#97 - Kevin Appier, RH Starting Pitcher
Rob McMillin looks back:
One of the more overlooked Angels on the 2002 squad, mainly due to his 2003 collapse (and his uselessness in the 2002 World Series, 11.37 ERA in 6.1 IP), he nonetheless gave the Angels the last good season of his career. Simply by being a useful participant that year, Ape gave the Angels what Mo Vaughn could not: a positive contribution. Forgotten, too, were his two good starts against the Twins in the ALCS that year.
yeswecan also sees the Appier glass as half-full:
Angel fans might remember him most for his 2003 "What the fuck, Sosh?" tirades when Scioscia pulled his ass in the 4th inning after giving up 6 runs, or for the $14 million the Angels ate just to release him. But in 2002 he ate up a ton of innings and was a solid starter.
But there are still doubters to Appier's Angel legacy.
Tom Callinan weighs in:
"I'm still trying to forget Kevin Appier, thank you."
Me, I still recall the gallons of sweat slowly drenching his cap, drowning it mercilessly even before the second inning had transpired.
Read More of Rob at his 6-4-2 L.A. Baseball Blog
Buy yeswecan's solo album and claim your rightful position as a music snob.
Tom Callinan has no online presence to speak of, so you have to figure he has a social life and ordinary interactions with a diverse range of people in person on a daily basis. Weird.