Ankiel Homers In Return

A while back we did a Feel Good Story Watch on Rick Ankiel of the St. Louis Cardinals.  He made his return to the bigs last night and did it in storybook fashion.

Ankiel, who led the Pacific Coast League with 32 homers for Triple-A Memphis at the time of his callup, launched a 78mph 2-1 curveball from Doug Brocail over the right-field wall in the seventh and with that put the Cardinals ahead 5-0.

“I pitched the report,” Brocail said. “I have no idea how he hit that ball. It’s good to see the kid back, though.

“You know, he wasn’t too bad of a pitcher,” Brocail added.

“I guess Babe Ruth was the last,” said manager Bud Black, referring to pitchers converting into power-hitting outfielders. “It’s quite a show of athleticism and quite a show of being a baseball player.

“It’s a great story,” he said.

“Unbelievable,” Ankiel said. “You almost can’t put that into words.”