Pat Rapp

Biography

Pat Rapp was born on July 13, 1967 in Jennings, Louisiana. He would grow and mature into an average pitcher, who started to slip later in his career. Pat made his major league debut with the San Francisco Giants on July 10, 1992. Here he saw very little playing time and was traded to the young Florida Marlins for their inaugural season. Rapp received some success with the Marlins, especially in his 1995 season where he went 14-7, including a one-hitter against the Colorado Rockies on June 17. The Marlins won the game 17-0.

With things looking really good for Rapp going into the 1996, one must wonder how he could struggle so much in that season. Rapp made a turnaround and went 8-16 with his ERA increasing by almost 1.70. Pat's time in Florida was numbered, and partway through the 1997 season, Rapp was traded back to the San Francisco Giants, who needed the extra arm. However after that season, the giants and Rapp parted ways, and he was signed by the Kansas City Royals.

Rapp would play well for the Royals but he would never amount to his 1995 season. After one year with the Royals, Rapp would find himself as a free agent again. Pat would bounce around from team to team; first with the Boston Red Sox and then to the Baltimore Orioles. On January 28, 2000 the Orioles signed Rapp as a free agent. In the beginning of the season it appeared as if the Orioles would get their money's worth out of Rapp, who jumped out to a 3-0 record early in the season. His luck would not continue however, and ended the season with a record of 9 wins and 12 losses. Part of this record is due to the fact that Rapp's father was ill with disease, and passed away in the middle of the season.

After the Orioles, Rapp signed with the Anaheim Angels, where he played for a year before being released and signed by the Pittsburg Pirates. Pat Rapp would not play a game in a Pirates uniform, as he was sent down to the minor leagues to work on his pitching.

Rapp was never an ace pitcher. He had a good cutting fastball and slider, but his other pitches were only average at best. Right-handed hitters often feasted off of Rapp's pitching. In one season hitters had a .503 slugging percentage off of Rapp. As of the start of the 2002 season, he lead the Marlins in career wins, ERA, innings, games started, hits allowed and losses. He was second in shutouts and was fourth behind Al Leiter and Kevin Brown, who holds the number one and two spots, in single-season ERA.

Statistics:

Season  Team  G  GS   CG   Sho   IP   H   R  ER  HR  BB  SO   W  L  SV  HLD   BLSV   ERA
1992    SF    3   2    0    0   10.0   8  8   8   0   6   3   0  2   0    0      0  7.20   
1993    FLA  16  16    1    0   94.0 101 49  42   7  39  57   4  6   0    0      0  4.02
1994    FLA  24  23    2    1  133.1 132 67  57  13  69  75   7  8   0    0      0  3.85
1995    FLA  28  28    3    2  167.1 158 72  64  10  76 102  14  7   0    0      0  3.44
1996    FLA  30  29    0    0  162.1 184 95  92  12  91  86   8 16   0    0      0  5.10
1997    FLA  19  19    1    1  108.2 121 59  54  11  51  64   4  6   0    0      0  4.47
1997    SF    8   6    0    0   33.0  37 24  22   5  21  28   1  2   0    0      0  6.00
1998    KC   32  32    1    1  188.1 208 117 111 24  107 132 12 13   0    0      0  5.30
1999    BOS  37  26    0    0  146.1 147 78  67  13  69  90   6  7   0    1      0  4.12
2000    BAL  31  30    0    0  174.0 203 125 114 18  83  106  9 12   0    0      0  5.90
2001    ANA  31  28    1    0  170.0 169 96  90  20  71  82   5 12   0    0      0  4.68

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