And sometimes, things actually work out right...

I have never been as glad as I am tonight that I have the MLB package for digital cable. I actually cried real tears over a Cardinals game, because Rick Ankiel hit a three run homer in the 7th inning. Who in the world would have thunk it in 2000 when I was about as embarrassed for a baseball player as I have ever been. Here is how the Cardinal beat-writer says it today on the team website:

Ankiel first appeared in the big leagues in 1999 (at nineteen) as a pitcher with the Cards. After a promising start, his career took a dramatic turn for the worse in the 2000 playoffs.
Chosen as the Game 1 starter of the NLDS against the Braves, Ankiel walked six batters and threw five wild pitches. In another postseason appearance against the Mets, the young lefty threw four more wild pitches in 1 1/3 innings.
Ankiel then started six games for the Cards in 2001 before missing the 2002 season and a chunk of the 2003 and 2004 with left elbow problems that required Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery.

It was DESPERATELY painful to see a 20 year old pitcher fall apart. He kept trying some, but after the Tommy John surgery, he just said he did not have the desire anymore to do what it took to be a big league pitcher. Cards gm Walt Jocketty apparently talked him in to continuing to work on his hitting (always a good hitting pitcher) and eventually, with years of hard work on fielding, hitting, and no little amount of psychological reorientation, believe it or not, Rick is back with the Cardinals. ANd he hit a three run homer in the bottom of the 7th. And I cried, and more miraculously, Tony LaRuusa laughed, kept smiling, and clapped his hands. Wow. Sometimes things work out right...