Mike Fetters

{{short description|American baseball player and coach (born 1964)}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Mike Fetters

|image=Mike Fetters (48053115367) (cropped).jpg

|caption=Fetters with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2019

|width=260

|team=

|number=

|position=Pitcher / Coach

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1964|12|19}}

|birth_place=Van Nuys, California, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=September 1

|debutyear=1989

|debutteam=California Angels

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 16

|finalyear=2004

|finalteam=Arizona Diamondbacks

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=31–41

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=3.86

|stat3label=Strikeouts

|stat3value=518

|teams=

;As player

California Angels ({{mlby|1989}}–{{mlby|1991}})
Milwaukee Brewers ({{mlby|1992}}–{{mlby|1997}})
Oakland Athletics ({{mlby|1998}})
Anaheim Angels ({{mlby|1998}})
Baltimore Orioles ({{mlby|1999}})
Los Angeles Dodgers ({{mlby|2000}}–{{mlby|2001}})
Pittsburgh Pirates ({{mlby|2001}}–{{mlby|2002}})
Arizona Diamondbacks ({{mlby|2002}})
Minnesota Twins ({{mlby|2003}})
Arizona Diamondbacks ({{mlby|2004}})

;As coach

Arizona Diamondbacks ({{mlby|2012}}–{{mlby|2024}})

|highlights =

Milwaukee Brewers Wall of Honor

}}

Michael Lee Fetters (born December 19, 1964) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for eight teams during his 16–year career from {{mlby|1989}} to {{mlby|2004}}. Fetters started his playing career with the California Angels and also played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, the Diamondbacks, and Minnesota Twins. Fetters had his best season in {{mlby|1996}} when he finished fifth in the American League in saves with 32 with the Brewers. Fetters finished his career with 100 saves.

Playing career

Fetters is a graduate of ʻIolani School,{{Cite web |last=Chase |first=Al |date=May 8, 2005 |title='Iolani graduate called it quits after 16 years in the majors |url=http://starbulletin.com/2005/05/08/sports/story1.html |website=Honolulu Star-Bulletin}} where he played high school baseball in the early 1980s, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Fetters played baseball at Pepperdine University and was drafted in the first round of the 1986 Major League Draft by the California Angels.{{Cite news |last=Bloom |first=Earl |date=June 16, 2013 |title=Ex-reliever Fetters still enjoying life in baseball |url=http://www.ocregister.com/2013/06/16/ex-reliever-fetters-still-enjoying-life-in-baseball/ |access-date=2024-08-22 |work=Orange County Register}} Fetters is known for his head movement while on the mound. Prior to a pitch, he took a deep breath and moved his head quickly 90 degrees to the left. He explained that being stressed during pitching was the reason for his head movement. In {{mlby|2002}}, teammate Mark Grace comically imitated the Fetters move when invited to pitch one Diamondbacks inning. During one game in the 2004 season, Houston Astro Craig Biggio imitated Fetters' head movement and scowl while batting against him, drawing laughter from the Houston crowd.

Coaching career

{{As of|2019}}, Fetters works as the Arizona Diamondbacks bullpen coach, having spent the four previous years as a quality control coach. On October 3, 2024, Fetters was fired by the Diamondbacks.{{Cite web|title=D-backs pitching coaches Brent Strom, Dan Carlson and Mike Fetters will not return|url=https://arizonasports.com/story/3560348/d-backs-pitching-coach-brent-strom/|access-date=October 14, 2024|website=arizonasports.com|language=en}}

Personal life

Fetters is half-Caucasian and half-Samoan in ancestry.{{Cite web |last=Chase |first=Al |date=December 3, 2002 |title=Fetters: Mulling his options |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030325182839if_/http://starbulletin.com:80/2002/12/03/sports/index1.html |access-date=2024-08-22 |website=Honolulu Star-Bulletin Sports}}

Fetters is a cousin of American baritone Stephen Totter.