Cup of coffee

The term originated in baseball and is extensively used in ice hockey, both of whose professional leagues (MLB and the NHL) utilize extensive farm systems; it is rarely used in basketball or American football since neither the NBA nor NFL have implemented a true farm system.

One example of how this term is used in a sentence was during the 1996 film The Fan, in which Robert De Niro's character, a middle-aged former pitcher, says, "I was in the bigs for a cup of coffee myself until my arm went south."

One variant of the cup of coffee is the September call-up, in which major-league clubs call up additional players from their minor-league farm teams late in the season.

Before the 2020 season, active major-league rosters expanded from 25 players to 40; however, since 2020, rosters expand only from 26 to 28. Notable players who made their debuts with a late-season "cup of coffee" include: Players listed by Bill James as having had particularly impressive September call-up performances, and who had long careers, were Stan Musial, who hit .426 in 47 at bats for the 1941 St. Louis Cardinals; Fred Lynn, who hit .419 in 43 at bats for the 1974 Boston Red Sox; and J. D. Drew, who hit .417 with 5 home runs, a .972 slugging percentage, and a 1.436 on-base plus slugging percentage in 36 at bats for the 1998 St. Louis Cardinals.

Thus, players with little to no experience can sometimes have a short cup of coffee in the NHL (video technician Ryan Vinz is one such example; he was pulled out of the stands to fill the position for one game for the Buffalo Sabres in 2014 despite not playing goalie since high school).