Playing the Field

Rick Ankiel’s last spring training as a pitcher was a lot like the rest of his shooting star career: He tantalized with his talent, but ultimately failed because of wildness.

The St. Louis Cardinals’ newest outfield prospect has had one near-brilliant season in the major leagues. As a 20-year-old rookie, he won 11 games and struck out 194 batters in 175 innings, helping his team win the NL Central and retiring hitters with such ease that manager Tony La Russa chose him instead of 20-game winner Darryl Kile to open the playoffs.

Then came the long meltdown.

Nine wild pitches in four postseason innings, and then the nightmare persisted the next season when he still couldn’t find the plate. That was followed by demotion to the minors and a four-year odyssey back to the big leagues. That bid ended last week when he decided to give up pitching and try to make it as an outfielder.

“It wasn’t an overnight decision,” Ankiel said. “I knew it was time. I think it was the frustration of not being effective, not being able to replicate my mechanics.

“It just wasn’t worth it, the reward’s not there. I feel relieved now and I’m happy to move on.”

Following the long detour that included reconstructive elbow surgery in 2003, for a short time this spring Ankiel again appeared to be the dominating pitcher of his rookie season. His first time throwing to hitters was a dramatic display that moved normally stoic pitching coach Dave Duncan to express his wonder.

But what followed was the usual Ankiel, extremely erratic. It was a bitter disappointment to Ankiel.

On a smaller scale, fellow pitcher Matt Morris knows that feeling of frustration. Last season he battled through a shoulder injury that required offseason surgery, and although he won 15 games he finished with a career-worst 4.72 ERA.

“When I was a little beat up last year you bring it home,” said Morris, probably Ankiel’s closest friend on the team. “It just weighs on your mind constantly, it’s a non-stop issue.”

In 2000, right before Ankiel began his first and only full season in the majors, his father, Richard Ankiel, received a six-year prison sentence for his part in a marijuana and cocaine smuggling operation.

“It’s not injuries, it goes back beyond even 2000. It’s his life,” Morris said.

The Cardinals hoped Ankiel would be an all-purpose left-hander to replace Steve Kline in the bullpen and a stand-in starter early in the season in case Morris isn’t ready.

What happens now is anybody’s guess. After years of being protected by the Cardinals, there’s no roster spot waiting for him anymore.

He’s 25 now, far removed from the days when he was USA Today’s high school player of the year in 1997. Ankiel hit 10 home runs in a short time for the Cardinals’ rookie league team in Johnson City, Tenn., in 2001, and now he’ll have to resurrect those hitting abilities.

There’s little precedent for what he’s attempting, aside from a few long-ago examples. One, of course, is Babe Ruth, a two-time 20-game winner with the Red Sox early in his career before becoming the game’s greatest slugger. Another is Stan Musial, an 18-game winner in the low minors before injuring his shoulder in 1940 and beginning a Hall of Fame career as an outfielder.

The day after his announcement last week, he singled in his first at-bat in an intrasquad game. But through Wednesday, Ankiel had been used sparingly in exhibition games, going 0-for-2 as a pinch hitter.

“I couldn’t even attempt what he’s doing,” Morris said. “But he’s a better hitter and he’s a better athlete. If anybody can do it, he can.”

The Cardinals have not decided where Ankiel might be placed in their minor-league system. He has a home in Jupiter, so a natural jumping-off spot might be for the Class A team that plays at the training complex, or he could go back to Johnson City.

Also, there’s a question of whether they can even keep him.

Ankiel is out of minor-league options and would have to clear waivers to be sent to the minor leagues. Another team still tantalized by his arm could claim him and try to revive his pitching career, and Ankiel said he’s prepared for the possibility he could land in another organization.

Ankiel’s agent, Scott Boras, plans to inform the other 29 major league clubs that his client is committed to his new career as an outfielder. For now, the Cardinals are keeping a close eye on Ankiel at their major league camp.

“He was a very good high school hitter and we probably could have drafted him high as a hitter also,” general manager Walt Jocketty said. “We just have to put him in the hitters program and evaluate him.”