Phillies Missing Links of the 1990s - #15 Glenn Dishman

#34
Glenelg Edward Dishman
Relief/Starting Pitcher

On September 12, 1996, with 15 games remaining in the season and the Phillies 28 games behind the Braves, the last place club selected pitcher Glenn Dishman off waivers from the Padres.  I knew very little about Dishman, but I assumed at the time the Phillies had future plans for the 25-year-old lefty. Why else would they add him to the organization with the team going nowhere and so close to the end of the season?  This reasoning probably explains why I added eight 1996 baseball cards of Dishman's to my Phillies collection following the season, having completely missed the news that he had already been claimed off waivers by the Tigers that October 3rd.

Dishman's Phillies career consisted of four games - one start and three relief appearances.  His lone start came in the final game of the 1996 season and he lasted four innings in a game the Phillies would come from behind to win against the Mets.  Dishman appeared in seven games for the 1997 Tigers and spent the next five years pitching in the Brewers' organization, for the independent Sonoma County Crushers, and in the Mexican League before retiring following the 2002 season.

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  195
Born:  November 5, 1970, Baltimore, MD
Signed:  Signed by the San Diego Padres as an amateur free agent, May 23, 1993.
Major League Teams:  San Diego Padres 1995-1996; Phillies 1996; Detroit Tigers 1997
Professional Affiliations:  San Diego Padres 1993-1996; Phillies 1996; Detroit Tigers 1997; Sonoma County Crushers (independent) 1999; Milwaukee Brewers 2000; Reynosa Broncos (Mexican League) 2001; Sonoma County Crushers (independent) 2002

Phillies Career
4 games, 0-0, 7.71 ERA, 7 innnings, 3 strikeouts
Acquired:  Selected off waivers from the San Diego Padres, September 12, 1996.
Debut:  September 17, 1996 - Pitched the ninth inning of an 11-5 loss to the Marlins, allowing a two-run home run to Edgar Renteria.
Final Game:  September 29, 1996 - Started last game of the season against the Mets, allowing four runs on seven hits over four innings.
Departed:  Selected off waivers by the Detroit Tigers, October 3, 1996.

1995 Topps Traded #107T

1996 Fleer Tiffany #564

1996 Topps #410

1998 Pacific Invincible Gems of the Diamond #46

9 Dishman Baseball Cards in My Collection
1995 Topps Traded #107T (with Rob Grable)
1996 Donruss #263
1996 Fleer #564
1996 Fleer Tiffany #564
1996 Fleer Ultra #283
1996 Stadium Club #401
1996 Topps #410
1996 Upper Deck #186
1996 Upper Deck Collector's Choice #27

Other Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1995 Upper Deck #473
First Topps Base Card:  1995 Topps Traded #107T (with Rob Grable)
Last Mainstream Card:  1998 Pacific Invincible Gems of the Diamond #46
Other Notable Cards:  1993 Classic Best Spokane Indians #1, 1995 Bowman #214

Sources:  Baseball Reference and The Trading Card Database

Phillies Missing Links of the 1990s
1 Louie Meadows
2 Dave LaPoint
3 Darrin Chapin
4 Mickey Weston
5 Bob Wells
6 Tom Edens
7 Omar Olivares

8 Kevin Elster

9 Jim Deshaies

10 Chuck Ricci
11 Dennis Springer
12 Manny Martinez
13 Rafael Quirico
14 Bronson Heflin
15 Glenn Dishman
16 Rob Butler
17 Mike Robertson
18 Matt Whiteside
19 Robert Dodd
20 Joel Bennett
21 Joe Grahe
22 Domingo Cedeno
23 Torey Lovullo

This is a continuing series looking at those players who spent time with the Phillies but possess no baseball card proof of their time in Philadelphia.  In some cases, the First and Last Mainstream cards listed above have been subjectively chosen if multiple cards were released in that year.

1996 Phillies - The Missing Links

1994 Bowman #664, 1996 Leaf Signature Extended Autographs (#159),
1997 Pacific #381 and 1996 Fleer Update #U168

The mostly forgettable last-place 1996 Phillies fielded 54 different players during the season, and all but six of them appeared on a Phillies baseball card at some point.

3 Cards or More
40 Players

Jeff Parrett appeared on no Phillies cards during his second stint with the club in 1996, but I'm invoking the Dickie Noles rule given his appearance on a bunch of Phillies cards between 1989 and 1990.  The same goes for Terry Mulholland, but he actually appears on two cards (1996 Fleer Update and 1996 Phillies Team Issue) during his second stay with the Phils in 1996.

1996 Phillies Team Issue #43 and #54

2 Cards
Russ Springer (14 games in 1995 and 51 games in 1996) - 1996 Leaf Signature Extended Autographs (#190) and 1996 Phillies Team Issue #33
Larry Mitchell (7 games in 1996) - 1993 Stadium Club Murphy #39 and 1994 Bowman #664

Springer makes the list for the second year in a row, despite having appeared in almost a third of the team's games in 1996.  You'd think he would have somehow snuck into a 1997 Pacific or Score set along the way.

1 Card

Jon Zuber (30 games in 1996 and 38 games in 1998) - 1998 Phillies Team Issue #40 (Special Edition)

Steve Frey (9 games in 1995 and 31 games in 1996) - 1996 Phillies Team Issue #37
Mike Benjamin (35 games in 1996) - 1996 Phillies Team Issue #5
J.R. Phillips (35 games in 1996) - 1996 Leaf Signature Extended Autographs (#159)

Ricardo Jordan (26 games in 1996) - 1997 Pacific #381

Dave Leiper (26 games in 1996) - 1996 Phillies Team Issue #43
Carlos Crawford (1 game in 1996) - 1996 Phillies Team Issue #54

I've already featured Benjamin's sole Phillies card on the blog, the day after my second son was born.  Phillips had 12 hits during his tenure with the team, and 5 of those hits were home runs.  Former Phillie Ricky Jordan spent the season in the Mariners organization, but the Phils filled their R. Jordan quota by bringing aboard lefty reliever Ricardo Jordan.  Ricardo had a respectable 2-2 record and a 1.80 ERA in his 26 games with the club, but it still doesn't explain why Pacific chose to include him in their 1997 set over Springer.

I don't remember much about Leiper and I remember even less about Crawford.  It appears as if Crawford made an emergency start on June 7th, lasted less than 4 innings, picked up the loss and was optioned back to Scranton a few days later.  He'd never pitch in the Majors again.

1997 Best Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons #20, 1996 Stadium Club #401,
1996 Fleer Excel #203 and 1996 Best Reading Phillies #11

0 Cards
**Glenn Murray (38 games in 1996)
Manny Martinez (13 games in 1996)
Glenn Dishman (4 games in 1996)
Bronson Heflin (3 games in 1996)
Rafael Quirico (1 game in 1996)

How does Jon Zuber not have a Phillies card?  Seriously, did I miss something when reviewing my checklists?  Zuber was drafted by the Phillies in 1992 and he made his Major League debut on April 19, 1996.  In 68 games with the Phillies in 1996 and 1998, he hit .250 with 3 home runs and 16 RBIs.

UPDATE: Zuber has been moved up to the 1 Card section.  See the comment from reader Steve F. within the 1998 Missing Links post.

Not only are there no Phillies baseball cards of Murray and Martinez, but I don't have any Phillies-related baseball cards of either of those guys in my collection.  Murray appears within a 1996 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons team set that I don't have, and Martinez was shut out completely.  I find it interesting that Lee Tinsley played in 7 less games as a Phillie than Murray, yet Tinsley by my count is featured on three Phillies cards (1996 Ultra, 1996 Fleer Update and 1996 Phillies Team Issue).

Dishman was in the Phillies system for less than a month.  On September 12th, he was selected off waivers from the Padres and on October 3rd, he was selected by the Tigers off waivers from the Phils.  And if you could have picked Heflin and Quirico out of list of players who were former Phillies, I am equally impressed and frightened by your deep Phillies knowledge.

**UPDATE 2:  I now know that Murray has a card in the style of the 1996 Phillies Team Issue set that was issued either as a late season update or during the annual ALS Phillies Phestival.  Please see this post for further details.

Past Missing Link Posts

1990 Phillies - Louie Meadows

1991 Phillies - Dave LaPoint

1992 Phillies - Darrin Chapin and Mickey Weston

1993 Phillies - None

1994 Phillies - Tom Edens and Bob Wells

1995 Phillies - Jim Deshaies, Kevin Elster, Omar Olivares, Chuck Ricci and Dennis Springer