RetroSimba

(Updated Jan. 9, 2019)

In October 2010, Rick Ankiel joined Babe Ruth and Smoky Joe Wood as the only big-league players since 1900 to appear in postseason games as starting pitchers and as starters at another position.

Ankiel started in center field for the Braves on Oct. 7, 2010, in Game 1 of the National League Division Series at San Francisco.

It was the first time Ankiel had started a postseason game at a position other than pitcher. Ankiel appeared in two games as a pinch-hitter for the Cardinals in the 2009 NL Division Series against the Dodgers, but didn’t start a game.

Ankiel’s first postseason starts were as a pitcher for the Cardinals in the 2000 NL Division Series against the Braves and in the 2000 NL Championship Series against the Mets.

Those performances were the start of Ankiel’s stunning slide from pitching phenom to flop.

After posting an 11-7 record and striking out 194 in 175 innings during the regular season, Ankiel got the start in Game 1 of the 2000 Division Series at St. Louis. The Cardinals struck for six runs in the first and kept a 6-0 lead heading to the third before Ankiel unraveled.

The rookie left-hander gave up four runs, four walks and five wild pitches in the inning before being lifted with two outs. Boxscore

St. Louis held on for a 7-5 win and eventually swept the series, advancing to face New York for the pennant.

In Game 2 of the NL Championship Series at St. Louis, Ankiel got the start, lasted two-thirds of an inning and yielded two runs, three walks, a hit and two wild pitches. The Mets won, 6-5, and went on to clinch the series in five games. Boxscore

Though Ankiel made a relief appearance in Game 5 of the series, his career as a pitcher was in tatters. He pitched in 11 more big-league games before successfully converting into a power-hitting outfielder.

The Society for American Baseball Research confirmed Ruth and Wood, like Ankiel, made postseason starts as pitchers and as outfielders.

Ruth started Game 2 of the 1916 World Series for the Red Sox against Brooklyn. He pitched 14 innings and earned the win, outdueling Sherry Smith in Boston’s 2-1 victory. Boxscore

Ruth also was the starting pitcher for Boston in two games of the 1918 World Series against the Cubs before he went on to star as baseball’s iconic slugging outfielder in seven World Series for the Yankees.

Wood started three games as a pitcher for the Red Sox against the Giants in the 1912 World Series. Eight years later, his pitching career cut short by a severe shoulder injury, he was the starting right fielder for the Indians in Game 1 of the 1920 World Series against Brooklyn. Boxscore

Ninety years later, Ankiel equaled the feat.

When Ankiel hit a home run for the Braves in Game 2 of the 2010 NL Division Series against the Giants Boxscore, he and Ruth became the only big-league players to both start a postseason game as a pitcher and hit a home run in the postseason as a position player.

Ankiel hit his postseason home run in the 11th inning on a fastball from Ramon Ramirez, snapping a 4-4 tie and carrying the Braves to a victory.

In his 2017 book “The Phenom,” Ankiel said, “The contact was so pure I could barely feel the ball off the bat … I don’t recall being happier on a baseball field than I was that October night in San Francisco.”