Previously on the Cardinalpalooza: David Freese | Keith Hernandez | Steve Carlton | Lance Berkman | Lou Brock | Dennis Eckersley | Bob Gibson
Rick Ankiel may not have the largest hobby following, but I'm hoping to find a few Cardinals loyalists who enjoyed his unique baseball story and could use some of his cards. For those of you who don't know, Ankiel was a top prospect who had a remarkably great rookie season in 2000. Ankiel was trotted out to start the first game of the playoffs where he famously melted down and threw five wild pitches in the same inning. It's painful to watch, even today. Ankiel was never the same and washed out as a pitcher after his disastrous playoff appearances (he didn't fare much better in later outings) and struggled with injuries for years. Astonishingly, he came back as a slugging outfielder in 2007 and had a nice run with the Cardinals for a year or so. He's bounced around a bit since the Cardinals let him go a few seasons ago, and at 34 he may not have much major league baseball left in him.
The list follows at the end.
I've always liked Ankiel-as-a-pitcher cards. He was one of the early adopters of the Cardinals high socks revolution. The current squad has High Socks Sundays where they try to get most of the team involved, but for a long time there would be only one or two players at most on the team that would don the look.
My first glimpse of Ankiel The Outfielder was actually at a Triple-A game, when the Memphis Redbirds came to town to play the Portland Beavers, the year he was eventually called up. He crushed a ball that nearly hit the light tower in right field - but it was a foul ball.
The list:
2001 Topps Stadium Club #66
2000 Just The Preview 2K Just The One #TO-RA01
2000 Just The Preview 2K Just The One #TO-RA04
2000 Pacific Crown Collection #227
2000 Topps Stars #189
2001 Topps #275
2007 Topps Updates & Highlights #UH85 [3 available]
2008 Topps #4 [6 available]
2008 Topps Gold Foil #4
2008 Upper Deck Documentary #2655
2008 Upper Deck Documentary #3887
2008 Upper Deck First Edition #57
2008 Upper Deck SP Authentic #80 [2 available]
2008 Upper Deck X #90 [4 available]
2008 Upper Deck X Die Cut #90
2009 Bowman #41 [4 available]
2009 O-Pee-Chee #137
2009 Topps #605 [3 available]
2009 Topps Chrome #161
2009 Topps Ticket To Stardom #186
2009 Topps Unique #21 [2 available]
2009 Upper Deck #347
2009 Upper Deck (Team Checklist) #979 [2 available]
2009 Upper Deck Goudey #179
2009 Upper Deck Icons #85 [3 available]
2009 Upper Deck A Piece of History #88 [2 available]
2009 Upper Deck X #83
2010 Topps Opening Day #149
[updated 10/2/13]
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