(Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Really, those few weeks after his August 2007 call-up were as good as it got.
2008 in total wasn’t a bad year for Ankiel by any means: 120 games, 453 at-bats, .264 average, 25 homers, 71 RBI, .506 slugging percentage. There were also some incredible defensive plays along the way.
Not bad for a washed-up pitcher. Not bad at all.
But battling a sports hernia, Ankiel finished 2008 in a tailspin, hitting just .169 with three homers, 12 RBI, and 20 strikeouts in his final 27 games (only 16 of those starts).
His batting woes have only intensified this season.
Ask La Russa his opinion, and he’ll tell you it’s probably because of the shoulder damage Ankiel suffered when he crashed into the wall May 4 in a collision so violent it left the bill of his hat bent at a 90-degree angle.
But the truth is Ankiel was only hitting .247 with a .326 on-base percentage when he crashed into that wall.
This wasn’t a case of a guy going good and then losing it due to injury. This was a case of a guy going bad, then going worse.
On the season, Ankiel is only hitting .215 with a .278 on-base percentage, five homers, and 22 RBI in 223 AB. He has struck out 54 times, 22 of those coming with men in scoring position, a situation when he’s hitting just .203.
Walking with my buddy Z at the All-Star Fanfest here in St. Louis on Saturday, talking about who we would give up for Halladay and how we couldn’t give up Colby Rasmus because of Ankiel’s struggles, I had a terrible thought:
The same thing that happened on the mound in 2000 is happening in the batter’s box in 2009.
It’s a bit harder to notice because strikeouts aren’t nearly the same dramatic failure as wild pitches, but Ankiel looks just as lost now in the box as he did on the mound those fateful nights back in 2000.
Cardinals fans, known for their patience and loyalty and willingness to forgive, are starting to run low on those qualities. It’s not quite to Jason Isringhausen status yet, but there’s a distinct sense of discomfort in the crowd whenever No. 24 steps up to bat.
Even La Russa, ever loyal to his veterans (and he loves Ankiel like a son), has been forced to reduce Ankiel’s role in order to stay atop a highly competitive NL Central. Rasmus has taken over center field, and Ankiel has been relegated to platoon status with Chris Duncan (another object of scorn) in left field.
This isn’t how Ankiel’s story was supposed to end, not after that triumphant return in August of 2007. Not after all those comparison to Hobbs and The Natural. And not after St. Louis Cardinals fans invested nine years of their lives living and dying with the extreme ups and downs of his amazing story.
Maybe this won’t be how it ends. Maybe he comes back from the break refreshed, healthy, and blasting bombs.
He’s come back from hell once.
Maybe he can do it again.
I hope so. A story like this deserves a better ending.
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