He is the The Natural, he is Young Musial, he is the alpha, the omega, the beginning, the end. And, as of today, he is a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. Sources tell us that an announcement that Rick Ankiel has been called up to the big leagues is scheduled for later this afternoon/weekend.

His first series should be this weekend against the Los Angeles Dodgers. And yes, now that you mention it: We are going to be at Busch Stadium this weekend.

Holy crap. We wonder what we should wear.

Rick Ankiel [Deadspin]

(UPDATE: The great Bernie Miklasz at the P-D has confirmed this, by the way. Not that you didn't trust us ...