Just One Card - 1990s Phillies Edition (Part One - 1990 to 1995)

Having wrapped up my Phillies Missing Links custom card sets from the 1980s and 1990s, I wanted to look back at those players who just barely missed inclusion.  These are the players who have been featured on one and only one Phillies baseball card.

There were 23 Phillies players from the 1990s with no Phillies baseball card appearances, and there were 26 Phillies players from the decade with only one Phillies baseball card appearance.  Here's part one of the list, with part two to follow in a separate post.

1989 Tastykake Phillies #19

1992 Medford Phillies Update #35

1994 Phillies Team Issue Update #50

1992 Donruss Rookies #108

1992 Fleer Ultra #547

1993 Bowman #272

1993 Fleer #495

1994 Topps #328

1990
Tom Nieto - 1989 Tastykake Phillies #19

1992
Greg Mathews - 1993 Fleer #495
Julio Peguero - 1992 Fleer Ultra #547
Don Robinson - 1992 Medford Phillies Update #35
Steve Scarsone - 1992 Donruss Rookies #108

1993
Paul Fletcher - 1993 Bowman #272
Donn Pall - 1994 Topps #328

1994
Andy Carter - 1994 Phillies Team Issue Update #50

1995
Kevin Flora - 1996 Score #238
Steve Frey - 1996 Phillies Team Issue #37
Ryan Karp - 1994 Bowman #552
Gary Varsho - 1995 Phillies Team Issue #5

1995 Phillies Team Issue #5

1994 Bowman #552

1996 Score #238

1996 Phillies Team Issue #37

Cardinals at Phillies: August 22nd to August 24th

Friday and Saturday 7:05, Sunday 1:35
Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA

Cardinals 69-57, 2nd Place in the N.L. Central, 1 1/2 games behind the Brewers
Phillies 56-71, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 17 1/2 games behind the Nationals

Cardinals Probables:  Shelby Miller (8-9, 4.25), Adam Wainwright (15-7, 2.40), Justin Masterson (2-1, 6.30)
Phillies Probables:  Kyle Kendrick (5-11, 4.90), David Buchanan (6-7, 4.25), Jerome Williams (1-0, 2.19)

At the Ballpark:  A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . . . The Phillies will host their first Star Wars night tonight with Darth Vader scheduled to throw out the first pitch.  On Sunday, kids under 14 will receive a Phillies Back-to-School Gym Bag.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Ben Revere - .311

Runs:  Jimmy Rollins - 67

Home Runs:  Marlon Byrd - 23

RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 77

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 37

Wins:  Cole Hamels - 7

ERA:  Cole Hamels - 2.53

Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 153

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 30

1988 Topps Traded #70T, 1988 Topps #59 and #133, 1988 Topps Traded #34T

1988 Topps Appreciation:  The four Cardinals featured here, Larry McWilliams (1989), Danny Cox (1991-1992), Greg Mathews (1992) and Jose DeLeon (1992-1993) all spent a brief part of their careers pitching for the Phillies.

Of the four, I have the vaguest recollection of Mathews' time with the club.  Mathews signed with the Phillies in February 1992 and opened the season with the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons.  The big club summoned him in July to fill the hole in the rotation created when Don Robinson was released.  He pitched great in his first two starts, throwing 15 innings and allowing three earned runs.  But that success would elude him the rest of the season.

He finish out the year with the Phillies going 2-3 with a 5.16 ERA in 14 games (7 starts).  The club released him following the season, and his five-year big league career was over.  For his troubles, he received a Phillies card in the 1993 Fleer set, featured in this post.

1992 Phillies - The True Missing Links

1992 Donruss Rookies #108, 1993 Donruss #332, #356 and 1993 Fleer #495

A few comments from 14,000 Phillies on my 1992 Topps Phillies post made me curious enough to check in on the Phillies cards available for each of the 48 players who appeared in a game with the 1992 Phillies.  Amazingly enough, according to my very scientific calcualtions, only two members of the 1992 Phillies sqaud never appeared on an actual Phillies baseball card.

I actually find this to be fairly stunning.  In today's day and age, there are a number of relievers, utility players and minor league fill-ins who get completely shut out from having a baseball card in any one of the dozen or so mainstream sets produced.  In recent years, if not for the Phillies team-issued postcard sets, these players would never appear on a Phillies baseball card at all.

So while I'd argue there were too many sets and too many cards to collect in the early '90s, at least the card manufacturers afforded us the opportunity to own Phillies cards of Greg Mathews, Julio Peguero and Jay Baller.  And that's a good thing.  (Right?)

1992 Medford Phillies
Update #35

3 Cards or More
40 Players

2 Cards
Keith Shepherd (12 games) - 1993 Donruss #332 and 1993 Fleer #109

1 Card
Greg Mathews (14 games) - 1993 Fleer #495
Julio Peguero (14 games) - 1992 Ultra #547
Don Robinson (10 games) - 1992 Medford Phillies Update #35
Jay Baller (8 games) - 1993 Donruss #356
Steve Scarsone (7 games) - 1992 Donruss Rookies #108

0 Cards
Darrin Chapin (1 game)
Mickey Weston (1 game)

Chapin was the player the Phillies acquired from the Yankees in exchange for Charlie Hayes prior to the start of the '92 season.  He spent the majority of the season with the team's Triple-A affiliate, but he made it into one game for the Phils on April 27th.  I have three cards of Chapin with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons, but he never received a proper Phillies baseball card.

Weston signed with the Phillies as a minor league free agent in December 1991.  He was a teammate with Chapin in Scranton for much of the 1992 season, but he found himself with the big club for one game in June making a spot start against the Expos.  He didn't make it out of the fourth inning after allowing five runs, and his Phillies career was over.  I have a couple of cards of Weston with the Red Barons, but again, no Phillies cards.

1992 Donruss #745, 1992 SkyBox AAA #219,
1992 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons Team Issue #24 and 1992 ProCards #2447