Kevin Appier, (Royals) Hall of Famer

The Royals announced today that Kevin Appier was elected to the Royals Hall of Fame.

For anyone who followed the Royals in the 90s, this is no surprise.

With 82.5% of the voting going his way (75% is required for election), he becomes the 24th Royal in the team HOF. He’s more than deserving.

Appier was third in Rookie of the Year voting in 1990. He was third in Cy Young voting in 1993 (and should have won). He leads the Royals in strikeouts and has started more Opening Days (7) than Steve Busby, Bret Saberhagen and Zack Greinke combined (2, 3 and 1 respectively).

Year	Tm	W	L	ERA	GS	CG	SO	IP	HR	ERA+	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	K/9	K/BB
1989	KCR	1	4	9.14	5	0	0	21.2	3	43	2.123	14.1	1.2	5.0	4.2	0.83
1990	KCR	12	8	2.76	24	3	3	185.2	13	139	1.255	8.7	0.6	2.6	6.2	2.35
1991	KCR	13	10	3.42	31	6	3	207.2	13	121	1.281	8.9	0.6	2.6	6.8	2.59
1992	KCR	15	8	2.46	30	3	0	208.1	10	166	1.128	7.2	0.4	2.9	6.5	2.21
1993	KCR	18	8	2.56	34	5	1	238.2	8	*179*	1.106	6.9	*0.3*	3.1	7.0	2.30
1994	KCR	7	6	3.83	23	1	0	155.0	11	131	1.290	8.0	0.6	3.7	8.4	2.30
1995	KCR	15	10	3.89	31	4	1	201.1	14	123	1.207	7.3	0.6	3.6	8.3	2.31
1996	KCR	14	11	3.62	32	5	1	211.1	17	138	1.263	8.2	0.7	3.2	8.8	2.76
1997	KCR	9	13	3.40	34	4	1	235.2	24	137	1.226	8.2	0.9	2.8	7.5	2.65
1998	KCR	1	2	7.80	3	0	0	15.0	3	62	1.733	12.6	1.8	3.0	5.4	1.80
1999	TOT	16	14	5.17	34	1	0	209.0	27	95	1.502	9.9	1.2	3.6	5.6	1.56
1999	KCR	9	9	4.87	22	1	0	140.1	18	103	1.454	9.8	1.2	3.3	5.0	1.53
1999	OAK	7	5	5.77	12	0	0	68.2	9	80	1.602	10.1	1.2	4.3	6.9	1.61
2000	OAK	15	11	4.52	31	1	1	195.1	23	104	1.546	9.2	1.1	4.7	5.9	1.26
2001	NYM	11	10	3.57	33	1	1	206.2	22	117	1.185	7.9	1.0	2.8	7.5	2.69
2002	ANA	14	12	3.92	32	0	0	188.1	23	113	1.354	9.1	1.1	3.1	6.3	2.06
2003	TOT	8	9	5.40	23	0	0	111.2	21	83	1.460	9.7	1.7	3.5	4.4	1.28
2003	ANA	7	7	5.63	19	0	0	92.2	17	78	1.522	10.2	1.7	3.5	4.9	1.39
2003	KCR	1	2	4.26	4	0	0	19.0	4	117	1.158	7.1	1.9	3.3	2.4	0.71
2004	KCR	0	1	13.50	2	0	0	4.0	0	38	2.500	15.8	0.0	6.8	4.5	0.67
16 Seasons	169	137	3.74	402	34	12	2595.1	232	121	1.294	8.4	0.8	3.2	6.9	2.14
162 Game Avg.	14	11	3.74	34	3	1	216	19	121	1.294	8.4	0.8	3.2	6.9	2.14
	W	L	ERA	GS	CG	SO	IP	HR	ERA+	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	K/9	K/BB
KCR (13 yrs)	115	92	3.49	275	32	10	1843.2	138	131	1.250	8.2	0.7	3.1	7.1	2.30
OAK (2 yrs)	22	16	4.84	43	1	1	264.0	32	96	1.561	9.4	1.1	4.6	6.2	1.35
ANA (2 yrs)	21	19	4.48	51	0	0	281.0	40	99	1.409	9.5	1.3	3.2	5.8	1.82
NYM (1 yr)	11	10	3.57	33	1	1	206.2	22	117	1.185	7.9	1.0	2.8	7.5	2.69

AL (15 yrs)	158	127	3.75	369	33	11	2388.2	210	121	1.303	8.5	0.8	3.3	6.9	2.10
NL (1 yr)	11	10	3.57	33	1	1	206.2	22	117	1.185	7.9	1.0	2.8	7.5	2.69

Looking back, despite my hopes to name an everyday player as my favorite, it’s got to be Appier as my true favorite post-Brett player. When I started pitching when I was 14, I modeled my motion after Appier (I’ve probably mentioned that, and kids, don’t do what I did.)

I remember the 1993 complete game one-hitter. He lost. That lone hit was a shallow homer by Rafael Palmeiro and the Royals didn’t score all game.

I also remember August 2003 when Appier, after being released by the Angels, signed with the Royals in the midst of their last real shot at the playoffs. In his second start back with Kansas City, he threw six shutout innings against the Yankees in the most exciting regular season series I can remember clearly as a Royals fan.

Appier retired a Royal and going off of Baseball-Reference’s WAR calculations, has the highest career WAR in a Royals uniform among pitchers. Even more than Bret Saberhagen and his two Cy Young Awards. His ERA ranks second among Royals pitchers who were primarily starters (Jeff Montgomery, Steve Farr and Dan Quisenberry are also in the top five along with Saberhagen).

Appier was a slam dunk choice for the Royals Hall. The only similar case is Mike Sweeney, who retired at the end of spring training after signing a one day contract with the Royals. After those two, we’re reminded of the dearth of talent that came to (and played long enough) in Kansas City.

After Appier and Sweeney, who’s got potential for the Hall? Joe Randa? David DeJesus? Did Johnny Damon, Carlos Beltran and Jermaine Dye do enough in blue to get consideration, or would that be a slap in the face to the fans who watched them get sold off for peanuts?

I don’t know – we may be waiting a while for the next no-brainer case for the Royals Hall of Fame. That’s unfortunate, but in the meantime, we get to relive the memories of some old favorites in Royals history. That’s not so bad, is it?

Appier will be inducted prior to the Royals June 25th game against the Cubs.

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