M's and 'Lo's Got At It

[Wolf Hopper]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2003/0411/1537644.html

Some pretty harsh words in this one!

"I think that's weak," Appier told the Los Angeles Times.

Seattle manager Bob Melvin, who caught Appier with the Kansas City Royals in 1992, acknowledged that Appier was using an unfamiliar pitch. According to the report, it was a cut fastball the pitcher said he added to his repertoire during spring training.

Melvin also suggested Appier was "raising the seams" on the ball. Appier's response: "He's going senile."

[Skip]

Nah. It's all smoke, no fire. If the M's aren't going anywhere with it, it's a non-story.

[gyb13]

"scuff-gate" - :redhot: :splat:

well, they've already down-played it and "Nobody accused him of anything," Melvin told The Times. "Nobody has more respect for Kevin Appier than I do."

[SmedIndy]

Whoop-de-damn-do. The M's could try to get a hit against him.

[satchel]

Must be Melvin's way of picking up where his predecessor left off. In the NYY-TB series last weekend, Piniella practically accused Clemens of scuffing. Right ...

Appier had a good day, so he must be cheating. Please.

[KCBOOMER]

This is silly. Melvin was only in KC for 32 games over ten years ago. The only thing a career .233 hitter knows about ML pitching is that he can't hit it.

[Wolf Hopper]

I dunno..........Mike Scioscia caught a bunch of Ball Doctors out in LA.............Jay Howell, Rick Honeycutt, Kevin Gross, Don Sutton, etc.

It's possible.

[TimmyB]

My guess is there's more head game going on than anything. Melvin is trying to get into Appier's head by collecting the balls (not turning them in, but holding them). Why collect them for "evidence" if you're not going to do anything with them?

Since the unbalanced schedule means the M's and Halos face each other forty-eleven times during the season, that would translate into a fair number of starts (in theory) for Appier. They're messin' with his head.

(Whether is has any effect is another story.)

[SmedIndy]

Originally posted by Wolf Hopper
I dunno..........Mike Scioscia caught a bunch of Ball Doctors out in LA.............Jay Howell, Rick Honeycutt, Kevin Gross, Don Sutton, etc.

It's possible.

You ever see how bad a ball can get scuffed just by throwing a curve in the dirt? Appier's crafty enough to work with it, I'm sure.