Former pitcher Rick Ankiel ‘toying with’ return to professional baseball

The baseball career of Rick Ankiel is one of the more bizarre and memorable that we’ve seen in a while. It also might not be over.

Ankiel came up as a phenom pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was done in when he not only couldn’t throw strikes, but couldn’t get the ball close to the catcher. Ankiel eventually revived his career as an outfielder. But at 39, Ankiel is entertaining the idea of not only returning, but returning to the mound.

“Five years into retirement, 14 since he threw his last competitive pitch, Ankiel is considering a return to that life, he said Thursday morning,” Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports reported. “He is considering – ‘toying with,’ he said – pitching professionally again.”

The idea isn’t without any merit, either.

Ankiel recently played in the Bluegrass World Series, a tournament that featured other former players. While he played primarily as an outfielder, Ankiel did take the mound to face one batter. It went well for him.

Obviously, that’s a long way from pitching professionally again, let alone in the majors. But it certainly seems as though Ankiel’s arm is solid.

So, while Ankiel returning to pro ball would be quite a story — especially if he made it to the majors — we wouldn’t exactly be blown away.