Event

Rick Ankiel: The Phenomenon

Left Bank Books and Maryville Talks Books present author and former St. Louis Cardinal Rick Ankiel, who will sign and discuss his memoir, "The Phenomenon: Pressure, the Yips, and the Pitch That Changed My Life"!

Ticket information: $30 admits one person and includes one copy of "The Phenomenon." $35 admits two people, includes one copy of "The Phenomenon," and $5 will be redeemable towards the purchase of a second copy of "The Phenomenon" at the event.

On October 3, 2000, 21-year-old pitcher Rick Ankiel took the mound for the St. Louis Cardinals in Game One of the National League division series. All was going well until Ankiel, whod been lauded as the next Bob Gibson, threw a pitch that missed the mittwildly. Then he threw another. Then another, five in all. Slowly at first, then rapidly, his once-impenetrable pitchers psyche crumbled. He would forever look back on that day as the day the unwelcome, inexplicable Phenomenon arrived.In this book, written with veteran sports journalist Tim Brown, Rick Ankiel tells the story of his personal battle with an anxiety condition widely known as the Yips, the courageous soul-searching that followed, and his eventual triumph over the demons in his own mind to reenter the game.