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Gabriel commented on Giancarlo Stanton Monster Homerun Sunday Versus the Cubs:
“Amazing home run. Few players in baseball can hit that ball so hard and far. Can't wait for Stanton to earn freedom from the glorified AAA team Marlins and play for a real MLB club.”
As famous as Rick Ankiel became for the mental breakdown he went through as a pitcher, that same powerful throwing arm is the reason he's still kicking around on Major League Baseball fields, and he got another chance to show why last night.
Ankiel, the centerfielder for the Washington Nationals, made one of the best outfield throws you'll ever see -- and he didn't even get the chance to make an out with it.
With the bases loaded full of Astros in the sixth inning, Ankiel caught a lazy fly ball about 300 feet or a little further from home plate. The Astros fastest baserunner, Jordan Schafer tagged at third base, but didn't attempt to score. As Ankiel's throw sailed in, you knew why Schafer was still standing at third base.
Ankiel's throw hit the catcher Wilson Ramos' glove, right on the inside corner of home plate, without Ramos having to even think about moving his feet.
There's a lot of jokes to be made about Ankiel throwing a strike from 300 feet when he couldn't throw one from 60 feet, but I'm pretty sure all of them stopped being funny at least five years ago. These days, it's far more fashionable to poke fun at Rick Ankiel for striking out, which he's done six times in 20 at bats so far this season.
But boy, what an arm.
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Bison Messink:
Is that the queasy feeling you get when you've just finished a case of Natty Ice?
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