Phillies Missing Links of the 1990s - #16 Rob Butler

#5
Robert Frank John Butler
Outfield

I find Rob Butler to be a surprising addition to this Missing Links list, as he appeared in 43 games with the Phillies during the awful 1997 season.  He hit a respectable .292 (26 for 89) while starting 25 games in each of the three outfield positions.  The Phillies had planned on veterans Danny Tartabull and Rex Hudler getting a lot of playing time in the outfield, but early season injuries to both resulted in Butler's promotion from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  Seemingly looking for a little more production from the outfield, the Phillies claimed Midre Cummings off waivers from the Pirates on July 8th and Butler's Phillies career was over.  He was sent back down to Triple-A and didn't return when rosters expanded in September.

Of particular interest to Phillies fans is that Butler had two at-bats against the team as a member of the Blue Jays in the 1993 World Series.  In Game 4, he pinch-hit for Todd Stottlemyre and grounded into a force out against Roger Mason.  In Game 5, he had one of five hits against Curt Schilling, with a pinch-hit single in the eighth.  He was stranded at second when Schilling worked out of his only real trouble of the night.

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  185
Born:  April 10, 1970, East York, Canada
Signed:  Signed by the Toronto Blue Jays as an amateur free agent, September 24, 1990
Major League Teams:  Toronto Blue Jays 1993-1994; Phillies 1997; Toronto Blue Jays 1999
Professional Affiliations:  Toronto Blue Jays 1991-1994; Phillies 1995-1997; Houston Astros 1998; Toronto Blue Jays 1999

Phillies Career
43 games, .292 (26 for 89), 9 doubles
Acquired:  Acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays as part of a conditional deal, December 5, 1994.
Debut:  April 13, 1997 - Pinch hit for Mark Leiter in the sixth in a game against the Padres, striking out against Joey Hamilton.
Final Game:  July 6, 1997
Departed:  Granted free agency, October 1, 1997.  Signed as a free agent with the Houston Astros, December 22, 1997.

1992 Bowman #603

1993 Topps Traded #15T

1995 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons Team Issue #3

1997 Best Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons #9

2 Butler Baseball Cards in My Collection
First Card:  1995 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons Team Issue #3
Last Card:  1997 Best Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons #9

Other Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1992 Bowman #603
First Topps Base Card:  1993 Topps Traded #15T
Last Mainstream Card:  1995 Pacific #438
Other Notable Cards:  1991 ProCards #3406, 1994 Donruss #558, 1994 Topps #361, 1995 Topps #116, 1996 Best Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons #9

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.

1997 Phillies - The Missing Links

1997 Score #448, 1997 Ultra #344, #438 and 1998 Pacific Online #576

My post on the 1997 Topps Phillies cards is still a work in progress and I hope to publish it next Sunday.  It's been a rough week in the coal mine, and there's been little to no time for spending time with the 1997 Topps set.  That being said, I still managed to find time to put together the next Missing Links post, this time looking at the short-timers from the unfortunate 1997 season.

With 46 players appearing with the Phillies in 1997, I honestly thought this post was going to feature a very long list of names.  I'm as surprised as you are that there are only two players from this team with no cardboard proof of their time in red pinstripes.

1997 Phillies Team Issue #40 and #41

3 Cards or More
38 Players

Perhaps more shocking than the two guys without Phillies baseball cards is the fact that these guys actually have three or more Phillies baseball cards - Midre Cummings, Derrick May, Rex Hudler, Billy McMillon, Jerry Spradlin, Scott Ruffcorn and Billy Brewer.  And by my unofficial tally, Danny Tartabull, who broke his foot in his third game with the Phillies never to play Major League baseball again, is featured on five different Phillies baseball cards.  The mind boggles.

2 Cards
Darrin Winston (7 games in 1997 and 27 games in 1998) - 1998 Pacific Online #576 and 1998 Phillies Team Issue #58

Not to be confused with Darrin Chapin, Winston appeared in 34 games with the Phils, compiling a 4-2 record with a 5.84 ERA.  Sadly, while researching this post, I learned that Winston passed away back in 2008.  I found this article featuring a nice tribute to the former Phillie who left us way too soon.

1 Card
Tony Barron (57 games in 1997) - 1998 Collector's Choice #202
Reggie Harris (50 games in 1997) - 1997 Phillies Team Issue #40
Erik Plantenberg (35 games in 1997) - 1997 Phillies Team Issue #41
Ryan Karp (1 game in 1995 and 15 games in 1997) - 1994 Bowman #552
Edgar Ramos (4 games in 1997) - 1997 Fleer #649

I could have sworn Barron played in more than just 57 games with the Phillies.  It seems as if every game I watched that summer somehow featured Barron.  His tenure with the Phils resulted in just one lone baseball card.  The Phillies Team Issue set comes through again with the only cards of relievers Harris and Plantenberg.  Karp was previously featured on the 1994 Missing Links post.

1998 Collector's Choice #202, 1997 Fleer #649,
1997 Best Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons #9 and #18

0 Cards
Rob Butler (43 games in 1997)
Mike Robertson (22 games in 1997)

Butler actually came to the Phillies organization in December 1994, and he appeared in over 200 games with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons before getting the call to the big club in mid-April 1997.  He was the guy who replaced Tartabull on the roster after the former slugger broke his foot.  Had he cracked the team's opening day roster, he would have presumably at least had a card within the team issued set available at The Vet.

Robertson was acquired from the White Sox in January 1997 for Gene Schall.  His decent numbers with the Red Barons (.298, 12 home runs, 72 RBIs in 121 games) led to a late August call-up, which was too late for him to be featured as a Phillie in any late season baseball card releases.

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

1996 Phillies - Glenn Dishman, Bronson Heflin, Manny Martinez and Rafael Quirico