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May
05
2009
Rick Ankiel Crashes Head-First Into The Center Field Wall
Posted by at 7:41 am ET 19 Comments

Scary moment last night in St. Louis when Pedro Feliz blasted a ball to the gap in left-center and after making the catch, Rick Ankiel slammed head-first into the wall. The Post-Dispatch has the particulars:

Ankiel caught Feliz’s blast in stride and took four steps before hitting the wall. Ankiel had started to transfer the ball as he hit the wall, but umpires ruled it a catch and an out after the 10-minute injury delay.

The force of Ankiel’s forehead and cheek-first ramming into the wall was enough to bend the brim of his cap into a V-shape. Duncan said Ankiel was conscious when he got there and able to reply to his first question.

Thankfully, initial reports are saying that the x-ray and CT scan were both negative.

Rick Ankiel injured in collision with wall | St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Check out the cringe-worthy video, after the jump.

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  • http://www.TheFightins.com Dash Treyhorn

    I’m surprised no one has lambasted Victorino for clapping in the dugout as Ankiel was taken off the field, throwing in some line like “What do you expect from the guys who booed Santa?”

    That was scary as shit, though. I heard the call on the radio, Franzke and LA made it seem worse than it was. We all wish Ankiel a speedy recovery.

  • mike

    Glad he’s alright, that scared the shit out of me in real time.

  • Albert

    I really like Ankiel. He plays the game a lot like Victorino, and even though you wanted him to not catch that ball you never want to see that happen. Great news that his scans were negative.

  • Here Come Da Judge

    He hit that wall probably the worst way he possibly could

  • http://macho-row.blogspot.com Kevin M

    Dash, I’m confused. Are you being sarcastic or are you really surprised that nobody brought out the tired Santa act? I think it was pretty obvious that everybody, including Milt Thompson and whoever else was shown on the screen in the Phillies dugout was clapping in support of Ankiel.

  • Eminencegirl

    Um, generally EVERYONE claps for an injured player when they leave any field of play in any sport. I’m pretty sure Dash was being sarcastic yet somewhat serious considering the SHIT we get that comes with being a Philadelphian/fan of a Philly sports team.

    Can you guys keep an eye out for updates on how Ankiel progresses? Watching that last night made me sick to my stomach.

  • Chase Mutley

    That’s how you play baseball. I love when our opponents are teams not named the Mets. Nothing but respect for Ankiel.

  • http://www.TheFightins.com Dash Treyhorn

    @Kevin M

    I was being very sarcastic. Shane, and the rest of the dugout, was clearly clapping in support of Ankiel as he gave the thumbs up on the cart.

    I remember last season, after Chase Utley took out the Nationals’ catcher in a home plate collision, and then Shane took out Brian McCann in similar fashion, some blog accused the Phillies of being dirty, and wanted to take players out, etc…And it always comes back to Philly being a dirty sports town, and it inevitably comes back to the Santa Claus thing.

    I’m just surprised that some jackass hasn’t done the same thing after last night, is all.

  • Matt

    I also seem to recall Victorino mauling Yadier Molina at the plate in a series in STL last season. I just remember Molina lying face down on the ground motionless and the end result was a concussion. Ankiel’s a beast and he leaves it all out on the field. Gotta hand it to a guy who can go from pitching to playing hardcore CF and hitting 20 HRs a year.

  • http://www.thefightins.com meech.one

    That was Utley, Matt. Victorino laid out Brian McCann last year. No questions asked.

  • http://www.thefightins.com How do you spell retard?

    Scrappiest. Crash. Ever.

  • Matt

    Actually, meech, we’re both wrong. Upon further investigation it was actually Bruntlett who laid out Molina. Fear the blonde beard

  • freddmoney

    I saw the catch in realtime, and it was scary. I swear I saw Ankiel say, “I’m okay.” when the left fielder came over, though. I hope that was the case anyway. Good luck to him. That was an awesome play, I’m sure he realized he was going to hit the wall (probably didn’t realize he would hit it that hard/at that angle) and took the ball out of his glove so that the catch would count.
    I agree that i was hoping he would drop the ball, but after going all out and hitting the wall like that it was okay with me that the ump got the call right.

  • will.H

    actually, i thought it was bruntlett who laid out molina in St. Louis last season.

  • http://www.thefightins.com meech.one

    haha, Utley laid out Jesus Flores. Damn, they knocked a lot of catchers the fuck out last year.

  • will.H

    ah crap matt already said that, sorry man. anyway i remember a guy on the pirates at least 15 years ago who literally dove head first into the fence at 3 rivers and all he got was a broken collarbone. he must have thought the fence was further because he laid out just feet from the fence and snapped his head back as far as it could go.

  • Frank Rizzo

    Did they ever divulge what Charlie said to the umps…McCarthy mentioned that he might have been telling them it SHOULD be an out… class act if so.

  • http://phillieslongdrive.com Tug Haines

    Ankiel doesn’t have to worry. If his career in baseball is over, there should be a position opening very shortly as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge.

    DOUBLE TASTELESS BURN!!!

  • MP

    The only thing worse that watching that go down in real time was the obscene amount of times the crash was replayed – it kept looking worse and worse.

    Anyone else notice Pujols up in there like he was an EMT of part of the medical staff? If that happened to me, I would not want an untrained person handling me after a crash like that.

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