6 Degrees Of Mookie - The Rich Gossage Connection

It's time once again for "6 Degrees Of Mookie" - the fabulous game show blog post where I take a random card in my collection and attempt to connect it to current Red Sox superstar Mookie Betts! Let's take a look at today's contestant!

Random TCDB Card: 

1985 Topps #90 Rich Gossage

Does anyone call him Rich anymore? The man known to the world as Goose was smack dab in tne middle of his Hall of Fame career in 1985. It did, however, mark the last of Gossage's 9 All-Star appearances.

Teammates in the 1985 Topps set
#90 Rich Gossage	#660 Tony Gwynn

Ususally with the initial card I'll look for one of two types of players. Guys I know will be future Red Sox (Greg Harris fit the bill here, but he wasn't going to get me very far) and Hall of Famers on the early side of their careers. That makes Tony Gwynn an easy choice here, especially since it's fun to show two Hall of Famers side by side!

Teammates in the 2000 Fleer Tradition set
#346 Tony Gwynn	#264 Matt Clement

Over the course of his long and illustrious career, Gwynn had a lot of teammates who would go on to play for Boston. I eventually settled Matt Clement.

Teammates in the 2007 Upper Deck set
#574 Matt Clement	#68 Alex Cora

Clement had a short but unusual time in Boston. He made the All-Star team his first year with the Red Sox, then lasted 12 starts before getting hurt in year #2. He never pitched in the majors again. Still, he was there long enough to play with someone quite close to Mookie!

Teammates in the 2018 Topps Now Boston Red Sox World Series Champions set
#WSC-20 Boston Red Sox	#WSC-2 Mookie Betts

Alright, I cheated a little bit here. Technically, Alex Cora isn't a "teammate" but the connection is just too perfect!

Degrees of Mookie: 4