Richard Alexander Ankiel was born July 19th, 1979, in Fort Pierce, Florida to parents Richard Patrick Ankiel and Denise Turton. Growing up, Rick loved to play baseball, but his father was an over-bearing, “know it all” parent when it came to sports. He was worse at home, where he was a physically abusive drunk and dealt hard drugs. Baseball then became something Rick had to do, in order to get out of his situation at home. While Rick could play multiple positions, he excelled as a pitcher, and as a Senior at Port St. Lucie High, he went 11-1 with a 0.47 earned run average, striking out 162 batters in 74 innings pitched. Good enough to be named High School Player of the Year by USA Today.
