Rick Ankiel's gun show

If you missed Tuesday night's St. Louis Cardinals game, you missed two of the best throws you'll ever see from a major league centerfielder. Rick Ankiel put on a show with this arm for the first time since his 9-wild-pitch barrage in the 2000 playoffs.

With 1 out in the 1st inning, Todd Helton lifted a medium-length fly ball into center. With the speedy Willy Taveras tagging up at 2nd base, Ankiel zipped a line drive into the waiting glove of 3rd basemen Troy Glaus. A look at the replay showed Taveras wasn't running at full speed because he didn't think Ankiel could possibly throw him out from medium center field. He did.

Then in the 8th, one of the best throws you'll ever see. Shortstop Omar Quintanilla laced a gap shot into left center field that rolled all the way to the wall. Quintanilla could have stopped at 2nd base with a standup double, but he tried to get to the 3rd. Ankiel picked up the ball on the warning track, took one crow-hop, and launched a rope that would've hit the bag at 3rd base had Glaus not caught it and applied the tag. He did. After the game, Cards starting pitcher Braden Looper called Ankiel's 2nd outfield assist of the game, "Probably the best throw [he'd] ever seen. Definitely the best throw [he's] ever had behind him."

If you're in a fantasy baseball league that counts outfield assists, Ankiel just won you the week...and you're a freak.