By Justin Albers
basketballss132002@yahoo.com
INDIANAPOLIS- There hasn't been too much to be happy about this year for the St. Louis Cardinals, but they were subject to a feel-good story on Thursday night. Rick Ankiel, a former Major League pitcher, made his debut as an outfielder with the Cardinals on Thursday night. He did not disappoint. Ankiel took a 2-1 pitch from Doug Brocail and crushed it over the right field wall for a 3-run shot.
"Unbelievable," Ankiel said in an interview with the Associated Press. "You almost can't put it into words."
This is one of the best sports stories I have heard about in a long time. If you saw the highlights of this guy as a pitcher, you would really feel sorry for him. He couldn't even find the catcher's mitt- it was a horrible thing to watch. But for this guy to work his tail off and come back as a power hitter; it is truly a testament to his work ethic.
However, the Cardinals had also received more troubling news earlier in the day. OF Scott Spiezio left the team to seek voluntary help for drug and alcohol abuse. Spiezio played a large part in the Cardinals World Series win a year ago.
This is just a depressing story for Major League Baseball. For kids to look up and see professionals abusing drugs, using steroids, chewing tobacco, etc- it sends a horrible message that could lead to more problems in the future. The only positive that comes out of this story is that Spiezio is reportedly seeking treatment on his own and wants to fix his problem. But who knows how much of that is true.
After everything that has happened this year, the Cardinals deserve some credit. They trail Milwaukee by just 5.5 games for the division lead, and are now just six games under .500. Their pitching rotation consists of five guys nobody has ever heard of, and besides Albert Pujols, nobody is hitting. And remember just before Spring Training, manger Tony La Russa was arrested for driving under the influence. What kind of a message does that send to your players? It was just a sign of bad things to come.
basketballss132002@yahoo.com
INDIANAPOLIS- There hasn't been too much to be happy about this year for the St. Louis Cardinals, but they were subject to a feel-good story on Thursday night. Rick Ankiel, a former Major League pitcher, made his debut as an outfielder with the Cardinals on Thursday night. He did not disappoint. Ankiel took a 2-1 pitch from Doug Brocail and crushed it over the right field wall for a 3-run shot.
"Unbelievable," Ankiel said in an interview with the Associated Press. "You almost can't put it into words."
This is one of the best sports stories I have heard about in a long time. If you saw the highlights of this guy as a pitcher, you would really feel sorry for him. He couldn't even find the catcher's mitt- it was a horrible thing to watch. But for this guy to work his tail off and come back as a power hitter; it is truly a testament to his work ethic.
However, the Cardinals had also received more troubling news earlier in the day. OF Scott Spiezio left the team to seek voluntary help for drug and alcohol abuse. Spiezio played a large part in the Cardinals World Series win a year ago.
This is just a depressing story for Major League Baseball. For kids to look up and see professionals abusing drugs, using steroids, chewing tobacco, etc- it sends a horrible message that could lead to more problems in the future. The only positive that comes out of this story is that Spiezio is reportedly seeking treatment on his own and wants to fix his problem. But who knows how much of that is true.
After everything that has happened this year, the Cardinals deserve some credit. They trail Milwaukee by just 5.5 games for the division lead, and are now just six games under .500. Their pitching rotation consists of five guys nobody has ever heard of, and besides Albert Pujols, nobody is hitting. And remember just before Spring Training, manger Tony La Russa was arrested for driving under the influence. What kind of a message does that send to your players? It was just a sign of bad things to come.
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