Former Met of the Day: Bob Apodaca (1973-1978)

Robert John Apodaca was born on January 31, 1950 at Los Angeles, California. The right hander was drafted in those Mets pitching rich days of 1971. He made his debut in late September 1973 allowing one run & two walks in less than one inning of work.

In the 1974 Mets home opener, after the ’73 NL Pennant flag was raised, Apodaca got the call for a sick Tug McGraw in the 9th inning. With two on he retired Tim McCarver to earn the save in relief of Jerry Koosman. Then after two losses and three no decisions, he earned his first victory beating Bob Gibson and the Cardinals. He went 6-6 with three saves the rest of the way, posting a 3.50 ERA in 105 innings.

In 1975 Apodaca was the Mets main relief specialist, taking over as the closer when Tug McGraw got traded. He missed the first two weeks on the DL, returning on April 20th. He saved seven games and earned one win through mid June before taking a loss. In that stretch he only allowed four earned runs in 28 innings, pitched. He suffered a fractured nose, requiring 14 stitches after getting hit by a bouncer in a game against the Phillies. Overall he still had his overall best season, posting a 1.48 ERA, with a team leading 13 saves (8th best in the league) and a 3-4 record. He allowed just 66 hits in 85.0 innings striking out 45 batters.

In 1976 he lost his closer job to Skip Lockwood, but was second to him on the staff in saves with five. He struggled with a 3-7 record but posted a quality 2.81 ERA, striking out 45 batters in 89 innings. Injuries began to take their toll on Apodaca, in 1977 he went 4-8, with a still respectable 3.43 ERA. In Spring Training of 1978 he tore a ligament in his right elbow and it ended his career.

He did not pitch for three seasons, unti 1981 when he attempted a comeback with AA-Jackson pitching in just six games, before being forced to retire. It was the end of a promising career that never took off, in just five brief seasons he appeared in 184 games, 16-25 with a 2.86 ERA and 26 saves.

Retirement: After his playing days ,he spent over a decade as a pitching coach in the Mets farm system, at Tidewater then Norfolk (1991-1996). He was promoted as Bobby Valentines pitching Coach from 1996-1999. The image of Apodaca trotting to the mound with his stop watch hanging around his neck, became his trademark. On June 5th 1999, the Mets were one game under .500 & the front office wanted to make shake things up a bit. Bobby Valentine arrived at Shea‚ learning GM Steve Phillips had fired his coaches Apodaca‚ Tom Robinson and Randy Niemann.

Apodaca moved on to be the Brewers pitching coach from 2000-2001. He then returned to the Mets organization as pitching coach for St. Lucie in 2002. In 2003 he was hired as pitching coach for the Colorado Rockies under manager Clint Hurdle, whom he met in the Mets organization. Apodaca's staff went to the World Series in 2007, and he still holds the position for 2010.