Merritt appeared in five games with Texas in 1975, throwing 3.2 scoreless innings while not factoring in a decision, all out of the bullpen.
That would be the last action for him on a big league mound, closing out an eleven-year career that saw him come up with the Minnesota Twins in 1965 as a 21-year-old before moving on to the Cincinnati Reds in 1969 for four years before the last three with the Rangers.
In 1970 he had arguably his best season in the Majors when he went 20-12 with the Reds, finishing fourth in Cy Young voting while making his only All-Star team.
I say “arguably” because that year his earned run average was a high 4.08, while in 1967 with the Twins he went 13-7 with a wonderful 2.53 ERA over 37 appearances, 25 of those starts, tossing a career-high four shutouts with 161 strikeouts.
Overall, he’d finish his career with a record of 81-86, posting an ERA of 3.65 over 297 appearances and 1483 innings of work, throwing nine shutouts while collecting seven saves along the way.
