Editing Rick Ankiel (section)

===2000 postseason===
The [[2000 St. Louis Cardinals season|Cardinals]] won the [[National League Central]] Division championship in 2000. Injuries to other pitchers left Ankiel and [[Darryl Kile]] as the only fully healthy starters left on the roster. Cardinals manager [[Tony La Russa]] chose Ankiel to start game one of the [[2000 National League Division Series|National League Division Series]] against veteran pitcher [[Greg Maddux]] of the Braves. To shield Ankiel from media pressure, La Russa had Kile answer questions to the media as if to start game one, and afterwards informed the media that Ankiel was starting.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://nypost.com/2000/10/11/kile-might-get-chance-to-be-three-mendous/ | title=Kile Might Get Chance to be Three-mendous | publisher=New York Post | date=October 11, 2000 | access-date=March 6, 2014 | author=Lewis, Brian}}</ref>

In game one, Ankiel did not allow a run through the first two innings. His performance suddenly deteriorated in the third. He allowed four runs on two hits, four walks and throwing five [[wild pitch]]es before being removed with two outs. Despite Ankiel facing eight batters and throwing 35 pitches, the Cardinals won the game.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN200010030.shtml|title=St. Louis Cardinals 7, Atlanta Braves 5|publisher=[[Retrosheet]]|date=October 3, 2007|access-date=December 14, 2007}}</ref> Ankiel shrugged off the event, joking that he set a record for wild pitches. He was the first pitcher to throw five wild pitches in an inning since [[Bert Cunningham]] of the [[Players' League]] in 1890. Ankiel set the record for wild pitches in a postseason career and postseason inning.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ankiel's wildness peerless |url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2000/10/04/ankiel-s-wildness-peerless/ |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=Tampa Bay Times |language=en}}</ref>

In his next start, game two of the [[2000 National League Championship Series|National League Championship Series]] against the [[2000 New York Mets season|New York Mets]], Ankiel was removed in the first inning after throwing 20 pitches, five of which went past catcher [[Eli Marrero]] (only two were official wild pitches, as no runners were on base for the others), and the first of which sailed over the head of Mets' hitter [[Timo Perez]]. Ankiel appeared again in the seventh inning of game five facing four hitters, walking two and throwing two more wild pitches. The Cardinals lost the series four games to one to the Mets.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rick Ankiel Postseason Pitching Game Logs |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=ankieri01&t=p&year=0&post=1 |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}}</ref>

The source of Ankiel's problems were unknown,<ref>{{cite book|last=Difabbio|first=Ronald|title=The Baseball Gods|date=July 1, 2006|publisher=iUniverse}}</ref> but speculated to be psychological. His father had been sent to federal prison, and his parents were divorced during the 2000 season.<ref name="troubles" /> His loss of control, often called [[yips|the yips]], has been compared to pitcher [[Steve Blass]], who also became unable to consistently throw strikes for unknown reasons. A section of a book about Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, ''Three Nights in August,'' details Ankiel's rise to the big leagues and loss of control as a pitcher in 2000–2001. La Russa has stated that putting Ankiel into Game 1 of the 2000 NLDS was "a decision that perhaps haunts him more than any he has ever made."<ref>''Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager'', by Buzz Bissinger, Houghton Mifflin Company; First Mariner Books edition (2006, {{ISBN|978-0-618-71053-9}})</ref>