During the decade between 1990 and 1999, the Philadelphia Phillies produced 23 All-Star seasons from 15 different players. Most of those players and seasons were memorable, but a few of them require a closer examination when we look back at the decade.
Outside of one miracle run to the World Series, the 1990s were a very forgettable decade for the Philadelphia Phillies in terms of results. Still, it featured its share of standout All-Star performances, from ace Curt Schilling putting up back-to-back 300 strikeout seasons to "Macho Row" stalwarts like John Kruk and Darren Daulton endearing themselves to fans.
There was also "The Dude," of course, Lenny Dykstra. Ricky Botallico was the only home team All-Star rep in 1996, and a young star in Scott Rolen came along right after that.
The Philadelphia Phillies had a number of forgotten All-Stars in the 1990s
All of these players earned All-Star appearances and represented the Phillies in the Midsummer Classic, and fans remember them quite well. But what about the other, less notable Phils who slipped through the cracks of our collective memories?
These are their stories.
Doug Jones, 1994
You may recall that the Phillies' 1993 season ended on what we'll call a "bullpen issue," and so the club traded Mitch Williams to Houston for four-time All-Star closer Doug Jones and future grand slam hitter Jeff Juden. Jones went on to validate the trade, putting together a solid 2.17 ERA over 47 appearances. He saved 27 games for the team that year before the infamous strike of 1994 wiped out the final six weeks of the season and the entire playoffs.
He actually got the win in relief at the 1994 All-Star Game when he pitched a scoreless 10th inning. How about that? It was the only season that the 37-year-old Jones would pitch for the Phillies, and he bounced around the league for six more years before finally retiring in 2000 at the age of 43. He sadly passed away in 2021 and he still ranks 29th all-time with 303 career saves.
Mariano Duncan, 1994
Duncan probably deserved to be named an All-Star in 1993, but wasn't. Then, he was actually voted in as a starter for the 1994 game. Duncan was only given one at-bat (maybe manager Jim Fregosi was trying not to play favorites?) and grounded out.
Ultimately, his 1994 season was on pace to basically match his 1993 numbers, but he ended up playing far fewer games due to injury and the aforementioned strike that robbed us all. A little over a year later, the Phillies waived him. This would be the only All-Star appearance of his career.
Heathcliff Slocumb, 1995
Slocumb came to the Phils in a trade with Cleveland after the 1993 season for none other than Rubén Amaro Jr. He pitched exceptionally well for the team in 1994, posting a 2.86 ERA over 52 relief appearances. The following year, after the departure of Doug Jones, the Phils gave him a shot at the closer role, and he succeeded again. In producing the only All-Star campaign of his decade-long MLB career in 1995, Slocumb saved 32 games to go along with a 2.89 ERA over 65 1/3 innings.
Following that season, Slocumb was due a pay bump, so the Phillies cheaped out by packaging him along with two minor leaguers in a trade with Boston. Slocumb had 31 saves that year for Boston, and he ended up with 98 saves over the course of his career. But Philadelphia proved to be his best work, with Slocumb posting a lower ERA as a Phil than at any of his seven other stops, and over a full run below his overall MLB ERA.
Ironically, he was the winning pitcher in the 1995 All-Star game, the second straight Phillies closer to earn the W in the game. And he did it by striking out both Iván Rodriguez and Jim Edmonds.
Tyler Green, 1995
Blink and you’ll miss Tyler Green’s career, and his 1995 pitching line looks very underwhelming: 8-9 with a 5.31 ERA. But he was an NL All-Star in 1995, thanks to an 8-4 record at the break and an ERA under 3.00 at that point of the season. Like Slocumb, Green also hurled a scoreless inning in the game, most notably striking out Kirby Puckett.
That would prove to be the zenith of Green’s career, however. He went 0-5 with a 10.68(!) ERA the rest of the way in 1995, then missed all of 1996 with an injury. He started 14 games for the Phillies in 1997 and 27 games in 1998, which would prove to be the end of his career at age 28. Truly, he was one of the most unlikely Phillies All-Stars ever.
Paul Byrd, 1999
Few had as interesting of a career as Paul Byrd. He was traded four times, signed as a free agent six times, and ultimately played for seven teams and won 109 games. He even got the best of Randy Johnson in every single way during his Phillies debut. The 1999 season wasn’t even close to being his best statistically, but a good first half saw him receive an All-Star nod for his work.
Unfortunately, Byrd didn’t get into that game for the National League, but he did make headlines later in July thanks to his role in an epic brawl between the Phillies and Braves. Byrd stuck with the Phillies until a 2001 trade shipped him to Kansas City. And in case you were wondering, he was never teammates with Marlon Byrd, even though both played for the Phillies, Mets, Indians, and Red Sox at various points.
The Phillies had no shortage of memorable All-Stars in the 1990s, and even the “forgotten” ones made their own mark on the minds of long-time fans. Is there something to the fact that most of the guys on this list are pitchers? Maybe it’s just more likely for an average pitcher to have an anomaly season than for a middling hitter to get enough of an opportunity to do it. Whatever the reason and no matter the position they played, we still salute the aforementioned players and all who have earned the title of All-Star for the Phillies.