Kent Franklin Mercker (born February 1, 1968) is an American former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply l ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He played for nine teams over his 17-year career.

Career

Mercker was born in Brownsburg, Indiana and lived in several different cities, including four years in Export, Pennsylvania, before his family settled in

Dublin, Ohio Dublin is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. A suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, it falls within the jurisdictions of Franklin County, Ohio, Franklin, Delaware County, Ohio, Delaware, Union County, Ohio, Union, and Madison County, Ohio, Madison ...

in 1980. He was taken in the first round (5th pick overall) of the

1986 Major League Baseball Draft The 1986 Major League Baseball draft was the 22nd MLB draft that took place in 1986. During this draft 21 future all-stars were drafted: Greg Swindell, Matt Williams, Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, Roberto Hernández, Jack Armstrong, Dean Pal ...

by the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

. He made his major league debut with the Braves on September 22, , and appeared in two games that season. During his years with the Braves, Mercker split time between the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

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 and seasons. After the 1995 season, the Braves traded Mercker to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

. Mercker then became a journeyman, spending time with Baltimore (),

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

(1996), Cincinnati (, , -, 2008),

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

(-),

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

(1999),

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...

(),

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

(), Atlanta (2003), and the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

(). He signed with Cincinnati for the third time in his career on December 20, 2004. Mercker received the Tony Conigliaro Award in 2000 following his recovery from a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

. Mercker has taken part in two no-hit games during his career, both with the Braves. The first, on September 11, , against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

at Fulton County Stadium, was a combined effort between Mercker, the starter, who pitched six innings;

Mark Wohlers Mark Edward Wohlers (born January 23, 1970) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. A right-handed, right-hander, he played all or parts of 12 seasons in Major League Baseball, exclusively as a relief pitcher. He is best known for hi ...

, who pitched the seventh and eighth innings; and Alejandro Peña, who pitched the ninth. The Braves defeated the Padres 1–0. The 13th no-hitter in Braves franchise history, attendance was 20,477 at Fulton-County Stadium. The second no-hitter was a solo effort by Mercker, as he no-hit the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

on April 8, 1994, at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a ballpark in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a ...

in a 6–0 victory. To date, this no-hitter is the last to be pitched by a Brave. On February 8, , Mercker signed a minor league contract with Cincinnati with an invitation to

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

. He pitched in 15 games for the Reds that season. From 2009 to 2012, he worked as a broadcaster for the Reds. Mercker played in the 2022 Minto U.S. Open Pickleball Championships.

References

External links

: {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercker, Kent 1968 births Living people Anaheim Angels players Atlanta Braves players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Indiana Boston Red Sox players Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Reds announcers Cincinnati Reds players Cleveland Indians players Colorado Rockies players St. Louis Cardinals players Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball pitchers Gulf Coast Braves players Durham Bulls players Greenville Braves players Richmond Braves players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Lake Elsinore Storm players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Dayton Dragons players Louisville Bats players American male pickleball players Sportspeople from Brownsburg, Indiana 20th-century American sportsmen

Career

See also

References

External links