We got to the stadium just before game time, and there was a weird buzz in the air. I am, of course, referring to the excitement over Joel Piñeiro’s second Cardinals start. On the way down to our seats it seemed like everyone was facing the same direction and having the same conversation.
He was a pitcher, I gather, and then he wasn’t a pitcher. Here’s the last moment he had before all eyes were glued on him for the duration:
Eckstein got on base, and up came the number two hitter:
And I’m sure there were… one or two people there who didn’t know the full scouting report and thought: What kind of hitter is this guy?
CROWD [unison]: Well, he doesn’t get cheated out there.
Second at-bat: more cheers. More swings. A strikeout.
Back in the outfield, a good play momentarily masks the nervous realization that a good story doesn’t have to keep being good all the time.
At-bat three: more cheering, then a strikeout, then deathly silence, then more cheering.
In the meantime, the Cardinals have knocked Chris Young The Terrible out of the game. Piñeiro has dominated an admittedly mediocre Padres lineup with a wide variety of breaking pitches and a better fastball than he’s had in sometime, and the bats have scraped together two runs for Izzy. But for some reason, people still seem ill at ease. And Rick Ankiel is back here, listening to nervous applause.
Foul ball. Ball. Ball. (Crowd: hey, he can take pitches! That’s good, right? Maybe this is a learning experience.) Curveball:
Never any doubt.
LaRussa was giddy as a 13-year old girl reading TigerBeat. Wonderboy has that effect on people.
Comment by KFad — August 10, 2007 @ 9:25 am
Great photos… thanks for posting them!
Comment by Deaner — August 10, 2007 @ 10:20 am
great job. goosebumps again, just like last night.
Comment by b.j. — August 10, 2007 @ 10:49 am
by the way, how in the world did you get those seats?!? like, wow. right there for the ankiel rebirth, or the end of the ankiel passion play (either way, pretty freaking cool).
Comment by b.j. — August 10, 2007 @ 10:55 am
His swing on the home run looked much like Kirk Gibson’s swing in Game 1 of the ’88 World Series.
Comment by Jonathan Redbird — August 10, 2007 @ 11:20 am
Very nice work. (By you and Ankiel!)
Comment by Rich Horton — August 10, 2007 @ 3:07 pm
Very, very classy Cardinals fans, knowledgeable and loyal. That home run is as much a reward to them as it was to Ankiel. So nice to have a feel-good-story like this after the national angst and argument over Bonds. Nothing but indisputable goodness about that moment.
– an Oakland A’s fan
Comment by TacoBellManager — August 10, 2007 @ 3:23 pm
Excellent work as usual, Danup. The Natural theme on the post below is a nice touch. My wife began humming it as soon as Ankiel hit his homer.
Comment by Archaeopteryx — August 10, 2007 @ 4:03 pm
Is it me, or did he just break that pitcher’s Ankiels?
- a Texas Rangers fan
Comment by Brian — August 11, 2007 @ 1:15 pm
Thanks for the Ankiel pictures. I’m as giddy as a kid who just met Stan Musial.
Comment by Westbird — August 11, 2007 @ 10:02 pm
Great photography. Who did you have to sleep with to get a seat *inside* the Padres dugout? I’m not judging, I’d just like to know for my own future reference.
Comment by John VonBokel — August 15, 2007 @ 11:13 am