Pitcher @ MindSay

You gotta feel sorry for St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Rick Ankiel.  He started out his major league career as a pitcher, and a very promising pitcher at that.

Here's his back-story:

Ankiel was drafted in the second round in 1997 and appeared on the verge of becoming one of baseball's best young left-handers when he went 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 2000, his rookie season. He earned the start in Game 1 of the playoffs against the Atlanta Braves.

In one painful afternoon, things fell apart.

Pitching with a big lead in the third inning, Ankiel walked four of eight hitters and threw a record five wild pitches, some bouncing off the backstop. In another playoff game that season against the Mets, he threw four more wild pitches in a brief appearance.

He never recovered, going 1-2 in 2002 while trying to work through the wildness. After that, he pitched 10 more innings in the major leagues.

In the spring of 2005, Ankiel threw three strikes among 23 pitches at a spring training scrimmage against Cardinals hitters and decided to walk away from pitching and turn his attention to the outfield. He hit .250 with two homers and nine RBI in his only full season in the major leagues.

He showed promise, with a combined 21 home runs and 75 RBI in 85 games for Class-A Quad Cities and Double-A Springfield in 2005.

But then he hurt his knee in spring training, and wasn't able to play in a single game.  On May 26th, he had knee surgery.

I hate to see a guy with so much potential and willingness to put in so much hard work have to go through something like this. :(

New York Yankees veteran left-handed pitcher Al Leiter will pitch the 7th inning of Sunday's Grapefruit League game against the Cleveland Indians and then announce his retirement, ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney has confirmed.

Leiter pitched for 19 years, amassing a career record of 162-132. Leiter began his career with the Yankees in 1987 before moving on to the Blue Jays, Marlins and Mets before second stints with the Marlins and Yankees.

Leiter was a non-roster invitee to the Yankees camp this season.

San Diego Padres pitcher Doug Brocail, who is only 38 years old, had heart surgery this morning.  Pretty shocking, when you think about it.

Earlier in the week, Brocail had complained of chest tightness that radiated into both arms. He already was being treated for an abscessed tooth and asthma.

Dr. Harry Albers ordered a stress test, which came back abnormal.

"We found a large abnormality on the front wall of the heart, a blockage," Albers said. "He wasn't getting significant blood to the heart under stress."

Brocail was admitted to Boswell Memorial Hospital in nearby Sun City. Doctors found a 99-percent blockage of the left anterior descending artery, one of three coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart.

After the angioplasty, in which a balloon is inserted to open the artery, a stent was inserted to assure the artery remains open.

Brocail is expected to remain in the hospital for three or four days and could resume exercising in two weeks.

Hasegawa, 37, pitched in 46 games last season for Seattle, going 1-3 with a 4.19 ERA. The Mariners in November turned down a $3.1 million option to bring him back for a fourth season with the team.

"I had some offers from other teams but have decided to retire," Hasegawa said in a written statement. "Unless I'm in perfect shape mentally and physically, I wouldn't be able to be an important part of a team."

Hasegawa was selected to the American League All-Star team in 2003. He had a 45-43 career record with 33 saves over nine seasons in the majors with the Anaheim Angels and Mariners.

Nicknamed "Shiggy," Hasegawa was popular among Seattle fans for both his pitching and his ability to communicate freely in English.

Garland, who was eligible to become a free agent after the 2006 season, will receive $7 million next year, $10 million in 2007 and $12 million in 2008, the White Sox said in a statement.

The right-hander went 18-10 with a 3.50 ERA and led the American League in shutouts last season with the White Sox. He threw three complete games and had 115 strikeouts in 32 starts.

Garland, who made the AL All-Star team last season, went 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two postseason starts, including a complete-game victory against Los Angeles in Game 3 of the ALCS.

Garland is 64-61 with a 4.42 ERA in 181 career games over six major league seasons, all with the White Sox.

Joe Crede and Rob Mackowiak are now the only White Sox players eligible for salary arbitration.