2012 Media Guide - MLB.com - Colorado Rockies

BOB APODACA
PITCHING COACH
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Ht: 5-11 Wt: 177 Age: 63
Born: Jan. 31, 1949 in Los Angeles, CA Residence: Port St. Lucie, FL
Coaching Experience: 14 seasons Named: Coach on Oct. 31, 2002
MANAGING/COACHING CAREER: Apodaca is in his 10th season as the club’s pitching coach, the most tenured
Major League coach on the Rockies staff…he is the sixth pitching coach in Rockies history, joining Larry Bearnarth (1993-
95), Frank Funk (1996-98), Milt May (1999), Marcel Lachemann (2000-01) and Jim Wright (2002)…enters his 40th year in
professional baseball…Apodaca oversaw a group of pitchers that combined to set the Rockies single season ERA record
(4.14) in 2010...that included Ubaldo Jimenez setting several Rockies single season records and pitching the first no-hitter
in club history (4/17 at ATL)...in 2009 the Rockies had five 10-game winners, the first time that has happened in franchise
history...the 2009 Rockies pitching staff also set the previous team ERA (4.22) mark, ahead of 2007 (4.32)...the
Rockies pitching staff has now posted the six-best ERA marks in club history over the last six years, since 2006...while
Colorado has seen pitchers from within its own organization have success during Apodaca’s tenure, several pitchers from
outside organization have enjoyed success after joining the Rockies staff, including Jorge De La Rosa, Jason Hammel,
Matt Belisle and Rafael Betancourt...in 2008, Bob was a member of the National League All-Star coaching staff led by Clint
Hurdle at Yankee Stadium in July...Apodaca spent 30 seasons in the Mets system, including 29 consecutive as a player
or coach from 1971-1999…was New York’s pitching coach from 1996-99 and then Milwaukee’s pitching coach in 2000 and
2001…returned to the Mets in 2002, as the pitching coach at Single-A St. Lucie of the Florida State League…after injuries
eventually ended his playing career in 1981, Bob was hired that summer as a coach with Single-A Little Falls of the New
York-Penn League…coached Double-A Jackson of the Texas League in 1983 before moving on to Single-A Columbia of
the South Atlantic League for four seasons (1984-87)…in 1986, he led Columbia to the league championship, earning SAL
Coach of the Year honors…in 1988, he joined Clint Hurdle at St. Lucie in what was Clint’s first season as a professional
manager…Bob went to Jackson in 1989, where Hurdle would join him one year later when Clint took over as the skipper
of the Double-A club…from 1991-96, Bob coached for the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate, including two seasons with Hurdle in
1992-93…after spending over half of the 1996 campaign with Norfolk, Apodaca was appointed as New York’s Major
League pitching coach on Aug. 26, 1996; spent 3 1/2 years in that capacity, including the wild card season of 1999.
PLAYING CAREER: The right-hander spent his entire professional career with the Mets starting at Single-A Visalia
in 1971…made his Major League debut late in the 1973 season and went on to pitch four full seasons in a Mets uniform
before injuries eventually ended his career…appeared in 184 games, 11 starts, going 16-25 with a 2.86 ERA and 26
saves…earned his first major league victory on May 13, 1974 when he beat Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals in a
starting role…his best season came in 1975 when he posted a 1.48 ERA while allowing just 66 hits in 85.0 innings…tore
a ligament in his right elbow during the final week of spring training in 1978…missed that entire season and pitched in only
two games at Triple-A in 1979…the injury sidelined the righty for all of 1980…saw action in just 6 games with Jackson in
1981 before retiring.
PERSONAL: Robert John Apodaca…he and his wife, Deborah, have two sons, Bobby and Josh, and two daughters,
Toby and Kim…was a third baseman in high school but converted to a pitcher at Cerritos Junior College…transferred
to California State at Los Angeles where he was the team MVP as a senior…participates in the Rockies “Care & Share
Program,” which invites children living with serious illnesses to attend batting practice and meet Rockies players and
coaches.
APODACA’S CAREER PLAYING RECORD
Year Club W-L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER BB SO
1971 Visalia 7-1 3.60 13 8 4 0 0 70.0 62 28 28 16 52
1972 Memphis 11-7 2.81 30 16 8 2 2 157.0 145 61 49 40 125
1973 Tidewater 6-3 1.80 34 3 3 0 0 80.0 63 20 16 28 45
NEW YORK-NL 0-0 ––– 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 1 1 2 0
1974 NEW YORK-NL 6-6 3.50 35 8 1 0 3 103.0 92 47 40 42 54
1975 NEW YORK-NL 3-4 1.48 46 0 0 0 13 85.0 66 18 14 28 45
1976 NEW YORK-NL 3-7 2.80 43 3 0 0 5 90.0 71 34 28 29 45
1977 NEW YORK-NL 4-8 3.43 59 0 0 0 5 84.0 83 38 32 30 53
1978 NEW YORK-NL INJURED – Did Not Play
1979 Tidewater 0-2 15.75 2 2 0 0 0 4.0 6 7 7 0 0
1980 NEW YORK-NL INJURED – Did Not Play
1981 Jackson 1-3 7.56 6 5 0 0 0 25.0 39 28 21 14 14
Major League Totals 16-25 2.86 184 11 1 0 26 362.0 312 138 115 131 197
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APODACA