I played against Ankiel in high school. I have to say that I was amazed he didn't make it as a pitcher. I played baseball against alot of major leaguers (Prince Fielder, Correy Patterson, and others) from high school through college and he was by far the best pitcher I ever personally hit against. He would throw pitches and I would just say to myself, I can't hit that. But I did go 2 for 7 off him. He hit me with a 95-96 MPH fastball in the ribs. Hurt like hell for days. Funny thing is he wasn't really much of a hitter in high school. I think he had 1 or 2 home runs and batted like 310 in high school. Now he is a power hitter.
He did make it as a pitcher. He was almost Rookie of the Year in 2000. He just couldn't overcome that mental block, once he was hit with it. Nobody that has been hit with that has overcome it either. There's no doubt he would be one of the best pitchers in the game, if he was right mentally. It's simply amazing that dusted himself off and became a power hitting outfielder. It was a great scene last night watching him hit that game-clinching homer. What a moment.
