Surprise, Ariz. ? Kevin Appier, who turned 37 in December, is the oldest of the 61 players invited to the Kansas City Royals camp, which officially begins today with the first workout for pitchers and catchers.

This will be the 18th spring training for Appier, who was the Royals’ 1987 first-round draft pick.

“Somebody has got to be the oldest,” Appier said Saturday. “This is a young team, so it’s not surprising. For a while, I was the youngest. Now I’m the oldest, which is a good thing. It means you’ve been around for a while. I feel young; no more of that old talk.”

Appier was 21 when he made his major-league debut June 4, 1989. He has 169 victories, won the American League earned-run average title in 1993 and is the Royals’ all-time strikeout leader with 1,458.

Those impressive numbers, however, will not assure Appier a spot on the Royals’ 2005 pitching staff. He made only two big-league starts last season before his elbow and forearm betrayed him. Appier had surgery Sept. 2, 2003, to repair a flexor-tendon tear in his right elbow.

“I was pushing it to come back last year, but it wasn’t quite ready,” Appier said. “I was just wearing down too much. It was still healing. I started games with good velocity, and it just went downhill after that. My arm wasn’t strong yet.”

Appier made one start for Omaha, the Royals’ AAA farm club, on an injury-rehab assignment in June after going back on the big-league disabled list.

“It wasn’t good. It was bad,” Appier said.

He opted to go home and rest his arm for the remainder of the season after talking with the Royals.

“It wasn’t going to come around fast enough to pitch that year,” he said.

Appier resumed throwing again in October and harbored thoughts of pitching in winter ball. He worked out with Royals pitching coach Guy Hansen in the fall and re-signed with the Royals, a minor-league contract with a spring training invitation.

“When I started throwing, it progressed so fast,” Appier said. “When I threw for Guy, he liked what he saw. I signed with the Royals and didn’t have to go to winter ball.”

There are probably two vacancies in the Royals’ rotation, and Appier is optimistic he can fill one of them. He won 14 games in 2002 for the Anaheim Angels, who won the World Series, but he knows that means little this spring.

“In sports, memory is short,” Appier said. “It is, ‘What have you done for me lately?’ You always have to re-prove yourself. It is justified because some guys lose their ability. It’s not only how you maintain your ability.

“You have to get better overall, whether through experience or pitches. You have to polish your ability.”