King Kaufman's Sports Daily

Rick Ankiel: Some stories are so amazing, it's hard to appreciate how amazing they really are.

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Aug. 13, 2007 | Right from the beginning, I knew that failed pitcher Rick Ankiel would make it back to the major leagues as a hitter. That's what I meant when I said, "No freakin' way Rick Ankiel makes it back to the major leagues as a hitter."

Ankiel made it back to the St. Louis Cardinals as an outfielder Thursday, three years after he last pitched in the big leagues for the Cardinals, seven years after his promising career blew apart in a hideous playoff performance against the Atlanta Braves. One year after missing an entire season to a knee injury.

But he didn't just make it back. He hit a home run in his first game. He hit two more in his third game Saturday. On Sunday he hit a double and made a great catch. Every once in a while the sports world throws something at you and you say, "No way. Just no way." This is one of those times.

It might not last. Guys you've never heard of have had four-game stretches better than Ankiel's 6-for-16 with a double, a walk and three homers. But it doesn't have to. What Ankiel's done already is amazing.

And as much as everybody keeps saying how amazing it is, I get the feeling most fans really don't appreciate just how amazing it is for a guy to get to the major leagues as a pitcher, succeed and then fail as a pitcher, start over as a hitter and make it back to the bigs. All by the age of 28.

I say that because of a question people ask all the time: Why can't pitchers hit?

That question belies a lack of appreciation for the level of play in the major leagues. Because the answer is the vast majority of pitchers can hit, in any context but against major league pitching. Watch big-league pitchers take batting practice sometime and you'll see what I mean. Most major league pitchers can rake.

Just not against major league pitching.

Struggling to a batting average of .137 or .162 or even .089 against that handful of people at the very top of the pitching profession is a hell of a feat except for that handful of people at the very top of the hitting profession. What's amazing about Ankiel -- one of the things, but the main thing -- is that he's reached the top of both professions. It's like being a world-class architect -- and also a world-class cellist.

Next page: Ankiel was going to start over at 25. Didn't he know how hard it is?