HOUSTON — He was watching from his couch last November, just three miles from Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros, when his friends and former team clinched the World Series. Mark Appel couldn't help but feel slightly bittersweet about it all.
Four years ago, everyone expected Appel to be on that field right alongside them. He was the hometown kid who was supposed to become the franchise cornerstone, whose mere selection in the MLB draft was top-shelf news in the Houston Chronicle sports section. Remember that 2014 Sports Illustrated piece predicting the Astros' 2017 World Series title?