2nd lease on baseball life

[idchafee]

The Cardinals call up Rick Ankiel as an OF

Ankiel was hitting .267 with 32 homers and 89 runs batted in 102 games at Triple-A Memphis

Wow, he got some pop. I'll be interested to see if he can make this transition to the majors after how he flamed out as a pitcher

[mattsteg]

Nice debut.

[mattsteg]

Wow, he got some pop.

Damn, more HRs today too.

[JJCDAD]

I saw him in Des Moines playing AAA. He hit 2 home runs in that game and I was like "WTF...wasn't he a pitcher????".

[idchafee]

Like any Cubs fan, I wish nothing but venom and bile toward the Cardinals. But this is a feel good story, I wish the guy well. I also wish he'd get out of St. Louis, so I could really root for him.

[derFunkenstein]

Working for a company in St. Louis has its benefits - I've been to two games the last couple of weeks, one they lost to the Cubs, and then again Thursday night. The fans were amazing, standing-O every time he came to bat, and the place felt like it was going to collapse when he hit it into the right field seats.

I was surprised to see him called up, as LaRussa had said "you'll see Ankiel this year, but not until September" because he's all out of minor league options. If they'd brought him up and wanted to send him back down, someone else could pick him up off of waivers.

The only downer is the circumstances under which Spiezio vacated a roster spot.

[idchafee]

just a rez to point out that it appears that last year wasn't a fluke.

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/players/playerpage/22045

[derFunkenstein]

Seeing as it's early in the season, it's probably not a huge surprise how stats can fluctuate, but both his batting average and his OBP are up around 50 points since MONDAY. The dude is seriously streaky, but on balance, he's really good (so far, knock on wood, IANABaseballplayer, YMMV, see dealer for details)