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.
Brian Jeroloman spent a month with the 2011 Toronto Blue Jays without appearing in a game.
Pete Compton of the St. Louis Browns, now credited with the plate appearance of "Lou Proctor"
Bill Sharman, who was briefly on the roster of the 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers
Shawn Zarraga was briefly on the active roster of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016.
Major League Baseball rosters
A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and an expanded roster encompassing the active roster plus additional reserve players.
August 1905 photo of players on the Pittsburgh Pirates' roster.
Fred Lynn made his MLB debut as a September call up in 1974; he was later the American League's Rookie of the Year and MVP in 1975.
Adalberto Mondesí made his MLB debut during the 2015 World Series.
