MLB: Truth Be Told (Rick Ankiel)

[Music] people were saying i was going to be the best ever and then all of a sudden i make one pitch here for rick and deal it was terrifying all over the place 50 000 people go oh disturbing outings by a guy touted as the rookie of the year this year we don't even like talking about it it's the shanks of golf it's the ips and baseball people are desperate for some sort of answer for it there is no answers just sad the strength of the mind is an asset reliability i'm a little edgy right now talking to you about it if you ever want to clear out a locker room walk in and start asking them hey what are the yips when the yip starts to define somebody's identity it can be the end of a career what's this gonna do to his future you're talking about a career here the best example of this is rick and keel i've never been bitten by a big dog but i'm sure if you have every time you reach out to pet a dog there's somewhere in there this thing might wow and another one [Applause] october 3rd 2000 at busch stadium that's when i had the one pitch that changed my life yes all paths all streets they all lead to bush stadium a huge crowd gathering today has this much anticipated division series featuring the braves the champions of the national leagues the cardinals the champions of the central today greg maddox he was that great pitcher of that great team in the 90s he's on the mound on his way to the hall of fame and he's up against a rookie he's only 21 rick and keel first game starter in the postseason a lot of people around the cardinals who say agile is the best left-handed prospect they've had pitching prospect since hall of famers steve carlton when i was out on the mount it was this feeling of having super human powers knowing that nobody's better than you nobody can stop you all eyes are on you everybody is there to watch you you're playing against the best the planet has to offer and you are one of the baddest dudes out there and nobody can stop you it is this overwhelming feeling of confidence everything you've ever thought you wanted to be and more playing baseball was never not an option for me it was the only thing i ever wanted to do once i started to get better at baseball that was the only dream i ever had [Applause] [Music] my earliest memory growing up in port st lucie fort pierce is of being at the beach playing down by the water uh my dad surfing my mom up by the sands everybody was around the water surfing fishing you know it was just kind of the way the way we grew up or the way i grew up down here anyway which i loved ready i was a clumsy kid i would spill my milk at the dinner table trip over the sidewalk and baseball was just something that came naturally some home runs that i hit i remember the crowd cheering the parents cheering it really became my everything my mom was always the solid one just the consistent one she was there every day every morning um you know she was the one we leaned on my dad he would disappear and he'd be gone for a few days and when he showed up he would just show up wrecked out of his mind and the screaming would start with my mom and then all hell would break loose [Music] you know watching this go down and you know like anything how are you going to use any situation to your advantage i was really a sensitive kid and there was a part of it where i was going to use that to be like this is the persona that i'm going to project on the mount then i was this big tough guy in this tough pitcher so hitters have no idea what's coming what's not well this kid hit me or really not i don't know i use that's my badge and keop set a cardinals strikeout record for a rookie this year andrew jonkey is quickly retired by rick and keel i'm brian jordan big curveball misses inside and keel crossed him up he called for a fastball and keel through the curveball so there's a little bit of the rookie nerves in the first game here some of the jitters of the first post season from the highly capable and yet extremely young rick and keel high in the air has room he's got it now the cardinals coming up against greg matars my dad was uh more physically abusive to my mom [Music] there was one where you know i'm under the bed and my mom's screaming and i just can't take you know it's a different level of scream um and you start hearing what are you gonna do with that and i opened my door to look and he's got a butcher knife and you're looking at this happening and like freaking out don't know what to do [Music] i do remember a time where i felt like i'm gonna go to the cops but you know there were times my mom tried to go to the cops and they laughed at her and then she got beat worse [Music] there was this guilt there you know you hear your mom screaming for help and here i am hiding under the bed and covering my ears because i don't want to i don't want to listen to it [Applause] you know i think a way to get through that is that you do put walls up and you try to become emotionally detached baseball for me saved me reggie sanders quickly disposed of by rick and keel that's his second strikeout that is short printer from a sitting position doubles up twice a second wow the challenges that i went through it made me feel like i could get through anything it's a cardinal six the braves nothing as we head to the third inning and greg maddox is going to bat here right now young rick and keel takes them out all right and with us is our colleague alvaro martine amaro well thanks john st louis catcher mike mckinney will not be playing for the rest of the postseason he inadvertently slices right hand with a hunting knife it's an unfortunate accident some people in this team believe he's the mvp and a team full of stars and his teammates will wear number 44 on their caps in his honor it'll be especially helpful for carlos hernandez who's catching and kill for only the sixth time in five prior times and keel is one and one with a 2.67 era coaching is something that both pitching coach dave duncan and manager tony roosevelt feel mike matheny can do very well he just wishes he didn't have to start this way there's ball four here's rick and keel walking greg in high school my sophomore year i go to this camp and they clock me at 84. well i grow over a summer and i come back the next year and i'm from 84 to 93 94. which was like you know it almost didn't seem real i watched the atlanta braves growing up religiously you talk about glap you talk about smoke talk about maddox and the way these guys move the ball begin around 14 consecutive division titles for your atlanta braves champagne bass are nice well i knew how to pitch from watching those guys so now when that velocity came it was like i had a gift from god some of my friends they didn't know what was next for me i knew exactly where i was going i was either going to the university of miami we're going to sign professionally and be a professional baseball player which i always dreamed of my entire life and with a 70 seconds overall pick the saint louis carson selects rick and koku jupiter florida [Applause] growing up i just watched the braves i really wanted to get drafted by the braves scott boris who was my baseball agent at the time he's like listen to me this is a really good thing trust me on this it's gonna be great sure enough he was right there's no question about it cardinals are generally pretty good every year but no matter what they draw three million plus fans every single year the cardinals have developed this intense fan base that spans really the entire country well this year he started the double a he was in double a for a short time he was six and oh there with a 0.91 earned run average in eight games he was not expected to make the team but he was so impressive that he earned his spot in the big leagues he starts off his big league career as a cardinal in style with a strikeout he was not expected it was startling how composed he was and how ready he was to compete that was nasty and he pulled the string on him when he throws his curveball you hear that from the dugout he's snapping it so hard it's his middle finger hitting his hand i can't even i can't even make it sound like he did you heard the seams ripping through the air as his ball was rotating through the air to the catcher it was amazing as the season got on he got better and better and there in the last two months our his era was under 2. i'm playing with guys that i watched on tv i mean i just watched mark break the home run record a year later i'm up there with them and we're hanging out at dinner together right and it's not like hey can i have your autograph even though i wanted it a chance to help himself puts a shot into that mr anfield is really having a some season folks [Music] tonight on cardinals live rookie sensation rick and keel's father arrested today on two counts of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana there was a lot of anger in there but you just have to push it down you can't control what other people do especially at a young age can't pick your parents and you just have to move on he was so so young and i think that does get lost now vlad guerrero jr is 20 years old and where he comes in he's hitting homers and it's great but like also people were taking videos of vlad guerrero junior hitting home runs at major league parks when he was 12. like he has been prepared for the spotlight rick and keel it happened so fast [Music] he was just this unbelievable talent who was suddenly in the major leagues he had an easy kind of delivery and the ball just exploded out of his hand we had a common opinion when we first saw him that it was the closest thing to sandy koufax [Music] probably the most talented young pitch i had ever seen as far as what the ball did coming out of his hand you're on the cover of magazines they're finding reasons to talk about you all your dreams are coming true right in front of you right they're dangling the carrot there's the mansion with the yachts and the bahamas and people were saying i was gonna be the best ever i believed i was gonna be the best ever and there was nothing happening that said there's otherwise four here's rick and keel walking greg mattis just turned 21 i'm going against greg maddox not only is it greg maddox in the braves who i grew up idolizing but i'm starting game one as much as you tried to tell yourself wow the cardinals have this phenom pitcher who throws 98 and has the bugs bunny curveball and it seems so composed and larussa says he's so strong he's going to lead us to the world series this year also like oh that's like a 20 year old kid and everyone is watching this well the card knows where someone is they said you know what to avoid the distractions we'll spot him in game one and then all of a sudden i make one pitch jones in the dirt back to the screen and over the second base goes drag maddox on the wild pitch i had a friend of mine he was actually in the beer line and all of a sudden he heard 50 000 people go oh another wild pitch over the head of hernandez and back to the backstop well all of a sudden things have kind of unraveled here for rick and keel there's mike matheny we've been the cargo's catcher all year long his catcher mike matheny cut his hand and was unavailable and this was a part where i thought it was just bad baseball luck you don't want to encourage the braves at all give them a chance to get back in this game here when it happened you knew this was going to be a problem wow the screen again it hits off the back stopping right back to hernandez so maddox didn't go anywhere well that ball just sailed out of his hand all the way back to the screen nothing hernandez could do about that tony larussa has to be very concerned at this point with his 21 year old star you can see tony and them scratching her head and everybody's feel changes i could even see it in the atlanta braves hitters because i was really big at reading the body language of the hitter because that's how i would pitch sometimes to how they react to certain things and you start to see everybody's kind of lost in the deer headlight like oh this will be no 27th pitch of the innings and maddox will score it's ball four all right it was so hard to watch you knew from the first one that it was different he didn't go oh that one got away from me he looked scared from there they really start to get out of control and the balls was going everywhere it started to feel like i couldn't feel my hand anymore normally when you overthrow a ball it's still 93 94. well all of a sudden it was like i go to throw a fastball and then spike it john this is really unsettling now for carlos hernandez when and keel gets the sign hernandez sets up and he doesn't have any idea where the ball is going so there is the fifth wild pitch of the inning the exciting part about rick was he had this very live arm so it wasn't like when he missed the ball just kind of got to the plate it's jumping all it's either jumping this way it's breaking down we're going to the wildness hall of fame i think tony russo looks like he's in between should i go get him if you pitch into my release and if you have this flaw or that mistake you tweak it without everybody watching you and here he is in the biggest stage then all of a sudden the mind gets in the way of the talent and the braves may get it all back at once here and that's going to be it and 35 pitches tortured pitches in the inning for the 21 year old and keel i just think that i was stunned and in shock [Music] all i was thinking is how much i just let everyone down not only my teammates but my friends fort pierce where i came from port st lucie and everybody that i've grown up with who's rooting for you there was just the overwhelming feeling of you just let everyone down two down in the night one and two the count and the splitter ends it and the celebration begins with saint louis three games i just remember that i was in denial and i remember saying after the game it was a mechanical hiccup it'll never happen again and i actually thought that i didn't know what the word anxiety meant around these parts the fans and the cardinals themselves wondering what in the world they're going to get out of the young 21 year old left-hander rick anfield who starts tonight against immense attack i remember having the conversation with tony larussa in his office and him saying hey look i think i'm going to take you out of the rotation and we're just going to call it a year and i mean i was arguing i'm like no absolutely not [Applause] one-on-one this is borderline ridiculous you know there were the normal adjustments but down deep when rick got back out there i mean it was you know basically doomed the men's trying to take advantage of this first inning wildness it's a lot to digest in those quick moments but just feeling like something was definitely wrong i wasn't going to be able to beat this with mechanics i had no idea what was going on it was just i can't believe this is happening three balls two strikes on piazza runner in second here and there's another wild pitch to send albanzo just have to wonder when is enough enough well that's the end of the night for rick here um there's a few pitches later and i was out of there given the nature of the game was there anything you would have done differently other than you guys say i blame myself for for rick you know for some reason i still can't get it right when i'm out there you know which sucks because unfortunately you know i feel like i left on the team and uh you know it's terrible i mean larussa's made it clear he stuck by this kid after that performance the other night saying look he's all right but to put him in this game and to these circumstances he meant it and in the last game you know they were getting ready to beat us four games to one and we pitched him once just try to give him an inning so he could leave with a good taste in his mouth and that didn't work either you know you're walking in with your head hung down [Applause] the first time since 1986 the mix are going to the world series feeling like i just let downtown la russa the cardinal organization and everybody i grew up with that's when i knew something's not right the yips whiskey fingers the monster whatever you want to call it is you lose the ability to do something you've always been able to do for me i wasn't able to throw strikes [Music] yips is just a general term that points to as far as i'm concerned the human condition that is we are designed to survive and anything that is a perceived threat we will do everything we can to try and avoid a person who is struggling with the yips i guarantee you at some level is holding on to something psychological which is where they've had this past hurt past failure now they've developed this sense of anticipation for the repetition of that past hurt right it's like you put your hand on a hot stove you automatically now know not to go near a stove certainly for a while in fear of burning yourself again i recognize that's really a human condition right it's not specific to baseball i actually started with professional golfers and that was the origin of the yeps i would assert that a guy in a bar who sees an attractive girl and wants to go and say hi and engage and potentially get a number and go on a date but he can't or he feels nerves or he feels anxiety that is a form of the ips yips is really just a general term that points to the fact that as human beings we have fight or flight mechanisms and we're going to do everything we can to avoid potential danger future fear is going to create present time tension and for an athlete that is kryptonite i'm going into this off season thinking let me get as far away as possible so i move out to newport beach with adam kennedy you're living that california dream i remember going out and snoop dogg's hanging out new ports so you know you're seeing all these superstars and feel like you're a part of the life and forgetting about the throwing stuff scott boris tried to hook me up with harvey dorfman who is his mental guy in one of the bigger names on the mental side of things in major league baseball and at the time i'm thinking i still got this i'm gonna beat it i don't need anyone's help no well we start training with the angels at anaheim and i you know i can notice all right this is a little different i don't feel as comfortable as i used to feel especially at close ranges and i just realized i'm not gonna figure this out on my own right then i call scott and go listen let's get this harvey thing going that first day right he just starts jumping into my childhood and he's like listen when you were young you never had a foundation built we got to go back in rebuild your foundation and then build it up right tallest buildings in the world what do they have solid foundation [Music] so when a child is brought up in an environment that doesn't fundamentally feel safe then they develop a relationship with their environment where they don't feel safe so at the drop of a hat you know the scream the breaking of something in a kitchen as a kid is sitting in a bedroom that can be a simple trigger for this now fight or flight response so for the first time that he experienced in his career that was otherwise pristine the quote-unquote feeling of the absence of safety would have been a trigger for some of his childhood experiences and his brain now is looking out for perceived potential threat the cardinals don't open the regular season until april 5th but for many of them the preparation started today pitchers and catchers reporting to cardinal spring training here at roger dean stadium in jupiter from the day one of spring training i show up there's 15 cameras falling around just to play catch we take a golf cart out to the farthest bullpens you could get to so i could just throw a bullpen there wasn't 15 cameras it's like you never even have a chance to relax suggestions people would try right picture someone you hate as the glove picture at the block of cement you've been hitting behind your house my favorite one just go out there and have fun okay no problem you can't wait [Music] clearly jimmy this is the most anticipated game in all the baseball today anyway not only because randy johnson's on the mound but more importantly because rick and keel is making his season debut for the cardinals you're right usually all eyes are on randy johnson but today they're going to be on rick ankiel he's only 21 years old and some may say that he's pitching for his career today there's really nothing to say you just kind of sit back and look at it i mean the people that are sitting in the stands need to watch out i'll never forget how much pressure i felt those feelings were so overwhelming and now i was starting to understand what anxiety really meant he became the first major league pitcher in 110 years to throw five wild pitches in one inning and someone says hey maybe try having a couple drinks before you pitch and i'm thinking if i have to just drink my the drink before the game then so be it all i want to do is be me and i remember saying to daryl kyle i don't know what to do can you go put some vodka in a water bottle i have no idea what's to do and he's like i understand i get it you got to do what you got to do so he goes and does that i start sipping on a water bottle and then the game started and all of a sudden i'm firing strikes and i can throw it where i want nasty breaking ball right there and to come out here today and pitch this kind of game speaks volumes about this young man and you really do have to feel very good more i remember telling harvey dorfman after the game i had to put bach in the water bottle to drink it and he's like okay i understand you have to do what you gotta do i'm just telling you it's not real and sure enough the next game i tried again and the anxiety and the motions just overpowered the drink and started not being able to throw strikes again oh back to the screen it goes i make a few more starts at this point it's just starting to get worse i remember after i get taken out i'm in tears i felt like i can't do this anymore it's like i need to go down and work on this there was no more i can trick you with my badass pitching because there is no badass pitching not sure if the catcher can even catch it it is a natural athlete tendency when there's a problem to fix it through doing physical stuff to work out to push yourself harder every athlete always wants to push harder when they maybe need to just take a step back not being able to be the picture i was rocks me beyond my core i made the mistake of thinking being good at baseball was what made me who i was when that glass is shattered there was nothing left going from baseball's prodigy and poster boy all of a sudden you're blindsided you're most vulnerable you've ever been and everybody can see right through you when you start tensing up that's where you end up straining and that's where i think his arm ended up requiring surgery at this point i'm throwing non-stop trying to lock that feeling in lock that feeling in well i end up tweaking my elbow you say hey we're gonna have to give you the year off end up missing all of o2 come in an o3 still bothering me a little bit pitch through it blows out instead of just free and easy relaxing and go you do this and you're exerting and the stresses on your arm become dangerous i believe if his arm had somehow stayed healthy he would have beat it for rick ankel his first appearance in a major league uniform since may of 2001 and this is a day that cardinal fans have waited for for quite some time there was a feeling of i'm back this is awesome but i didn't trust it deep down is he gonna strike out the side there were moments in there where i felt like it was coming so it kept me like the carrots right there here it is it's being dangled again i can see it i've never been bitten by a big dog but i'm sure if you have every time you reach out to pet a dog there's somewhere in there this thing might bite me and that's what it felt like on the mount it's just this giant weight that's sitting on your shoulders i remember in 2005 spring training rick was trying to come back and he threw a live bp which it's us the catcher and a hitter in there and they're taking it back and we're trying to strike him out and you're in the we call the turtle the batting cage kind of that we sit out on the field for batting practice and the first pitch he threw hit the very top of the turtle and then the second pitching through and threw it like 15 feet and it bounced up over the catcher's head and i remember the hitter got out of there you could tell rick was devastated you know we gave him a hug and walked off and went back to our practice it was a sad day [Music] i walked away thinking is it worth it i'm in tony larussa's office sitting there waiting for him i felt loneliness despair what i would never wish upon anyone he comes in i'm like listen i can't do this anymore you know he looked up and was like okay and and you know it's like what now he's like i don't know i'm just gonna go home he fought as hard as you possibly could to get through it i mean he had done everything humanly possible to overcome it and he just said i can't do this anymore so i get home that day i didn't turn on the tv i didn't turn on the radio i just sat down on the couch an hour or so later scott forest calls hey what are you doing how you doing who's there with you nobody but i'm fine okay well what do you think about being an outfielder are you not hearing me i just retired like i'm done no hank i'm serious what do you think about being an outfielder so i was like i was like i don't know i got to call you back i don't know i got to think about this so i hang up i scratched my head and i'm standing up off the couch i'm looking around like is this a joke you know or what's going am i really even thinking about this but i think i can hit i always brag about it 25 what else am i going to do now i'm up looking for an outfielder's glove in my closet somewhere and my phone rings it's well chocolatey says hank it's walt say he goes listen we're all in if you want to give the outfielder thing a track show tomorrow your an outfitter say yes sir i'll see you in the morning how's that all right wait does he get a hit he's not going to get ahead i think he's going to get a hit down the right field line there it is rick and i met just a few weeks before he switched positions the day that he told me he was switching positions the first thing i said was well can you hit the idea that rick and keel would ever play a game in a cardinals uniform was generally assumed not ever going to happen if somebody said all right quit pitching right now and make it back as a big league baseball player in the outfield or something it's just not possible i think initially i was a little bit taken back like are you sure but he was so this is what i'm gonna do and i was like well all right and i kind of just jumped on board and i thought well if he's not worried about it then i won't be worried about it in high school he hit full time and then he didn't hit full time until 2006. that's a lot of time missed when it comes to you know being in the batter's box every day you know he was gonna have to work catch up for some lost time if you are a great athlete and are willing to work you can catch enough fly balls to where you learn to get breaks and become a defensive outfielder rick was a great athlete with a great arm so there was real optimism that this guy could put it together and become a big leaguer rick was all in he knew what he needed to do from a work standpoint and he was going to face everything head-on rick overcame a lot in a very short amount of time which is a direct indicator to how much he worked to pick up for lost time it was inspiring i just remember the feeling of like he's gonna do this we're all checking those reports daily and we see what an impact he had right away suddenly goes to the next level and the next level now you're seriously thinking about man it looks like he's putting it together you just can't help but notice that down in the minor leagues rick ainkel is leading everyone in home runs but the idea that he would ever actually come back as a hitter was crazy and then he kept hitting for those of you just joining us rick and keel called up many people around baseball thought this is a pipe dream this won't happen and here he is in the major leagues and with 32 home runs this year in the minor leagues you know you just want so badly for him to do well so you're kind of like you know pit in your stomach like come on come on come on come on i was a nervous wreck so many people have been pulling for rick and keel to get back to the major leagues and he has done so so he wears number 24 and at the age of 28 he's back in the big leagues they gave him such a warm welcome they embraced him now let's listen to the crowd right fielder rick ankiel standing ovation here from 40 000 plus for our whitney [Applause] there has never been a promoted player in all my 30 years that received that overwhelming embrace and outpouring of emotion that he was there and he had earned it no favors that that was a magical moment there has been so much interest in rick and keel over the last few years the way that he busted on to the scene and then conversion to an outfielder and now back in the majors i just told people have patience and realize that he's still not a polished major league hitter chance here to make an impression though with two runners aboard at second and third count of two balls one strike two to nothing cardinals the thing that i remember being in the stands is that crack well is ready to pitch a swing and there's a drive right field that's it way back it might go it's a gunners lead i might have passed out for a few minutes [Music] has a chance to leave the ballpark let's go i was coming around second and i'm coming to third and jose kendo was a third base coach and i'm looking up at him i'm jogging i'm thinking oh my god this just happened remarkable remarkable i should have slowed it down and walked and enjoyed the fans and these fans are pretty happy along with them nobody's happier than tony larussa what i remember more than anything was tony larussa's reaction rick and keel first game back in the major leagues a three-run homer and look at tony i'm serious i've never seen tony that happened no no that includes a world series even with mcguire hitting homeland you could tell tony had a sense of like almost fathership with rick and he'd seen the struggles that he had and he knew how much of a phenom and prospect he was and he knew how hard he had crashed but now to see him sort of rejuvenated and get that shot in the big leagues and then come through and hit a home run you could tell tony was so proud of rick he's getting a standing ovation here they want him to come out and take a bow that was hollywood fairy tale stuff as i said i mean people i've never smiled the dugout was just giddy [Applause] [Music] you know i've got a number of happiest moments this would be tied for first with that one that was one of the best moments of the year all the things that he has been through to come to this moment [Music] it really was just like a movie it couldn't have played out any better it was like i was their son and they were letting me know how much it was appreciated and it was it was just unreal unreal the throws are my favorite what do you think's your favorite i like those throws see that nobody else can throw like that other people can hit home runs but nobody can nobody can throw like that i mean what did they say three percent make the big leagues of all professional baseball and he did it twice in two different positions and both times spending very little time in the minor leagues picks it up throws the third order he would turn and his head would look over his right shoulder and then you just knew this can was about to get unleashed he could stand up with his back against the center field fence and throw the ball in the air to home plate as a perfect strike he found a way to stay in the game to me that speaks to true resilience he could have easily walked away he could have easily just said no you know baseball's over i'm moving on he didn't want to do that he'll leave it he's good wanted to make it back but i think he really wanted to prove people wrong also i just think he thought he was good enough you know which is a key thing you know it's one thing to have the ability but you got to believe too and i think he believed he could do it and that's why he made it happen live all hit deep to right field and this ball is out of here and this crowd is stoned it's a story of rising above and using your mind in a very positive way to defeat everything and end up being now where he's a wonderful father a wonderful husband he's a poster boy poster man for anybody with issues and how you never give in never give up he's been a great father the things that he missed out on as a child he wanted to make sure he could implement with his family and his children [Music] i look at the way my relationship was with my father and it affects how i father and i think that's natural for any parent oh he snagged it in midair i just want him to understand that no matter what happens to you what you go through with hard work and dedication you can get through anything you know baseball really is a game to me that is so much like life right the ups the downs you can do everything right as a hitter hit the ball exactly perfect but the guy catches it and you're out that is the beauty of it you just have to keep moving forward and keep grinding [Music] and let the ball bounce where it [Music] [Applause] it is bounces oh they're going to go crazy now again a formal picture three-run shot and it's gonna be ovations and curtain calls coming up i'm sure you

Channel: cacable7

Views: 367,606

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Id: Tlj9MYYemb4

Length: 44min 9sec (2649 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 25 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/verifyandtrustnoone]

I rooted for him so badly, felt terrible what he had going on. To come back as a positional player was inspiring.

[u/What-Makes-You-Smile]

I still have a few memories of him throwing strikes from CF to throw out the runner

[u/RobotYoshimis]

He had a weird career. But he at least had one, coming back as a serviceable outfielder. Inspiring to be honest.

[u/techzero]

sigh between him and Reyes injuries/ineffectiveness, and Tavares dying by drunk driving, we've lost some really high end prospects over the last decade or two.

[u/baberuthscolon]

I got the yips on routine grounders in high school. It destroyed me emotionally and made high school hell. It all started because the first time I played on a grass infield, as the ball was coming in slow motion, I thought to myself “I wonder how the ball bounce changes from grass to dirt” and then it went right through my legs. I really do feel for these guys.

[u/thebeesknese]

I will always sympathize with the players who had the yips. When I was a freshman in high school I made our school team as a pitcher. I threw at a low three quarters and short arm, obviously not ideal but it was what was comfortable for me. After years of practicing almost every day after school I prided myself on my control despite my funky delivery. My coaches tried very hard to get me to throw overhand (mostly so my throws as an OF would be better, despite barely playing the position during the year). Trying to teach myself to throw overhand crossed a bunch of wires in my head; suddenly I couldn’t throw overhand or three quarters, every throw either sailing or getting spiked in the dirt. I ended up quitting after my freshman year- 15 years later and it still doesn’t feel right to throw.

I can’t imagine how stressful it would feel to experience that at the MLB level when your whole career and livelihood are on the line. If anyone reading this is a coach, please think hard about it before suggesting a player adjust a core part of how they play.

[u/Cuphat]

I didn't see too much of Rick Ankiel, but his dinger in the 2010 NLDS was a thing of beauty.

[u/classiccourtney]

Always loved this dude. Great documentary!

[u/toomanyplants314]

His home run in his first game back as an OF’er was super cool. La Russa looked downright giddy.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tcWO0eBjh6Y