Rick Ankiel

Ankiel shrugged off the event, joking that he was the first pitcher to throw five wild pitches in an inning since Bert Cunningham of the Players' League in 1890.

In his next start, Game Two of the National League Championship Series against the New York Mets, Ankiel was removed in the first inning after throwing 20 pitches, five of which went past catcher Eli Marrero (only two were official wild pitches, as no runners were on base for the others), and the first of which sailed over the head of Mets' hitter Timo Perez.

Ankiel appeared again in the seventh inning of Game Five facing four hitters, walking two and throwing two more wild pitches.

The Cardinals lost the series four games to one to the Mets.

Richard Alexander Ankiel (born July 19, 1979) is an American former professional baseball center fielder and pitcher.

He spent most of his Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the St. Louis Cardinals, but also played for the Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, Houston Astros, and New York Mets.

Ankiel attended Port St. Lucie High School in Florida, where he went 11–1 with a 0.47 earned run average (ERA) during his senior season, striking out 162 batters in 74 innings pitched, and was named the High School Player of the Year by USA Today in 1997.

The St. Louis Cardinals selected Ankiel in the second round of the 1997 Major League Baseball Draft.

He received a $2.5 million signing bonus.

In 1998, he was voted the best pitching prospect in both the Carolina and Midwest League, and was the Carolina League's All-Star starting pitcher, Baseball America's first-team Minor League All-Star starting pitcher, and the Cardinals' Minor League Player of the Year.

That year, he led all minor league pitchers in strikeouts with 222.

Ankiel was a pitcher with the Cardinals from 1999 until 2001 when he found himself unable to throw strikes consistently.

In 1999, Ankiel was named the Minor League Player of the Year by both Baseball America and USA Today.

He was also Texas League All-Star pitcher, Double-A All-Star starting pitcher, Cardinals Minor League Player of the Year, and Baseball America First Team Minor League All-Star starting pitcher.

Ankiel debuted in 1999 in Montreal, against the Expos.

He pitched his first full season in 2000 at the age of 20 (second youngest player in the league), posting an 11–7 record, a 3.50 ERA (tenth in the league), and 194 strikeouts (seventh in the league) in 30 games started.

Ankiel threw a 94- to 97-mph fastball, a heavy sinker, and a fall-off-the-table curveball that was his main strikeout pitch.

He struck out batters at a rate of 9.98 strikeouts per nine innings (second in the National League only to Randy Johnson), and allowed only 7.05 hits per nine innings (second only to Chan Ho Park).

He came in second (to the Atlanta Braves' Rafael Furcal) in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.

He received The Sporting News Rookie Pitcher of the Year Award.

The Cardinals won the National League Central Division championship in 2000.

Injuries to other pitchers left Ankiel and Darryl Kile as the only fully healthy starters left on the roster.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa chose Ankiel to start Game One of the National League Division Series against veteran pitcher Greg Maddux of the Braves.

To shield Ankiel from media pressure, La Russa had Kile answer questions to the media as if to start Game One, and afterwards informed the media that Ankiel was starting.

In Game One, Ankiel did not allow a run through the first two innings.

His performance suddenly deteriorated in the third.

He allowed four runs on two hits, four walks and throwing five wild pitches before being removed with two outs.

Despite Ankiel facing eight batters and throwing 35 pitches, the Cardinals won the game.

The source of Ankiel's problems were unknown, but speculated to be psychological; his father had been sent to federal prison and his parents were divorced during the 2000 season.

After trying to regain his pitching form in the minor leagues and briefly returning to the majors in 2004, he switched to the outfield in early 2005.

For two and a half years, he honed his skills as a hitter and fielder in the Cardinals' minor-league system.

He returned to the Cardinals on August 9, 2007.

As a Cardinal until 2009, Ankiel hit 47 home runs as an outfielder and two as a pitcher.

After the 2009 season, Ankiel became a free agent.

Subsequently, he was signed by the Royals and later was traded to the Braves.

Ankiel became the first player after Babe Ruth to win at least 10 games as a pitcher and also hit at least 70 home runs.

Ankiel is also the only player other than Ruth to both start a postseason game as a pitcher and hit a home run in the postseason as a position player.

His change of position, and the fact that he played for six teams in a five-season span, suggest that Ankiel's playing history represents "one of the stranger careers in baseball history" in the words of journalist Barry Petchesky.

Ankiel was one of three children born to Denise and Richard Ankiel, Sr. His father worked various odd jobs, was arrested 14 times and convicted 6 times by the time Ankiel was an adult.

He described his father as very tough on him, making him run wind sprints if he swung at bad pitches in Little League.