"Former Cardinals righthander Brad Thompson, vying for a spot on the Kansas City roster, played with new Royals center fielder Rick Ankiel for a half-dozen or so years in the Cardinals' organization, both when Ankiel was a pitcher and when he was a hitter.

The maturation process of Ankiel has been a long, sometimes tortured one but what Thompson sees now is a more relaxed, confident Ankiel. "He's loving it," Thompson said. "He's as happy as can be. He's almost a team-leader type over here.

"People gravitate toward him. He's not hard to approach. He's one of those guys who's pretty much done everything you can do in baseball. If you want to talk to somebody about something, Ank would be a good guy."

Ankiel, who will be 31 later this season, doesn't necessarily aspire to be that leader, although he won't shy away from it. "It's going to happen anyway," he said.

"I would hope that guys would come up and get advice from me. I just feel fortunate to have been a player who was able to do both (pitch and play other positions)."

Whether he is more at ease than at any other time in his career is a question Ankiel, who has lived through more tumult than most — both on and off the field — isn't prepared to answer.

"I feel good right now," he said. "But there's been plenty of times in my career when I've come in feeling whatever. I felt fine in 2008, too."

There is something very different about Ankiel the hitter than what we saw last year, when he batted .231 with 11 homers and 38 runs batted in for the Cardinals. For those who remember him with a spread-eagled stance with little stride, Ankiel has reverted to a stance he employed in high school in Port St. Lucie, Fla."