Robert William Appleby (June 20, 1922 – July 11, 2006) was an American football and baseball player and coach.
He also played professional baseball for parts of at least three seasons, including a stint at Jonesboro during which he pitched seven consecutive shutouts and 67 scoreless innings.
He attended University City High School where he was a member of the football, basketball and baseball teams.
He played football as a halfback for service teams at Kearns Army Air Base and Keasler Field in Mississippi.
[2] In July 1951, he was hired by Millikin University as the head coach of the school's football and baseball teams.
[citation needed] His teams won College Conference of Illinois (CCI) championships in both football and baseball.
[11] Athletes mentored by Appleby at Toledo included Mel Triplett who later played eight years in the NFL.
[15] Interviewed in 1968, Appleby noted that the task of coaching high school athletes was more challenging: "You have tremendous pressure in college -- an entirely different atmosphere -- but you also get boys who are more skilled.