A phantom ballplayer is either a baseball player who is incorrectly listed in source materials as playing in a Major League Baseball (MLB) game, often the result of typographical or clerical errors, or a player who spent time on an MLB active roster without ever appearing in an MLB contest during his career. Most of the first form of phantom players date from the 19th or early 20th century, with at least one showing up as late as World War II. A modern-day phantom ballplayer is generally caused by the player being removed from the active roster by a subsequent action (such as being optioned to a minor league team) or the team reaching the end of their season, and the player not having later opportunity to play in a major league game. Many of these phantom players were September call-ups in backup roles.

Phantoms who never were

Real players who never played

Research by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) has identified over 400 players who appeared on major league rosters, but did not appear in a major league game, since 1884. A number of examples are presented here.

Pre-1950

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

† denotes an active professional baseball player who could lose phantom status if he returns to the major leagues and appears in a game

Honorable mentions

Baseball-Reference.com maintains lists of players who have appeared in only a single major league game; as of April 2024, there are over 1,500 batters and over 700 pitchers listed. Other players who had notable experiences similar to phantom ballplayers include:

Not officially on a major-league roster

Passing phantoms

Some players have gone years between first being listed on an MLB active roster without playing (thus becoming phantoms), and eventually appearing in an MLB game (thus losing phantom status). Examples include:

Rookie cards

Makers of baseball cards have issued major league rookie cards featuring some players who never actually played in MLB. Two known examples are listed below. Starting in 2005, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) required card manufacturers to limit rookie cards to players already added to an MLB active roster, or players who appeared in an MLB game during the prior season. Note that card makers also issue cards of "future stars", "top prospects", or similar wording, which are not rookie cards and are speculative in nature.

Special circumstances