ST. LOUIS - In 24 major league seasons, San Diego manager Bud Black has witnessed many remarkable moments. This one stunned him.

Rick Ankiel, back as a slugging outfielder.

In 2000, Ankiel was the best young pitcher in major league baseball. At age 20, he had 11 wins and 194 strikeouts in 175 innings with St. Louis. The kid had a golden left arm.

Ankiel started the second act of his major league life Thursday, appearing in a major league game for the first time since Oct. 1, 2004, not as a pitcher but as a right fielder. In his debut under the new identity, Ankiel launched a three-run home run against the San Diego Padres.

"You don't see that very often," Black said. "Actually, you haven't seen that since Babe Ruth."

To be specific, not since Rube Bressler.

Ankiel is trying to become only the sixth player since 1900 to pitch at least 100 innings in a season and have at least 150 at-bats as a position player in a different season. His predecessors are Rube Bressler, Johnny Cooney, Watty Lee, Babe Ruth and Smokey Joe Wood. Hal Jeffcoat went the opposite direction: full-time hitter from 1948-53 to full-time pitcher from 1954-59.

Ruth, the Hall of Famer, is the most famous pitcher-turned-hitter. Bressler is the most recent inductee. He pitched with the Philadelphia Athletics and Cincinnati from 1914-20 before becoming a full-time outfielder for 12 seasons.

"More than 80 years since something like this," Black said. "What does that tell you?"

That Ankiel has a freakish collection of skills. What makes this an inspirational tale is, Ankiel had to survive a hellish personal experience. The game tore him up and knocked him down but could not beat him.

Ankiel's peers understand. When he walked into the home clubhouse at Busch Stadium, equipment bag in hand, teammates mobbed him. Before that first game, San Diego catcher Michael Barrett sought out Ankiel to hug him.

"Everybody is rooting for him," Cardinals second baseman Adam Kennedy said. "We all know what he's been through."

Downfall began in 2000

St. Louis manager Tony La Russa remembers March 5, 2005, as a "painful day."

A distraught Ankiel walked into La Russa's office at the spring training facility and quit. Pitching had turned on Ankiel with a vengeance.

There was the shocking onset of "Steve Blass disease" during the 2000 playoffs, when Ankiel had nine wild pitches in four innings. By the next summer, he had slid to the rookie-level Appalachian League. Ankiel missed 2002 because of a sprained elbow and lost a big part of 2003-04 because of "Tommy John" surgery.

Ankiel's confidence was shot.

"The pressure of having to compete and do well got to him," Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty said. "He just did not want to do it any longer."

Jocketty had an emotional investment in Ankiel. Their relationship started in spring 1997 when Ankiel was rated as the best high school pitcher in the country but was considered unsignable because of his "adviser," Scott Boras.

Jocketty personally scouted Ankiel and came to understand the pressure that enveloped him. Ankiel's father, also named Rick, was the classic badgering stage parent. The father also had numerous run-ins with Florida police and has since done time in a federal prison because of a drug conviction.

The son grew to trust Jocketty and signed with the Cardinals. Jocketty was with him every step of the way, through the sudden success and the hard falls. After all that, Jocketty was not going to let Ankiel walk away.

Jocketty never had forgotten that Ankiel also might have been the top high school hitter in 1997. Some people, such as San Diego Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, thought his left- handed swing was better than his arm.

Try the outfield, Jocketty suggested. We'll give you every possible opportunity.

Ankiel left camp to consider the option. He returned ready to try again.

"I appreciate that they gave me a chance to start over," Ankiel said.

With two Class A clubs in 2005, Ankiel had 21 homers and a .514 slugging percentage in only 321 at-bats. The fates had another test waiting.

Ankiel injured his left knee early in spring training of 2006 and missed the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn patellar tendon. What seemed to be a huge obstacle turned into a blessing.

He spent the summer at the Cardinals' complex in Jupiter, Fla., rehabilitating the knee and changing what was a pitcher's body into an outfielder's body through weight work. He added significant upper-body strength.

Ankiel also used the sabbatical to free his mind.

He arrived in the majors with a huge chip on his shoulder, never able to relax. Maybe it came from the intense pressure applied by his father. Maybe it came from being in the spotlight as a 20-year-old.

When Ankiel reported for spring training in February, the Cardinals noticed his maturity. The person had caught up to the talent.

"What he's gone through in his life and his career, and to have battled back, says a lot about his character," said Jocketty, an assistant general manager with the Rockies in 1993-94. "This kid has grown up and matured and made himself into a better person."

Finally, a joyful moment

This has been a difficult season for the defending World Series champions. It goes beyond poor performance on the field.

La Russa was arrested during spring training on suspicion of drunk driving, a case that remains unresolved in the Florida legal system. On the morning of April 29, pitcher Josh Hancock died in a car crash on a local highway. Toxicology tests showed Hancock's blood-alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit.

On the day of Ankiel's promotion, more distressing news hit the club. Infielder Scott Spiezio left the team to undergo treatment for a substance-abuse problem.

Perhaps that is why Ankiel received an "emotional" welcome, according to La Russa. Ankiel's homer, off veteran Doug Brocail, added to the infusion of cheer.

"Short of winning the World Series, that's the happiest I've seen our club," La Russa said. "It's so emotional. He's a big leaguer from now to forever. He has the talent to pull it off."

That has shown in the first week. Ankiel is hitting .375 with three homers and six RBI in 16 at-bats.

But there are holes in Ankiel's game.

With Memphis of the Pacific Coast League, Ankiel led Triple-A in homers, with 32, but hit only .267 with 90 strikeouts in 389 at-bats. He has six strikeouts with the Cardinals.

Three scouts who watched Ankiel envision him as a reserve corner outfielder on a good club but a starter only on a mediocre to bad team.

The scouts said Ankiel punishes fastballs but must learn to make adjustments against left-handers and breaking pitches. It was noteworthy that Ankiel's homer came on a curveball.

"I have no idea how he hit that ball," Brocail said.

The Cardinals had planned on waiting until September to add Ankiel. The club acted sooner because it clings to a sliver of hope of winning the National League Central. The Cardinals decided promoting Ankiel could give the club a needed jolt for its road games this week against Milwaukee and the Chicago Cubs.

"Getting here is a goal that I set for myself, and it's one that I reached," Ankiel said. "I'm looking forward to reaching my next goal, which is staying here. That's the challenge."

After everything else, that seems a rather routine task. Rick Ankiel has faced much worse and still is standing, in the batter's box.

Pitchers-turned-hitters

A look at some pitchers-turned-position players who went on to have successful major league careers, including their career statistics:

• JOHNNY LINDELL

.273 average, 404 RBI; 8-18, 4.47 ERA

Lindell, a knuckleballer, cracked the Yankees staff in 1942 and went 2-1 in 23 appearances. Manager Joe McCarthy disliked knuckleballers and moved Lindell to the outfield in 1943. Lindell made the American League All-Star team that season, then hit .300 with 18 homers and 103 RBI in 1944 to finish 17th in the Most Valuable Player voting. Lindell reinvented himself one more time. After a two-year stay in the minors, he returned to the majors in 1953 as a pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies.

• STAN MUSIAL

.331 average, 3,630 hits, 475 home runs

For three seasons in the St. Louis Cardinals' minor league system, Musial went 33-13 as a left-handed pitcher. And Musial played outfield in 1940 with Daytona Beach ( Fla.). He damaged his left shoulder while making a diving catch, putting his pitching career in jeopardy. Manager Dickie Kerr convinced Musial that he could make the majors as a hitter. Three years later, Musial won the first of seven National League batting titles. Musial went into the Hall of Fame in 1969.

• BABE RUTH

.342 average, 714 home runs; 94-46, 2.28 ERA

With the Boston Red Sox in 1919, Ruth had a season remarkable for its variety. He went 9-5 with a 2.97 ERA in 133 1/3 innings and also found time to hit a record 29 homers in 432 at-bats. The Red Sox sold Ruth to the New York Yankees after that season, and new manager Miller Huggins wanted him in the outfield full time. That fast-forwarded a Hall of Fame career that ended with Ruth holding the all-time home-run record until Henry Aaron passed him in 1974.

• GEORGE SISLER

.340 average, 1,175 RBI; 5-6, 2.35 ERA

As rookie seasons go, Sisler's was a success in 1915 for the St. Louis Browns. He was 4-4 with a 2.83 ERA in 70 innings. Two of his victories came against future Hall of Famer Walter Johnson of Washington. Browns manager Branch Rickey, also a future Hall of Famer, wanted Sisler's bat in the lineup every day and turned him into a first baseman the next season. Sisler won two batting titles and was the American League Most Valuable Player in 1922. He went into the Hall of Fame in 1939.

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