in the park was safe. The sad thing is when he got control he blew his arm out.

The Yankees had a pitcher by the name of Ryan Duren that threw in the high 90s. He wore these thick glasses. One day he goes out to the mound and drops his glasses, goes down on his hands and knees feeling for them. Finally gets up without them and motions for the hitter to step in. The hitter refused.
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Strider
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MastaR316
Mar 9 2005, 04:18 PM
It's a huge risk to play him in the OF. Imagine if he has to throw the ball to home plate? Instead, it would probably hit a fan. :no1:

Same thing I was gonna say. You f*cked my post up. I didn't bother reading the rest of the thread after that.

But props for thinking like me.
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