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Rick Ankiel on the Inning That Changed His Baseball Career

On today’s Pardon My Take, Mr. Cat and Mr. Commenter welcomed on former professional baseball center fielder and pitcher Rick Ankiel to the show. The trio discussed his time throughout Major League Baseball, specifically his notable battle with the “yips” during his career. Below is an excerpt from today’s interview, where Ankiel explains in detail that moment from Game 1 of the 2000 NLDS:

Cleveland Indians vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Mr. Cat: What exactly happened in that third inning? Did you know right away?

Rick Ankiel: No. I threw a cutter in that just cut and it wasn’t even that bad of a pitch. And at the time, Mike Matheny was my catcher the entire season, he cut his hand, he couldn’t catch. So, we brought in Carlos Hernandez, who was just a different catcher. But in my mind, I’m thinking, man, I just threw a fricken wild pitch, right? And usually, you shake that crap off and it doesn’t even matter. All of a sudden I spike a curve-ball, it starts to unravel, I had no idea what was happening. Everything that I had always used up to that point to get myself back on track wasn’t working. You know, mechanically, mental thoughts, you know, the keys that guys have. And, you know, before I know it, I’m getting taken out of the game. You know, it’s like I would try to throw a pitch and all of a sudden it would launch off the backstop or bounce something. And, you know, I had no idea what that was going on.

Mr. Commenter: So, after that inning, you get pulled after the five wild pitches. Did you go out later on that day and just be like, I’ve got to be passed this by now, the yips are gone and I’m throwing more pitches? Or did you wait till the next day or did you take your standard amount of time after, you know, two nights sleep? What was that like?

Rick Ankiel: Well, I remember saying to the media, it was a mechanical issue. This will never happen again. I really didn’t know what the yips was at that point. I’m not even sure I knew what the word anxiety meant because I was young. Everything just came so far. The next day I came to the field, you definitely kind of have a little ‘what’s this going to look like?’ But I’m playing catch, everything’s fine. I throw a bullpen the next day, I was lights out. So, Tony La Russa give me a call and says they’re not going to use me. And I went ballistic, ‘Oh, this is my time, I want this game, blah, blah, blah.’ He’s like, you sure you’re fine? I’m like, yeah, I got it. So, I end up starting the next game against the Mets, and went a few pitches, started spraying it all over. And it’s this anxiety feeling where you definitely feel more nerves than I ever felt before warming up in the bullpen.

National League Division Series - St. Louis Cardinals v New York Mets - Game Five

This is just a crazy story. What’s even more remarkable is the fact that Ankiel made a comeback to the diamond as early as this past season as a relief pitcher. It’s also interesting to imagine how different things may have been if a chain of events such as Ankiel’s transpired in today’s world. It goes without saying that social media would have given him a very hard time for throwing five wild pitches in the same inning. But when you dive deeper into the situation, it shows how important mental health awareness is and always has been. As Ankiel mentioned on the show, he wasn’t totally sure what anxiety truly meant during his playing days back in 2000. Clearly, it’s great to see that he was able to turn things around in a positive manner as the years went on.