Rick Ankiel - Control pitcher

So last night, Rick Ankiel makes a spectacular catch chasing down a ball in the gap before a scary collision with the wall. Apparently, he is going to be ok which is good news. This comes on the heels of a nice catch last week; that one of the "diving" variety.

When Ankiel's career as pitcher ended spectacularly due to extreme wildness and he announced that he would attempt to resurrect his career as a position player, my first thought was that MLB umpires everywhere would be breathing a sigh of relief but my second thought was "Man, that never works. What non-baseball skills do you have to apply to a career? Did you invest your money well while in the big leagues? Move on."

Boy, was I wrong. Ankiel can hit and has one of the smoothest swings you will ever see. He obviously also plays a very respectable center field. The guy is an athlete. Rick Ankiel, I am no longer a doubter.

I was once at a card show and picked up a Rick Ankiel card out of a dime box. It is from an unlicensed minor league 2000 "Royal Rookies" set. The front of the card has a nice picture of him on the mound but that is not why I picked it up. I bought it because the back of the card has a "fluff" type write-up regarding his minor league career to date and the last line reads:

"What sets Rick apart from other pitchers is his command and control."

Jinxed him.

As the jinx that this card put on a young Rick Ankiel altered the face of baseball history, I will not consider selling it any price. Nope. No offers will be considered.