SAN FRANCISCO -- Rick Ankiel didn't know the history right offhand, but he was quickly informed. His "splash hit" into the San Francisco Bay on Friday night was the second in AT&T Park postseason history, and the first in a playoff game was October 2002. That's a long time for a stadium or a franchise. It's a much longer time for Ankiel.
In that game in '02, Barry Bonds went deep against Ankiel's St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series en route to eliminating a favored Redbirds team. Only Ankiel, then a pitcher, wasn't exactly a Cardinal at the time.
He had been a Peoria Chief -- for a few hours -- four months before, with a scheduled Minor League rehab start aborted at the 11th hour. He would be a Tennessee Smoky the following year, fighting the best he could before succumbing to left elbow surgery. But mostly he was in the midst of a detour from the Major League game that lasted the better part of seven years. rick ankiel
Saturday, October 9, 2010
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