More Detroit Tigers who enjoyed a cup of coffee in the majors

Here are two more Detroit Tigers pitchers who have had “cups of coffee” in a Tigers uniform.

If you are familiar with the concept of “cups of coffee” after the article I posted on Monday, there are a few more Tigers that appeared once and disappeared and this time, we focus on two pitchers, one more recent, and the other, a local legend.

RHP Melvin Mercedes-Detroit Tigers at Seattle: August 15th, 2015

Mercedes was interesting in two ways. He, along with Bruce Rondon, was among a wave of international pitching signings that put up impressive numbers throughout the minors. He was a reliever that could get batters out mainly by groundouts but struggled with walks.

His line that day was a smooth one. Two innings, no runs, no hits, and registered his only strikeouts in a Detroit Tigers uniform.

A few days later, he was sent back down to Toledo and hopped between Erie and Toledo. He allowed more hits (29) than innings pitched (28) at Erie and struggled with command on his call up to the Mud Hens. By the end of the year, he was out of the organization. He bounced around in Mexico and Venezuela before he played for the York Revolution in the Atlantic League in 2017. That would be his last season in professional ball here in the United States.

LHP Fritz Fisher-Minnesota Twins at Detroit Tigers: April 19th, 1964

Fisher’s only appearance was out of the bullpen, a stat line of 0.2 IP, 2H, 4ER, 2BB, 1SO. But what makes Fisher special is the local lore behind him. Fisher played high school ball at Adrian High School, where he played on the same team as former Cy Young award winner Mike Marshall, who was actually an infielder, leading the conference in hitting.

Fresh off the University Michigan national championship in 1962, Fisher was signed for a $30,000 bonus after a 21-9 season. His battery mate in the 1961 season? Bill Freehan. 

He would pitch in the Tigers system until 1967, retiring at 25.