In 1999, Rick Ankiel was a top five prospect in the game of baseball for the St Louis Cardinals. Ankliel was originally a pitcher out of high school, and made his debut in the MLB as a hard throwing left handed pitcher in 1999. Ankiel played two full seasons for the Redbirds, but he quickly began to unravel as pitcher.
Ankiel was removed in the first inning of the 2001 NLCS after throwing 20 pitches, all of which didn’t even come close to finding the strike zone. Five of the pitches sailed well past Cardinals catcher Eli Marrero, while one almost hit a Mets batter in the head.