Rick Ankiel’s fall from elite pitching prospect to being unable to throw a strike was stunning. As a 21-year-old rookie with the St. Louis Cardinals, Ankiel started Game 1 of the 2000 National ...

Ankiel was named the Game 1 starter of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves after an impressive season where he posted a 3.50 ERA with an 11-7 record. Unfortunately, his first playoff start was ...

Ankiel, La Russa's surprise choice over 20-game winner Darryl Kile to open the playoffs, threw 12 wild pitches in 175 regular-season innings. Ankiel threw 66 pitches in 2 2/3 innings Tuesday.

In the big picture of St. Louis Cardinals postseason history, the world will barely note Ankiel's now-you-see-him, now-you-don't start Thursday in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.

For Rick Ankiel, that included vodka. The former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher famously lost his ability to throw the ball anywhere near the strikezone in the 2000 playoffs.

ST. LOUIS – Darryl Kile has always been known for his knee-buckling curveball; but on the eve of the NLDS between the Cardinals and Braves, it was St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa that tossed t… ...

ST. LOUIS – Rookie Rick Ankiel, who starts Game 2 of the NLCS tonight against Al Leiter and the Mets, put on a record-breaking performance in his last outing, but it’s one he’d ra… ...

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 2 -- Lefthander Rick Ankiel will start for the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of their National League Division Series with the Atlanta Braves. In a surprise move, Cardinals ...

In my Atlanta Braves-San Francisco Giants NLDS preview , I thought the Giants bullpen would be the difference in this series. For the Giants, their bullpen was the difference in Game 2 of this ...

— -- Former major leaguer Rick Ankiel said Monday that he drank vodka before his first two starts of the 2001 season for the St. Louis Cardinals, which came after his meltdown in the 2000 ...

Ankiel melted down in the 2000 NLDS, ... Rick Ankiel admits to drinking before ... On drinking in his first start after the famous meltdown in Game 1 of the 2000 National League division ...

ST. LOUIS — Rick Ankiel says he drank vodka before his first two starts in 2001 to quell anxiety after throwing five wild pitches in one inning during the previous season’s playoffs. Ankiel ...