ST. LOUIS — If there was any doubt, Rick Ankiel cleared it up on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium. He can still break off a nasty curveball.
Ankiel threw out a ceremonial first pitch before the Cardinals beat the Brewers to clinch a postseason berth and extend their winning streak to 17 straight games.
On the Busch mound, Ankiel broke off a nasty 12 to 6 "snapdragon" curveball to first pitch catcher, and former Cardinals pitcher, Mike Crudale, that even made him have to readjust mid-pitch.
Ankiel's filthy bender even caused longtime Cardinals' Public Address Announcer John Ulett to react and move out of the way all the way back near the backstop.
"Freaked me out!," Ulett said on Twitter about the pitch.
Ankiel broke in with the Cardinals as a 19-year-old pitching phenom in 1999. In 2000, he finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting after going 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 175 innings pitched.
After injury and battling through the "yips" on the mound, Ankiel reinvented himself as a power-hitting outfielder and returned to the Cardinals in 2007, three years after his last appearance as a pitcher.
For his career as a hitter, Ankiel hit 76 home runs and drove in 251 runs in 1921 at-bats.
Ankiel is now a part of the Cardinals broadcasting team with Bally Sports Midwest and has written a book, "The Phenomenon", about his life in baseball and overcoming his struggles on the mound.
The 2021 Cardinals clinched a berth in the National League Wild Card game on Tuesday night, and will play either the Dodgers or Giants in a one-game playoff on Wednesday, Oct. 6.