Kent Mercker
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Kent Franklin Mercker (born February 1, 1968) is a Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher who has played for nine teams over his seventeen-year career. He currently is a free agent.
Mercker, a native of Dublin, Ohio, was taken in the first round (5th pick overall) of the 1986 amateur draft by the Atlanta Braves. He made his Major League debut with the Braves on September 22, 1989 and appeared in two games that season.
During his years with the Braves Mercker split time between the bullpen and the starting rotation. After serving as a reliever for the vast part of his first five seasons, he joined the Braves' rotation full time for the 1994 and 1995 seasons.
After the 1995 season the Braves traded Mercker to the Baltimore Orioles. Mercker has been a journeyman ever since, spending time with Baltimore (1996), Cleveland (1996), Cincinnati (1997), St. Louis (1998-1999), Boston (1999), Anaheim (2000), Colorado (2002), Cincinnati a second time (2003), Atlanta a second time (2003), and the Chicago Cubs (2004). During the 2004 season, Mercker reportedly called the broadcast booth to complain about commentary by Steve Stone and, along with Moises Alou, confronted Stone on a team flight. He signed with Cincinnati for the third time in his career on December 20, 2004.
Mercker has taken part in two no-hit games during his career, both with the Braves. The first, on September 11, 1991 against the San Diego Padres at Fulton County Stadium, was a combined effort between Mercker, the starter, who pitched six innings; Mark Wohlers, who pitched the seventh and eighth innings; and Alejandro Pena, who pitched the ninth. The Braves defeated the Padres 1-0. The second no-hitter was a solo effort by Mercker, as he no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 8, 1994 at Dodger Stadium in a 6-0 victory. To date, this no-hitter is the last to be pitched by a Brave—this despite 1) Mercker having pitched in the same rotation with Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, and 2) the Braves having since moved to a more pitcher-friendly stadium, Turner Field.
[edit] Career Stats
Yr Ag Tm Lg G GS W L S ERA CG SHO IP H R ER HR BB K AVG IBB H BS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1989 21 ATL NL 2 1 0 0 0 12.46 0 0 4.1 8 6 6 0 6 4 .400 0 0 0 1990 22 ATL NL 36 0 4 7 7 3.17 0 0 48.1 43 22 17 6 24 39 .236 3 0 3 1991 23 ATL NL 50 4 5 3 6 2.58 0 0 73.1 56 23 21 5 35 62 .211 3 3 2 1992 24 ATL NL 53 0 3 2 6 3.42 0 0 68.1 51 27 26 4 35 49 .207 1 6 3 1993 25 ATL NL 43 6 3 1 0 2.86 0 0 66.0 52 24 21 2 36 59 .214 3 4 3 1994 26 ATL NL 20 17 9 4 0 3.45 2 1 112.1 90 46 43 16 45 111 .220 3 0 0 1995 27 ATL NL 29 25 7 8 0 4.15 0 0 143.0 140 73 66 16 61 102 .258 2 0 0 1996 28 BAL AL 14 12 3 6 0 7.76 0 0 58.0 73 56 50 12 35 22 .307 1 0 0 1996 28 CLE AL 10 0 1 0 0 3.09 0 0 11.2 10 4 4 1 3 7 .244 1 2 0 1997 29 CIN NL 28 25 8 11 0 3.92 0 0 144.2 135 65 63 16 62 75 .250 6 0 0 1998 30 STL NL 30 29 11 11 0 5.07 0 0 161.2 199 99 91 11 53 72 .310 4 0 0 1999 31 STL NL 25 18 6 5 0 5.12 0 0 103.2 125 73 59 16 51 64 .303 3 0 0 1999 31 BOS AL 5 5 2 0 0 3.15 0 0 25.2 23 12 10 0 13 17 .235 0 0 0 2000 32 LAA AL 21 7 1 3 0 6.52 0 0 48.1 57 35 35 12 29 30 .300 3 1 0 2002 34 COL NL 58 0 3 1 0 6.14 0 0 44.0 55 33 30 12 22 37 .299 2 9 3 2003 35 CIN NL 49 0 0 2 0 2.35 0 0 38.1 31 13 10 5 25 41 .225 2 1 3 2003 35 ATL NL 18 0 0 0 1 1.06 0 0 17.0 15 3 2 1 7 7 .231 2 10 1 2004 36 CHC NL 71 0 3 1 0 2.55 0 0 53.0 39 15 15 4 27 51 .205 2 16 3 2005 37 CIN NL 78 0 3 1 4 3.65 0 0 61.2 64 27 25 8 19 45 .270 4 20 3 2006 38 CIN NL 35 0 1 1 1 4.33 0 0 27.0 28 15 13 6 9 16 .267 0 6 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTALS 675 150 73 67 25 4.17 2 1 1310.1 1294 671 607 153 597 910 .259 45 78 26 17 Seasons
Stats as of August 8, 2006
[edit] External links
Categories: 1968 births | Living people | Major league players from Ohio | Major league pitchers | Atlanta Braves players | Baltimore Orioles players | Cleveland Indians players | Cincinnati Reds players | St. Louis Cardinals players | Boston Red Sox players | Anaheim Angels players | Colorado Rockies players | Chicago Cubs players | Major League Baseball pitchers who have pitched a no-hitter
