Stud

Now that the football and college hoop seasons are over, it's time to start thinking about baseball. And of course, that means that I'm all over the box scores, news, and highlights of my favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals.

Yeah, they might be a little thin on pitching right now, but with Albert Pujols swinging the bat, they've always got a chance. He's the Big Papi of the senior circuit. But as awesome as he is, he's not my favorite player on the roster. That honor goes to the comeback player of the decade, Rick Ankiel. Seriously, if you don't know anything about the guy, go check out his wikipedia page.

Long story short, back in his early career, he was a pitching stud, just mowing down everybody his first year in the bigs. But something got into his head, and he started throwing so wildly (five wild pitches in one inning at one point), that he got bounced out of the majors and damn near out of baseball completely.

So he gave up on pitching, and re-dedicated himself on being a hitter and a position player. And he worked his way back into the majors, where his clutch play late last year earned him lots of highlights on ESPN and several standing ovations at Busch Stadium. And he's started off this season on fire, already having two home runs in the first four games, and leading the team in RBI's and slugging.

And he's a likable guy too--I'm certain that a little humility is part of his make-up due to his struggles. But one can't help but root for a guy like that. And I'm glad that he's part of my team. I hope he has a helluva year and gets a fat multi-year deal before it's all said and done.

Mikey