Once upon a time, Rick Ankiel struck out 222 batters in just 161 innings. Granted, they were minor league batters in High A ball, but his talent wasn't a secret for long. The southpaw was the #1 prospect in the game and his arrival in the big leagues carried the anticipation of a Star Wars film.
It's hard to forget the now 39-year-old former phenom blowing our minds nearly 20 years ago, so when video popped up on the internet during Wednesday's St. Louis Cardinals game of Ankiel throwing from the mound during a Bluegrass World Series, a curious arousal followed.
Upon his debut with the Cardinals in 1999, Ankiel was the epitome of "something else." Bolstered by a filthy assortment of pitches including a mid-90's fastball and a curveball that bordered on illegal, Ankiel was an overwhelming talent. He struck out 39 Major League batters, threw nine wild pitches, and started five games for the Cardinals that year in the ultimate teaser trailer.
2000 was the true breakout, with Ankiel winning 11 games and striking out 194 batters in 137 innings. And then a playoff start against the Atlanta Braves brought it all down. It wasn't just the wildness of his pitches that remain enchained in many Cardinals' fans memories, but the look of helplessness on Ankiel's face as he wondered why control broke up with his arm on a cool October afternoon.
It wasn't until 2005 when Ankiel returned to the High-A ball fields that he once dominated on the mound, but this time with a bat in his hands. He hammered baseballs, posting double-digit home runs in two straight seasons before he made a comeback to the Cardinals in 2007. The expectations ran close to the avenue of scattershot and "huh?" Ankiel was back, but what happened next is something no one saw coming.
Maybe everyone except for Tony La Russa, who treated Ankiel like a father figure from the very moment he arrived in the farm system. Labeled the guy who started Ankiel over Darryl Kile in that fateful playoff game against the Braves, I think La Russa carries a small bruise in his soul due to what happened to Ankiel. So, when Ankiel blasted a pitch into the right field bleachers on Aug. 7, 2007, no one was happier than La Russa.
Ankiel would go on to hit 76 home runs in the Major Leagues and 148 overall professionally, but it wasn't just the bat that wowed people. He traded in Uncle Charlies and cutters for rockets fired from the outfield wall. How about that Colorado game where he threw out two runners at third base in the same game? You don't learn that on a farm or baseball field. It's something you own at birth and never lose.
Before he hung up his cleats in 2014, Ankiel played for the Braves, Royals, Nationals, Mets, and Astros-but his time in St. Louis is what many remember instead of the mustachioed dude who struck out 35 times in 25 games for Houston at the age of 33. His greatest hits exist under the Arch, so why not stage the revival there as well?
That's right. An Ankiel comeback would be good for St. Louis and for the Majors. He may have crafted one of the most unique careers in the history of the game-but his work on the mound is far from finished. On the mound this week wearing the Birds on the Bat in a game stuffed full of retired Major Leaguers playing against college players, Ankiel threw pitches that clocked in at 87 and 89 miles-per-hour. He had movement and the curve at his disposal.
A few years ago, former Cardinals pitching coach Derek Lilloquist reportedly asked Ankiel about making a comeback on the mound, but the lefty dismissed it. Now, he feels the urge to pitch.
It could be the fact that he has seemingly gotten control of his mound demons, even helping Washington Nationals prospects deal with the "yips". He wrote a critically acclaimed book, Phenomenon, with Yahoo Sports writer Tim Brown. 18 years later, Ankiel is the hunter instead of the hunted when it comes to his own mind.
He may have taken off the uniform, but Ankiel still wears the game on his shoulders. There's the solid work with Fox Sports Midwest and the way he never strays far from minor league ballparks. Back in 2016, I had the chance to meet him at an Arkansas Travellers game. He was courteous, open, and smiled like there wasn't a care in the world.
Maybe Ankiel has found peace at night, but he needs to make amends on the mound. One last time. It's better than cinema, in fact. People will make a movie about his life when it's all said and done, but not before he adds another chapter to the story.
If Tim Tebow can switch sports in his late 30's, Ankiel can pick his skills back up four years after retiring. What if he's still got it? Bartolo Colon may never stop pitching and Julio Franco played into his late 40's.
Ankiel can still throw and has the courage to get back on the mound. He is toying with the idea of making a comeback, but something tells me when the lights go out on the 2018 season, he will get to work and start preparing for one last ride.
In the sixth Rocky film, Rocky Balboa, the punch-drunk Italian Stallion told his brother-in-law that there was some noise in the basement. Paulie asked what he meant, and Balboa tearfully told him there was an emotional urge and feeling in him to give it one last try.
Ankiel still has that urge, so whether it happens in St. Louis or somewhere else in the Majors, I hope he finds out what's left in the basement. He just enjoyed a 39th birthday, but that doesn't mean he can't pitch anymore.
Things may go wrong. Ankiel may climb that mound in the minors, take the ball, and promptly fire it over the catcher's head. He may do it three times. If so, then the answer will be swift and quick. He deserves to find out for himself if it's still there.
After all, Ankiel struck out the only batter he faced on Wednesday without throwing a wild pitch. He also cranked a couple home runs. Imagine him returning to the Cardinals as a slash-type weapon. He can relieve one night, pinch-hit the next, and start in the outfield later in the week. He can be a late-inning outfield cannon when he isn't fooling hitters.
I'd like to see that deadly curveball, nicknamed the "snapdragon" by Mark McGwire, one more time.
Here's the thing: Ankiel returning would be good for the game. People from around the country and world would tune in to see if he still had it. Everyone loves a comeback story. Even the cynics.
Whether it happens or not, it was great seeing Ankiel back on the hill throwing baseballs past hitters. We'll always have that.