As I’ve told you guys a few times before, 2006 was my first year covering the team. That year for me was out of this world, simply because I was finally doing what I’ve always wanted to do, which is of course, be a beat writer and cover a professional baseball team. Young reliever Josh Appell was also living his dream that summer, playing first for the Mets former Single-A affiliate the Hagerstown Suns and then in Brooklyn where he played the entire season. The only problem was things weren’t going nearly as well for him as he would have hoped.

For those who don’t know, Appell is a University of Pennsylvania graduate, making him a tremendously smart cookie. He’s probably one of my favorite interviews of all-time too based on the fact that he’s extremely intelligent and really explains the answers to the questions you ask him. Simply put, I [And I’m sure several other reporters feel this way too], feel that Appell could do anything he wanted with his life and doesn’t need to play professional baseball. After posting a 5.40 ERA in nine appearances and basically wasting away in George Greer’s bullpen in 2006 however, not many people thought Appell was going to be a player to watch in 2007.

However, Appell came to Brooklyn in 2007 with a secret weapon, a slider. Already armed with a solid fastball, a changeup and a curveball, Appell was a totally different pitcher, as his new pitch danced over the strike zone all season long. Having problems with his control in 2006, naturally from not being used enough, Appell exhibited pinpoint control for most of the season and was one of Edgar Alfonzo’s favorite guys out of the pen. In 24 games last season, Appell had a 3.68 ERA, despite some bumpy terrain over the last half of the season that caused his ERA to jump about a run and a half. Nevertheless, it was still clear that Appell had made a name for himself in Brooklyn and that he’d get a shot somewhere else in the organization in the future.

To see a guy in the bullpen all season the year before, just sitting there, bored, just waiting to be used, to becoming a vital cog in a team’s pitching staff was a very fun process. Seeing Appell’s confidence grow as the season went on was also a great experience, as he went from being a happy-go lucky kind of guy to one that was truly confident in his abilities and was modest about it. When I first started doing this, I was always skeptical of the type of personalities I’d encounter amongst the players and if they’d be the kind of guys I would really want to write stories about. Appell was one of the players that really had a story to tell and made me realize how much fun covering Minor League baseball could be if you were willing to dig and get to know the players and understand why they were here.

After two years of watching him play, I know why Appell is trying to make a name for himself in baseball, rather than earn a six-figure salary somewhere else; he loves the game.

Again, like some of the other ‘Clones I’ve mentioned over the past few weeks, I highly doubt we’ll be seeing Josh Appell around Coney Island again, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be missed by anyone.

Photo by Jim Dolan

I still remember Nick Waechter’s first appearance at Keyspan Park almost two years ago. It was June 22, 2006 and despite giving up two doubles, the then 21-year old, who just finished a brilliant career at West Oregon State College, was solid and looked like he was about to carve a niche as the team’s long man out of the bullpen. However, after that appearance, he suffered a season ending arm injury and didn’t play against the rest of the season.

Last year, Waechter’s season didn’t start off too great either; many writers thought his early season struggles would cause him to be demoted. To make matters worse, the six foot three, 200 pounder wasn’t exactly friendly to the media. That’s not to say he was mean or vindictive, but his one-word answers to questions and intimidating aura had several writers shaking in their boots. Luckily, this writer finds himself at almost six foot five and has some extra baggage. Secondly, I don’t take no for an answer. After a few conversations with him the year before and a few mediocre ones last season, I basically made it one of my goals to get him to open up to the fans and other people interested in him.

I still remember having a conversation with Nick Pauly, who was covering the Staten Island Yankees for Scout.com and Lucky Ngamwajasat, who was writing for NYFansOnly.com about how I was going to get an interview with Waechter and get him to talk for more than 30-seconds. I was just waiting for a good opportunity. As the season wore on, no one really thought I was going to get that interview. After a while, a small part of me was even starting to get angry about it. If I could interview Jonathan Sanchez [he played outfield for the Clones in 2006 and was known for not being a very nice guy to the media] after he struck out four times, why can’t I get this guy to talk to me? Eventually, Waechter got hot, winning a few starts in a row, so I figured I finally had the chance to do it and he’d be a little more receptive. The only problem was how was I going to approach this guy?

I still laugh to myself when I think about what I said to him. Basically, I approached him the same way I’d approached dozens of other players I’ve interviewed over the years. I started off asking to talk to him for a few minutes, but before I turned on my recorder, I told him that I knew he wasn’t really interested in talking to me or any of the other writers and that I felt for him. That put a smirk on his face and basically hooked him. I then told him that the fans would love to hear about his game and that together, we could give that to them. I also told him that it would be like pulling off a Band-Aid as quickly as possible.

What followed after that was one of the most enjoyable interviews I’ve ever done. Funny, straight-forward and an old-school tough guy of sorts, Waechter opened up and eventually started talking to all the writers, becoming one of the players that everyone really enjoyed talking to.

After I interviewed him that day though, none of the other writers really expected to hear that I got enough from him to merit an article. Not only did I get enough for a solid interview, [check it out here @ http://mets.scout.com/2/669448.html] I also got enough for a nice feature in the Brooklyn Papers that totally captured the reasons for his success [again, check it out here, http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/30/33/30_33nickwaechter.html] and another one that basically summed up his roller coaster season on NYSportsDay.com [http://www.nysportsday.com/news/bkn/Waechter-Has-Time-on-his-Side.php]. That in itself made me a very happy camper the rest of the season. Waechter season ended with him looking like a player ready to move through the organization, making it look like he too enjoyed his time as an interviewee.

Chances are Waechter won’t be around Brooklyn this season as he played too good to merit another season in the NY-Penn League, but chances are that he’ll be more open to the media over the course of his career.

Photos by Patrick Hickey Jr. and Daniel Wos.