Friday, July 21, 2017

Phillies Missing Links of the 1990s - #14 Bronson Heflin

#43
Bronson Wayne Heflin
Relief Pitcher

On August 1, 1996, the Phillies purchased the contracts of two players from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, adding them to the 40-man roster.  In need of a pitcher and a position player, the players purchased were prospects Scott Rolen and Bronson Heflin.  Rolen would win the Rookie of the Year Award in 1997 and go on to be a seven-time All-Star and an eight-time Gold Glove winner.  Heflin would appear in three games in relief for the Phillies, only to be optioned back to Scranton when the Phillies needed a starting pitcher and Matt Beech was recalled.  Those three games were to be the only three big league games of Heflin's professional career.

Heflin pitched in 1997 and part of 1998 in Scranton before moving on to the Cardinals and Pirates organizations along with a stint in independent ball between 1998 and 2000.  It's strange the Phillies didn't bring back Heflin for a return trip to the majors in 1997 when he appeared in 35 games for the Red Barons with an impressive 2.28 ERA.

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  195
Born:  August 29, 1971, Clarksville, TN
Drafted:  Drafted by the Phillies in the 37th round of the 1994 amateur player draft.
Major League Teams:  Phillies 1996
Professional Affiliations:  Phillies 1994-1998; St. Louis Cardinals 1998; Madison Black Wolf (independent) 1999-2000; Pittsburgh Pirates 2000

Phillies Career
3 games, 0-0, 6.75 ERA, 6 2/3 innings pitched, 4 strikeouts
Acquired:  Via draft
Debut:  August 1, 1996 (Game 2) - Pitched the eighth and ninth innings in a 7-1 loss to the Cardinals, surrendering a solo home run to Ron Gant.
Final Game:  August 7, 1996
Departed:  Left the Phillies organization at some point during the 1998 season and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals organization.

1994 Classic
Batavia Clippers #6
1996 Best
Reading Phillies #6
1997 Best Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Red Barons #10
1998 Q Cards Scranton/Wilkes-
Barre Red Barons #15
5 Heflin Baseball Cards in My Collection
1994 Classic Batavia Clippers #6
1996 Best Reading Phillies #6
1996 Fleer Excel #203
1997 Best Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons #10
1998 Q Cards Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons #15

Other Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  N/A
First Topps Base Card:  N/A
Last Mainstream Card:  N/A
Other Notable Cards:  1995 Fleer/ProCards #212

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
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.

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