Rick Ankiel lived two baseball careers in one body, separated by one of the most public pitching breakdowns the sport has ever seen.

As a 20-year-old left-hander in 2000, he looked unstoppable. He won 11 games, struck out 194 hitters, and carried a curveball that baffled hitters. Then the postseason arrived and his control completely unraveled. In one inning he threw five wild pitches, unable to locate anything near the strike zone. The yips took hold so fully that his pitching career never recovered.

Years later, Ankiel returned in a different role. He rebuilt himself as an outfielder and made it back to the majors in 2007, hitting for real power and showing off a famously strong throwing arm. When the Cardinals reached the postseason again in 2011, Ankiel contributed on the biggest stage, homering in the playoffs and playing meaningful innings in another October run.

Rick Ankiel’s career stands as one of baseball’s clearest examples of how fragile control can be, and how rare it is for a player to lose it publicly, adapt, and still find a way to matter in October again.

Vince Coleman joined the St. Louis Cardinals at a moment when the franchise was trying to revive the high-speed identity it had shaped under Whitey Herzog. Coleman had been a college football kicker at Florida A&M before turning fully to baseball, and the Cardinals saw in him the purest kind of baserunning weapon. He rewarded that belief immediately. In 1985 he stole 110 bases, the most by a rookie in league history, and the local press treated him as the new engine of the team’s small-ball attack.

His value went beyond the stolen bases. Coleman forced pitchers to speed up their work and infielders to play in uncomfortable spots. That pressure helped shape the Cardinals’ offensive style during multiple postseason runs, including their 1985 and 1987 National League pennants. Coaches often pointed out how quickly he read pitchers, and how much his confidence set the tone for the rest of the lineup.

His time in St. Louis had its flaws, including stretches of inconsistency and the occasional run-in with the media, but his impact on the field was unmistakable. Coleman kept alive a brand of Cardinals baseball that relied on movement, instinct, and the threat of chaos every time he reached first base.

Nice surprise in a 2025 Bowman Chrome Mega Box

A game used bat battle nameplate from one of the best hitters of ALL TIME. A true museum piece. And, to top it off, as a St. Louis Cardinals fan, he’s in the top 3: Hornsby, Musial, Pujols. Items like this aren’t just “cards”…these relics are one-of-a-kind pieces of sports history. So lucky to have it as part of my collection. Just check some of his stats:

• Lifetime batting average: .358 — second only to Ty Cobb’s .366 in MLB history.

• Hits: 2,930.

• Home runs: 301.

• Runs batted in (RBIs): 1,584.

• On-base percentage (OBP): .434.

• Slugging percentage (SLG): .577.

• On-base plus slugging (OPS): ~1.010.

Stand-out Seasons & Records

• His .424 batting average in 1924 is the highest for the modern era (post-1900) in the National League.

• He won the NL batting title seven times, including six consecutive years from 1920–1925.

• He won the Triple Crown twice (leading the league in batting average, home runs, and RBIs): in 1922 and 1925.

• In 1922: he hit 42 home runs, had 152 RBIs, 250 hits, and set a single-season NL record with 450 total bases.

• In 1929 (with the Chicago Cubs), he batted .380, hit 39 home runs, led the league in slugging (.679) and had 156 runs scored — an NL high for right‐handed batters in the 20th century.