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.

Phillies at Nationals: September 5th to September 7th

Friday 7:05, Saturday 4:05 and Sunday 1:35
Nationals Park - Washington, D.C.

Phillies 64-75, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 15 1/2 games behind the Nationals
Nationals 79-59, 1st Place in the N.L. East, 7 games ahead of the Braves

Phillies Probables:  Jerome Williams (3-0, 2.03), A.J. Burnett (7-15, 4.40), Cole Hamels (8-6, 2.50)
Nationals Probables:  Stephen Strasburg (11-10, 3.49), Tanner Roark (12-9, 2.91), Gio Gonzalez (7-9, 3.89)

At the Ballpark:  There doesn't appear to be any giveaways during this series - just a bunch of ticket promotions and various themes.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Ben Revere - .314

Runs:  Jimmy Rollins - 75

Home Runs:  Marlon Byrd - 25

RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 87

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 42

Wins:  Cole Hamels and Kyle Kendrick - 8

ERA:  Cole Hamels - 2.50

Strikeouts:  A.J. Burnett and Cole Hamels - 165

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 33

1988 Topps #415 and #93

1988 Topps Appreciation:  I bet you didn't think you'd see a post in your blogroll today featuring cards of Don Carman and Bob Sebra.

Carman and Sebra were temporarily teammates on the 1988 and 1989 Phillies teams.  Carman was a long-time Phillies player, appearing in 312 games with the club between 1983 and 1990.  He went 53-52 with a respectable 4.06 ERA while serving as both a starting pitcher and a reliever.  He was also briefly the team's closer in 1985, saving seven games.  If you haven't ever read through Carman's list of canned responses to reporter's questions, take some time this Friday evening to acquaint yourself with the lefty's wit.

Sebra made it onto both the 1988 and 1989 Phillies Missing Links lists.  In just nine games between the two seasons, Sebra went 3-5 with a 5.32 ERA.  The Phils acquired Sebra from the Expos on September 1, 1988 for minor leaguer Travis Chambers.  Less than a year later, they traded him to the Reds for pitcher Jeff Gray, who never suited up for the Phillies.

1989 Phillies - The Missing Links

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.

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

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.

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.

Past Missing Link Posts

1980 Phillies - Orlando Isales and Don McCormack

1981 Phillies - Jerry Reed

1982 Phillies - Stan Bahnsen and Alejandro Sanchez

1983 Phillies - Steve Comer

1984 Phillies - Renie Martin, Jim Kern and Mike LaValliere

1985 Phillies - None

1986 Phillies - Tom Gorman and Jeff Bittiger

1987 Phillies - None

1988 Phillies - Salome Barojas, Bill Dawley, Al Pardo, Bill Scherrer and Bob Sebra

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

1997 Phillies - Rob Butler and Mike Robertson

1998 Phillies - Robert Dodd and Matt Whiteside

1999 Phillies - Joel Bennett, Domingo Cedeno, Joe Grahe and Torey Lovullo

2000 Phillies - Clemente Alvarez, Kirk Bullinger, Mark Holzemer and Bryan Ward

1988 Phillies - The Missing Links

1989 Score Hottest 100 Rookies #67, 1989 Upper Deck #430,
1988 Donruss #487 and 1988 Fleer Update #U-108

An awful team with a large number of fringe, journeyman relievers results in the highest number of "Missing Links" Phillies thus far in our look back to the 1980s.  In the late '80s, Donruss, Fleer, Score and Topps were churning out more sets than ever and trying to cash in on the booming rookie card business.  For this reason alone, guys who probably wouldn't have a Phillies card today (and I'm looking at you, Alex Madrid) ended up with numerous Phillies cards over several brands and products.

Alas, as you'll see below, if you were a short-term bullpen plug or a fourth-string catcher for the 1988 Phillies, there's absolutely no cardboard proof of your time in marroon pinstripes.  However, thanks to my limited computer graphic design skills, I've created 1988 Topps Phillies cards for each player not appearing on a 1988 Topps card here and here.

3 Cards or More
35 Players

1988 Tastykake Phillies #15

Infielder Shane Turner squeaks onto this list.  Turner shares card space with seven other prospects on a multi-player 1988 Tastykake Phillies card, and he shares a Major League Prospects card in the 1989 Fleer set with Scott Service.  His lone solo Phillies card can be found in the 1989 Score Hottest 100 Rookies set.

Along with his appearance in the 1989 Fleer set, Service appeared on Phillies cards in the 1990 Bowman and Upper Deck sets.  Until researching this post, I had no idea that Service put together an impressive 12-year career.

2 Cards
Jackie Gutierrez (33 games in 1988) - 1989 Tastykake Phillies Update and 1989 Upper Deck #430

Gutierrez was the Super Michael Martinez of his day, hitting .247 in his 33 games with the 1988 Phillies, occassionally spelling Mike Schmidt at third or Steve Jeltz at shortstop.  Before coming to the Phillies, he played in parts of five seasons with the Red Sox and Orioles.

1 Card
Bill Almon (20 games in 1988) - 1988 Tastykake Phillies #15
Danny Clay (17 games in 1988) - 1988 Fleer Update #U-108

Almon wrapped his 15-year career with with the Phils, hitting .115 (3 for 26) in 26 games from April to mid-June.  Had he not been with the team on opening day, his 1988 Tastykake Phillies card probably wouldn't exist.  Clay was one of the two prospects acquired from the Twins in June 1987 for reliever Dan Schatzeder.  He made it into 17 games with the Phillies, compiling a 6.00 ERA thanks in part to his 21 walks in 24 innings.

1988 Score #337 and #328, 1987 Topps #98 and 1986 Donruss #489

0 Cards
Bob Sebra (3 games in 1988 and 6 games in 1989)
Bill Dawley (8 games in 1988)
Bill Scherrer (8 games in 1988)
Salome Barojas (6 games in 1988)

Al Pardo (2 games in 1988 and 1 game in 1989)

For some reason, I could have sworn Sebra spent more time with the Phillies than his nine games in 1988 and 1989.  My 15-year-old brain had him as one of the main pitchers with the '88 and '89 Phillies, but the fact is he really wasn't around that much.  Sebra was acquired from the Expos in September 1988 and traded away to the Reds in July 1989.  Given his short tenure with the club, it's no surprise that he doesn't have any Phillies cards.

1985 Fleer #482

Dawley and Scherrer are perhaps better known for their time with the Astros and Tigers, respectively.  Dawley pitched 8 2/3 total innings with the Phillies, going 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA before earning his release following the season.  Scherrer, who earned a World Series ring with the 1984 Tigers, signed with the Phillies in June 1988 after being released by the Orioles.  He lasted a little over a month with the team, pitching 6 2/3 innings with an ERA of 5.40 and was released on August 1st.

Perhaps the most obscure former Phillie on the 1988 squad was Mexican-born right-handed reliver Salome Barojas.  In between 16 seasons in the Mexican League, Barojas pitched for the White Sox (1982-1984), Mariners (1984-1985) and very briefly with the Phillies.  Barojas was purchased by the Phils from the Mexico City Reds on July 28th and he made six appearances with the club in September.  In 8 2/3 innings, Barojas compiled a 8.31 ERA and he was released immediately following the season.

Finally, catcher Pardo was a September call-up from Triple-A in both 1988 and 1989.  He went 0 for 3 in his 3 at-bats with the Phillies, understandably not earning any Phillies cardboard.

Past Missing Link Posts

1980 Phillies - Orlando Isales and Don McCormack

1981 Phillies - Jerry Reed

1982 Phillies - Stan Bahnsen and Alejandro Sanchez

1983 Phillies - Steve Comer

1984 Phillies - Renie Martin, Jim Kern and Mike LaValliere

1985 Phillies - None

1986 Phillies - Tom Gorman and Jeff Bittiger
1987 Phillies - None

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

1997 Phillies - Rob Butler and Mike Robertson

1998 Phillies - Robert Dodd and Matt Whiteside

1999 Phillies - Joel Bennett, Domingo Cedeno, Joe Grahe and Torey Lovullo

2000 Phillies - Clemente Alvarez, Kirk Bullinger, Mark Holzemer and Bryan Ward