![]() Though Ankiel would not fare well in this outing, as it turned out, there would be plenty bad performances to go around. Tony La Russa pulled him before things got any worse, and the powerful St. What made the meltdown even more bizarre is the fact that Ankiel was still able to throw his curveball for strikes his fastball was the pitch that suddenly lost its way. In the third inning, he uncorked an astounding five wild pitches-something no one had ever done before, regular or postseason. After the Cardinals gave Ankiel a 6-0 lead by unexpectedly pounding Greg Maddux, he suddenly lost his control altogether. Those were both rather large tallies, but even so, nobody suspected what ensued in game one of the division series against the Braves. He walked 90 batters and tossed 12 wild pitches in the regular season. The young southpaw could be wild, however. On WFAN Radio, Gary Cohen talked about Ankiel having "Sandy Koufax-like stuff," and though such comparisons are usually not made lightly, he was not the only person to reach that conclusion. He could seemingly strike out batters at will (194 Ks that season) and owned the highest strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate in the regular season for anyone not named Randy Johnson. The young lefty had a blazing fastball and a wicked curveball. When Rick Ankiel began his first full season on the mound in 2000, he quickly became a sensation not seen for a rookie pitcher in a long time, and not seen again until the Stephen Strasberg mania of summer 2010. The rest of their rotation was anything but, particularly their game two starter. Darryl Kile was not only the Cards' best pitcher, but also their only starter without any sort of question marks, and he'd gone down in defeat. Their powerful lineup had been held in check, going 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position. The Cardinals, on the other hand, had plenty of reason to be nervous. The Mets seemed loose and confident, having won the first game and sending Al Leiter, an experienced big-game pitcher, to the mound in game two. October 12: As game two began, the Mets and Cardinals were a study in contrasts. If you're nostalgic for the previous year's team, peep The 1999 Project. For an intro to this series, see the Pregame Show.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |