It's been almost a year since I've done a 6 Degrees post - I'll admit I wasn't sure I was going to continue the series, even though it's been well received by my readers. It originally started out as "6 Degrees Of Mookie" where I connected randomly selected cards from my collection to future Hall of Famer and former Red Sox star Mookie Betts. That worked well for awhile, and then Mookie got traded.
Three years later, in 2023, I revived the series. Now renamed "6 Degrees of Raffy", it's focus was young Red Sox All-Star Rafael Devers, who had recently signed an 11-year extension that was at the time the 6th largest contract in MLB history. Surely with an extension that long the series will flourish and continue, right? Who knew after just a few years into it, things would quickly sour.
The last 6 Degrees post was back in November, and I tried out connecting a card to a young Red Sox Gold Glover who also happened to be nicknamed "Raffy", Ceddanne Rafaela.
Well, Mr. Rafaela earned his first All-Star appearance this season, and is well on his way to another Gold Glove. It's time to take the interim tag off and make him the newest star of the series! Long may he rein!
Of course, I end up in a situation that deviates from the norm. This is where you are going help.
As I normally do, I hoped on the TCDB and used a feature there that randomly selects a card from my collection. I was not prepared for the selected card:
2015 Panini Diamond Kings #71 Joe Cronin
This is one of those sets that combines cards of current players with players from years past. Cronin is one of those players from yesteryear. The first step is to connect him to one of his teammates within the 2015 Panini Diamond King set. Here's the list of available options:
Brock Holt
David Ortiz
Dustin Pedroia
Mookie Betts
Ted Williams
Xander Bogaerts
Anthony Ranaudo
Edwin Escobar
Matt Barnes
Rusney Castillo
Bryce Brentz
Only one player on that list was ever a teammate of Joe Cronin. That's obviously Ted Williams, who played with Joe from 1939 - 1942. If I wanted to adhere to the strict definition of "teammate", then Ted is my only option. There's also the question of what Ted Williams cards I can use. If I stick with his playing days, I'm looking no further than 1960. If I include his manager cards I could start the next step well into the 70's, but I'd have to allow that he was still not a "teammate" so much as someone who was in uniform and on the field with the players during games. Either way, that would require me to go decades back. The whole point of the exercise is to may as few step as possible to get to a Raffy card. Picking one of the modern players from the 2015 Panini Diamond Kings set would get me to my goal quicker, even if they never even lived at the same time as Joe Joe Cronin, let alone played with him.
So here's where you come in faithful readers! In the comments, pick an option:
It's more important to connect teammates: connect to Ted Williams (playing years only)
It's more important to connect guys who at least worked together: connect to Ted Williams (managing years OK)
It's more important to reach Ceddanne in as few steps as possible: connect to a modern player
Whichever choice gets the most votes will be the path I take to create the chain. Oh, and since I know someone will suggest this, no I will not do all the options. I'm trying to establish precedence here!
No talk of baseball or sports cards today. This post is personal, an avenue to
process an all too scary reminder that life is precious, and gratefulness
needs to be practiced on a daily basis...
This made national news. Maybe you caught a glimpse of this on the news or in your social
media feeds:
That elementary school is where my two youngest daughters attend. This
was my Wednesday morning, and the fear and helplessness that I felt for hours
I would not wish on anyone.
Let's get the facts and important stuff out of the way first: All the kids are
safe, with just one staff member receiving superficial wounds. A staff member
spotted the guy with a gun outside the school, and lockdown procedures were in
effect before he was able to force he way in by shooting out a glass door.
Police were on scene within 3 minutes of the initial 911 call. The shooter
offed himself in the school library.
As far as my kids go, they are fine. They didn't see/hear any of the major stuff. (Although my sister-in-law, who teaches at that school, was the closest classroom to where he gained entry, and not only heard him break in, but he jiggled the handle to her locked classroom as well before moving on. Scary stuff!) My kids understand something serious was going on, knew the lockdown was not a drill, but thankfully have been spared the trauma of what happened and what could have happened. They were more upset by the fact they had to leave their backpacks at school then anything. I'm grateful for that.
My wife and I are also fine. The shock of it all is starting to wear off, and I hope in the days and weeks ahead we'll have more answers. That's the worst of it. The lack of answers or any confirmed information. My day started off normally with me dropping both girls off at school. Normal day as always. About an hour and a half later I get to work, and before I can even get settled in, my wife calls. She's scared, and tells me that her dad told her about a guy with a gun at the school. (He had been called by my brother-in-law, who was called by his wife the teacher. That's how I find out - fifth hand!) By now it's also all over Facebook, so she leaves works and heads over. I also leave work, but I'm 2 towns over and have an 11 mile drive with just me and my thoughts, most of it in prayer. I park a block away from the school and catch up with my wife.
I heard through the grape vine that all the kids and staff are accounted for, and that they are bussing them to a nearby church where we should go for "reunification". (I swear I never want to hear that word again. I heard it so much that day and it's such a cold and sterile word like a doctor telling you you need a "procedure"). Anyway, my wife and I waited for a bit. She wanted to see one of the busses leave before we made our way. When we got to the church it was chaotic. There's not enough parking to accommodate a school full of parental vehicles. We found a spot and was directed to the church's fellowship hall. We were given forms to fill out for each child, and from there we waited. That was a miserable experience in it's own right. The room was packed with hundreds of anxious, stressed out parents...and no A/C. No one had any concrete information on what exactly happened, and every bit of hearsay was eventually met with some contradicting bit of hearsay. Eventually school staff started bringing out kids one at a time, which despite the circumstances went relatively smoothly. Just before 11am, my wife and I were reunited with our daughters.
Neither my wife and I went back to work, and spent the rest of the day trying to cull what info we could, checking in with concerned family and friends, and thanking God for the safety of our kids and all involved. This was every parent's nightmare, and one I never would have thought might happen at this school. For those with kids, give them an extra hug today. For those who work in a school system, I pray you never have to find out first hand, but know that whatever procedures and plans your school has in place for such emergencies may not be perfect, but will be effective. I have no doubt the actions of the teachers and staff at that school kept this from being even more tragic, and did their best to keep the kids calm and safe.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading. God bless.
Day made his Major League debut on his birthday, June 15, 2002. By earning the win, he became the first modern-day pitcher ever to win his MLB debut on the anniversary of his birth. Foster Griffin later accomplished the feat in 2020.
Crook got 4 games with the Cubs in 2022, and was signed as minor league depth by the Red Sox after that season. He never appeared for the the Red Sox, making this a 0-year card. It's cards like this that make me love to hear the discussions on who makes a set from the powers that be.
Time to catch up on the TCDB trades. This trade was with a collector named Billy. I sent Billy some Archives base needs on his list, and picked up a page full of current Red Sox needs:
Once Series 2 was released, I wanted to try and finish up acquiring the last 3 Red Sox cards I needed from Series 1. I also managed to add a selection of Update series needs, as well as one more Red Sox card from the 2019 Topps 150th Anniversary parallel I needed. (If I was ever crazy enough to complete a parallel set, this would probably be the one. I really like the simple tribute to 150 years of baseball).
Favorite Card: 2019 Topps - 150th Anniversary #373 Christian Vazquez. (I almost went with the 2020 Topps Update MLB All-Star Rivals, but I couldn't let a Yankee share credit for a win now could I?)
Talk about your baseball lifer! Beatty played professionally from 1986 to 1997, with a total of 7 games in the Big Leagues in 1989 and 1991. After retirement, he began coaching and is still coaching today! He is currently the pitching coach for the High-A Spokane Indians.
Sometimes cards just don't get traded. It's time to take some cards that have languished in the Time Travel Trading stack for over 3 years and put them to rest. There's only 5 on the chopping block today - a couple of junk wax era, some vintage, and a really old Bowman card! They will join the personal collection unless traded for!
Traded
10/24/22: 1995 Upper Deck - Special Edition (football) #SE20 Alvin
Harper, 1993 Score - Dream Team (football) #2 Emmitt Smith, 1993 Score -
Dream Team (football) #Barry Foster, 1993 Score - Dream Team (football)
#21 Chuck Cecil, 1993 Score - Dream Team (football) #22 Steve Atwater,
1993 Score - Dream Team (football) #23 Bryan Cox, 1993 Score - Dream
Team (football) #24 Derrick Thomas, 1993 Score - Dream Team (football)
#26 Sam Mills
Received 10/31/22:
1992 Donruss - Bonus Cards #BC6 Jeff Bagwell (ROY, VAR: no dot after INC)
1992 Leaf - Gold Rookies #BC-10 David Nied (See Trade #272)
1992 Pinnacle - Team 2000 #42 Jim Abbott (See Trade #233)
1992 Pinnacle - Team 2000 #48 Roberto Alomar (See Trade #233)
1992 Pinnacle - Team 2000 #59 Gary Sheffield (See Trade #233)
1990 Fleer - All-Star Team #1 Harold Baines (See Trade #213)
1969 Globe Imports Playing Cards Gas Station Issue #8Hearts Jim Wynn (See Trade #288)
A lone card from Bo (Baseball Cards Come To Life!) in this trade, and I'm a little surprised it's still here. Insert cards of Hall of Fame players should do well, even if they're from the overproduction era.
Traded 10/28/22:
1981 Donruss #427 Leon Durham (RC), 1978-79 O-Pee-Chee (hockey) #48
Dennis Hextall, 1978-79 O-Pee-Chee (hockey) #92 Ron Ellis, 1978-79 Topps
(basketball) #62 Anthony Roberts, 1978-79 Topps (basketball) #66 Lonnie
Shelton, 1978-79 Topps (basketball) #76 Brian Winters, 1978-79 Topps
(basketball) #93 Ricky Sobers, 1966 Topps #104b Alex Johnson
Received 11/05/22:
1993 Redstone Dinosaurs Mesozoic Era (non-sport) #22 Telmatosaurus (See Trade #222)
1993 Redstone Dinosaurs Mesozoic Era (non-sport) #23 Chirostenotes (See Trade #222)
1988 Topps UK Minis #29 Tony Gwynn (See Trade #208)
1978 Topps #435 Checklist: 364-484 (CL) (See Trade #217)
1976 Topps (football) #321 Mike Boryla (See Trade #212)
1976 Topps (football) #411 Ron Pritchard (See Trade #213)
1975 Topps (football) #178 Rich McGeorge (See Trade #212)
1975 Topps (football) #183 Jim Otis (RC) (See Trade #212)
1974 Topps #322 Ernie McAnally
1974 Topps #345 Bill North
1965 Topps #197 Diego Segui (Retired and sent as prize 12/02/22)
A couple of 1974 Topps cards are all that remain from this trade with TCDB member extraordinaire Mark Z.! To think neither of these two cities have a baseball team anymore...
Traded 12/02/22:
1962 Topps #128 Art Fowler, 1960 Topps #149 Bob Nieman, 1957 Topps #366
Ken Lehman, 1954 Topps #106 Dick Kokos, 1954 Topps #124 Marion Fricano,
1954 Topps #222 Bill Wilson (RC), 1954 Topps #238 Al Aber, 1953 Topps
#213 Ray Scarborough
Received 11/28/22:
1989 Fleer #299 Roberto Alomar (See Trade #267)
1989 Topps #206 Roberto Alomar (See Trade #267)
1989 Topps #360 Ryne Sandberg (See Trade #257)
1989 Topps #437 Andy Benes (FRDP, RC) (See Trade #267)
1989 Topps #573 Jim Abbott (FRDP, RC) (See Trade #267)
1989 Topps #628 Matt Williams (See Trade #412)
1989 Topps #764 Robin Ventura (FRDP, RC)
1961 Topps #8 Dick Williams (See Trade #222)
1959 Topps #75 Sam Jones (See Trade #218)
1955 Bowman #145 Bob Nieman (RC) (See Trade #302)
1951 Bowman #147 Ken Heintzelman (See Trade #282)
1948 Bowman #10 Buddy Rosar (RC) (See Trade #282)
1948 Bowman #15 Eddie Joost (See Trade #299)
1948 Bowman #15 Eddie Joost
1948 Bowman (football) #28 Paul Governali (RC) (See Trade #416)
Finally, another TCDB trade with a gent named Ken, who in addition to a bunch of 1989 cards sen in some amazing vintage. One of each remain, with the 1948 Bowman being particularly noteworthy.
These cards are close to entering my collection. The only thing stopping me is a last minute stay of execution (i.e. a trade for an older card)! It's up to you!
