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| 1987 Donruss #583, 1989 Topps #338, 1990 ProCards #608 and 1989 Fleer #106 |
When I started to put together this post, I wanted to start with a few sentences summarizing the 1989 Phillies season. I stumbled around a little and then decided to just cut and paste what I had written about that team in my
1989 Topps Phillies post:
The 1989 season was a hot mess for the Phillies. Mike Schmidt tearfully announced his retirement, fan favorites Chris James, Steve Bedrosian and Juan Samuel were all sent packing, and the team continued to underwhelm with another last place finish.
Nick Leyva's squad fielded 48 different players during the long 1989 season, which at the time was one short of the all-time high 49 players used by the 1946 Phillies. As you'll see below, four of those 48 players have never graced a Phillies baseball card. If not for the 1989 Tastykake Phillies set, that number would have jumped to nine players.
3 Cards or More
38 Players
Outfielder
Keith Miller just makes the 3 Cards or More list. Miller had solo cards in the 1989 Topps set, as well as the 1989 Score Hottest 100 Rookies set. He's also featured on the multi-prospest card within the 1988 Tastykake Phillies set and a solo card (which I don't have yet) within the 1988 Tastykake Phillies Update set.
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| 1989 Topps #268, 1987 Topps #196, 1987 Donruss Opening Day #220 and 1990 Fleer #569 |
2 Cards
Dwayne Murphy (98 games in 1989) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies #6 and 1990 Fleer #569
Veteran Murphy wrapped up his 12-year career with 98 games for the Phillies in 1989. He hit .218 with 9 home runs and 27 RBIs, and was released following the season. Thankfully, Fleer saw fit to include a "final tribute" card to Murphy with its 1990 release.
1 Card
Mark Ryal (29 games in 1989) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies #31
Tom Nieto (11 games in 1989 and 17 games in 1990) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies #24
Randy O'Neal (20 games in 1989) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies #27
Jim Adduci (13 games in 1989) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies Update #37
Eric Bullock (6 games in 1989) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies Update #38
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| 1989 Tastykake Phillies #31 and #27 |
If you can actually recall any of the five players above suiting up for the Phillies, I'll tip my cap to you. For some odd reason, there was actually a period during the 1989 season when Ryal was my favorite Phillies player. He was only with the team from opening day to mid-June, hitting .242 in his 29 games, but I seem to remember he had a few big late-inning hits. Checking the
official record, it appears as if my memory is shoddy. Perhaps I just liked rooting for an underdog.
Nieto was the back-up to
Steve Lake, who was the back-up to
Darren Daulton. He hit .160 in his 28 games with the Phillies.
O'Neal stuck around for 20 games, and he made an emergency start for the Phillies in mid-August. He was released following the season after compiling a 6.23 ERA in 39 innings. Prior to landing with the Phillies, O'Neal had been a semi-reliable reliever with the Tigers in the mid-'80s.
Adduci appeared in 13 July games for the Phillies when the newly acquired
John Kruk landed on the disabled list. Once Kruk was healthy, Adduci headed back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He wrapped up his 11-year professional career in 1990 with another full season as a Red Baron.
In October 1988, the Phillies traded starting pitcher
Shane Rawley to the Twins for starting second baseman
Tommy Herr, back-up catcher Nieto and outfielder Bullock. Bullock earned a very brief call-up by the Phillies in late June, going 0 for 4 in his six games as either a late inning outfield defensive replacement or as a pinch-hitter. Bullock was one of the five lucky recipients of a 1989 Topps Card That Never Was that I
posted two years ago. To date, I haven't yet made the other 14 cards needed to complete this series.
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| 1989 CMC Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons #12, #4, #7 and #21 |
0 Cards
Steve Stanicek (9 games in 1989)
Bob Sebra (3 games in 1988 and 6 games in 1989)
Gordon Dillard (5 games in 1989)
Al Pardo (2 games in 1988 and 1 game in 1989)
Stanicek was a first round draft pick by the Giants in 1982. He earned a brief call-up with the Brewers in 1987 and the Phillies signed him as a minor league free agent prior to the 1989 season. After spending the season with the Red Barons, Stanicek was a September call-up appearing solely as a pinch-hitter in nine games. He went 1 for 9 during his brief stay and was released immediately following the season.
Dillard, a lefty, came over to the Phillies from the Orioles in the
Phil Bradley deal in December 1988. He had his contract purchased in May and appeared in a total of five games with the Phillies. He finished up the season in Scranton and bounced to the Pirates organization following the season. He pitched briefly for the independent Salinas Spurs in 1991 before calling it a career.
I wrote about Sebra's and Pardo's time with the Phillies in my
1988 Missing Links post.
