Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Phillies Missing Links of the 1980s - #14 Bob Sebra

#37
Robert Bush Sebra
Starting Pitcher

Bob Sebra is the one player on this Missing Links list that I'm surprised to see here.  In my mind, Sebra was with the Phillies for much longer than the nine games indicated by his Baseball Reference page.  The right-handed pitcher was acquired from the Expos on September 1, 1988 and he'd start three games for the Phillies in that final month of the season.

Sebra joined the club in Clearwater for spring training in 1989 and he started the season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  Recalled on May 18th, Sebra was around when the Phillies started a massive overhaul of their roster that began when Mike Schmidt announced his retirement on May 29th.  Within a  month, key cogs Chris James, Steve Bedrosian and Juan Samuel were all traded away.  Sebra was one of a few players sent back down to Triple-A to make room for the new players acquired from the Giants and Mets in the Bedrosian and Samuel trades.  A few weeks later, Sebra himself was dealt away to the Reds.

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  200
Born:  December 11, 1961, Ridgewood, NJ
Drafted:  Drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 5th round of the 1983 amateur draft.
Major League Teams:  Texas Rangers 1985; Montreal Expos 1986-1987; Phillies 1988-1989; Cincinnati Reds 1989; Milwaukee Brewers 1990
Professional Affiliations:  Texas Rangers 1983-1985; Montreal Expos 1986-1987; Phillies 1988-1989; Cincinnati Reds 1989-1990; Milwaukee Brewers 1990; Houston Astros 1991; Chicago Cubs 1992; Texas Rangers 1992; St. Louis Cardinals 1993; Somerset Patriots 1998 (Independent)

Phillies Career
3-5 with a 5.32 ERA in 9 games and 45 2/3 innings pitched
Acquired:  Acquired from the Montreal Expos for Travis Chambers, September 1, 1988.
Debut:  September 5, 1988 - Started the first game of a double header in Chicago, lasting just two innings and allowing five runs on five hits.
Final Game:  June 15, 1989
Departed:  Traded to the Cincinnati Reds for a player to be named later (Jeff Gray), July 13, 1989.

1987 Donruss #468
 
1987 Topps #479
 
1988 Topps #93
 
1989 CMC Scranton/Wilkes-
Barre Red Barons #4
5 Sebra Baseball Card in My Collection
First Card:  1988 Donruss #458
Last Card:  1989 CMC Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons #4

Other Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1987 Donruss #468
First Topps Base Card:  1987 Topps #479
Last Mainstream Card:  1988 Topps #93
Other Notable Cards:  1983 TCMA Tri-Cities Triplets #1, 1988 Score #337, 1993 Fleer/ProCards #213

Sources:  Baseball Reference and The Trading Card Database

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.  I will make my way through the decade of the 1980s first and then work my way forward.  In some cases, the First and Last Mainstream cards listed above have been subjectively chosen if multiple cards were released in that year.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

There you go, mentioning that Juan Samuel trade again...

Not only was I surprised that Bob Sebra never appeared on a Phillies card, I was also surprised that he only appeared on mainstream cards for two years.

...Until I went to his Trading Card DB page and saw all the Nationally-issued minor league cards of his that I own... 1989 Pro Cards, 1990 CMC, 1992 SkyBox. He played at the right time to get maximum exposure on "pre-rookie" cards.

Jim said...

Mets fans have the Juan Samuel trade, Phillies fans have the Ryne Sandberg trade . . . there's no escaping it!

Clay said...


BOB SEBRA DEPARTED THE SCENE ON WEDNESDAY 22 JULY 2020 - HE HAD BEEN IN ICU AT JACKSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOR MORE THAN A YEAR WHILE UNSUCCESSFUL EFFORTS WERE MADE TO PROLONG HIS LIFE. - REMEMBRANCE -.