6 Degrees Of Raffy: The Joe Cronin Connection

It's time for another installment of 6 Degrees Of Raffy, where I connect a beloved card from my collection and connect the player depicted on it to current Red Sox All-Star and Gold Glover Ceddanne Rafaela!

 

I asked, and you voted! When the TCDB randomly selected a player that last played over 80 years ago (but the card was much more recent) I put it up to a vote as to which direction I should go: I could focus on completing the chain in as few steps as possible by using a player from the set Joe Cronin didn't play with, or I could take a longer route that would likely exceed 6 degrees and use the only other player in the 2015 Panini Diamond Kings set that Cronin played with, Ted Williams. You overwhelmingly voted for Williams - it's the journey not the destination, right? As for Williams the player vs. Williams the manager, the vote was evenly split. Turns out it would have taken the same amount of steps either way, so I went with Williams sans his managerial cards. I hope you all enjoy it!

 

We start with the randomly generated card from my collection:

Random TCDB Card: 

2015 Panini Diamond Kings #71 Joe Cronin

Joe Cronin was a player/manager for the Red Sox and became the first former player to be named President of the American League. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1956.

Teammates in the 2015 Panini Diamond Kings set
#71 Joe Cronin	#129 Ted Williams

The only other Red Sox player in the 2015 Panini Diamond Kings set that played around the same time as Cronin was Ted Williams. In addition to being Ted's manager when he first started, Cronin was also his teammate from 1939-1942. (Williams would spend the next 3 years fighting in WWII, but when he came back Cronin was still there managing, which he did until 1947.)

Teammates in the 1960 Jay Publishing Boston Red Sox Picture Pack Set B set
#NNO Ted Williams	#NNO Gary Geiger

Ted Williams played until 1960. What made the next link difficult was that Williams had signed an exclusive deal with Fleer towards the end of his career, which is why he has no Topps base cards from 1959-1961. Fleer didn't have contracts with other players, so all they could really do was produce a Ted Williams career set in 1959. I was able to find this 5x7 team set, which may be a bit of a cheat since they're not really cards per se, but if it's good enough to be listed on the TCDB, it's good enough for me.

Teammates in the 1969 Topps set
#278 Gary Geiger	#35 Joe Morgan

 

Geiger's Wikipedia page is pretty interesting. He got hurt a lot in his career, including a collapsed lung and a bleeding ulcer. He even apparently had false teeth. Still he played long enough to connect us to another Hall of Famer.

Teammates in the 1985 Topps set
#352 Joe Morgan	#706 Rickey Henderson (AS, LL)

 

Morgan spent 22 years in the Majors, last playing in 1984. he got this sunset card from Topps the following year. Fortunately for me, that final stint in Oakland allowed me to use another all-time great early in his career.

Teammates in the 2003 Donruss Studio set
#17 Rickey Henderson	#14 Manny Ramirez

 

Rickey is great for playing 6 degrees with. He's had a 25-year career with 9 different teams. According to ESPN, he played with 671 other ball players. One of which was Manny Ramirez. (Aside: How did I not know about these fantastic 2003 Donruss Studio cards before researching this post? That Fenway backdrop is great!)

 

Teammates in the 2011 Bowman set
#90 Manny Ramirez	#106 David Price

 

Speaking of great cards, Manny got one last great card for someone who only played 5 games as a Ray. Why are you hiding Manny?

 

I should note that Manny's 2011 Topps card has him listed with the White Sox. Also in that group of White Sox was the rookie card of pitcher Chris Sale. If I had used that connection, I could have completed this in one fewer step, as Sale and Rafaela were teammates in 2023. Technically Sale and Manny were never teammates, so instead I used the Rays to connect to another member of the Red Sox highly regarded 2018 rotation.

Teammates in the 2019 Topps set
#314 David Price (WSHL)	#228 Rafael Devers

 

What made that 2018 rotation so highly regarded? Just a World Series Championship! Price in particular was amazing that postseason, and arguably should have been the World Series MVP over Steve Pearce. Dever got a ring that year too!

Teammates in the 2025 Bowman set
#10 Rafael Devers	#53 Ceddanne Rafaela

 

It seems fitting that I officially pass the torch from one Raffy to the other to finish up this chain.

Degrees of Raffy: 8

Even though I said I wasn't going to do every voting choice for this series, I did have to work out each one since I didn't know what the final vote would be. I'll still share the chains with you though. 

If connecting with a modern player had won, this would have been the chain: 

1. Joe Cronin --> 2015 Panini Diamond Kings --> Dustin Pedroia
2. Dustin Pedroia --> 2025 Donruss -->  Marcelo Mayer 
3. Marcelo Mayer --> 2026 Topps Heritage --> Ceddanne Rafaela  

If connecting with Ted Williams (managing cards allowed) had won, this would have been the chain: 

1. Joe Cronin --> 2015 Panini Diamond Kings --> Ted Williams
2. Ted Williams --> 1972 Topps --> Jeff Burroughs
3. Jeff Burroughs --> 1986 Topps --> Dennis Lamp
4. Dennis Lamp -->  1992 Topps --> Ellis Burks
5. Ellis Burks --> 2004 Topps Total --> Tim Wakefield
6. Tim Wakefield --> 2011 Topps --> Dustin Pedroia
7. Dustin Pedroia -->  2020 Topps --> Rafael Devers
8. Rafael Devers --> 2024 Stadium Club --> Ceddanne Rafaela

Repack Haiku #478 (Garry Templeton)

Traded for Ozzie

Once declined All-Star invite

Since he would not start

 

1988 Donruss #649 Garry Templeton

 

Templeton caused a bit of a stir in 1979 when he was selected as a reserve to the 1979 NL All-Star squad. Even though he was having a better season, the fans voted in the popular Larry Bowa as the squad's starting shortstop. This upset Templeton, and he declined to participate.

 

Source: https://retrosimba.com/2019/07/09/how-garry-templeton-snubbed-1979-all-star-game/ 

TCDB Trade Recap: Cards From Oakland, TN

Last month, I showed off some Time Travel Trading cards from TCDB member and all-around good guy Mark Z. In addition to those cards, we traded some cards outside of the project. Thanks to him, I was able to knock out a few more modern Red Sox cards from Topps' Update sets:

 

 

This trade completes the Red Sox cards I needed for 2023 and 2024 Topps Update.

 

Favorite Card: Rafaela's Rookie Debut - There's not enough cards of players standing during the National Anthem

 

Thanks for the trade Mark (again!)

Top 3 Tribute: Former Red Sox Manager Joe Morgan

Earlier this month, Red Sox Nation learned of the passing of former Red Sox manager Joe Morgan (not to be confused with the Hall of Fame 2nd baseman). 

 

If you were a Red Sox fan in the late 80's, the phrase "Morgan's Magic" holds a special place in your heart. For me, it was a booster shot that helped solidify my fandom. 

 

If you are unfamiliar with the story, allow me to tell the tale as I pay tribute to "Walpole Joe" with a 3-card salute.

 

I became a Red Sox fan in 1986, following Roger Clemens' historic season, which ultimately ended in the Red Sox reaching the World Series. Everyone knows how that ended, but what many people forget was that after that wonderful season, the Red Sox fell flat. The following season ended up with a losing record, and mid-way through the 1988 season, they were just a game over the .500 mark. This was a team that had 3 future Hall of Famers in Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, and Lee Smith as well as 2 guys with strong Hall cases in Roger Clemens and Dwight Evans. Furthermore, an injection of youth led by future All-Stars Ellis Burks and Mike Greenwell. They should be better than what the record was showing, so the Red Sox dismissed manager John McNamara at the All-Star break. His third base coach, Joe Morgan, took over as interim manager.

 

1989 Score

#660 Joe Morgan (HL)

 

What happened next was absolutely amazing and rejuvenated the Red Sox fan base. Morgan's team won their first 12 games, and 19 of their first 20. Within that streak was 19 straight wins at home (which was actually 24 straight with the first five being won before the manager change). The team went on to win the AL East by just a game over the Tigers. Unfortunately they had to face the juggernaut Oakland Athletics and were swept in the ALCS.

 

1989 Topps

#714 Joe Morgan (MGR, CL)

I picked up this autographed card in a trade with Tom (Batting Out Of Order). 

 

In Joe Morgan's 4 seasons as manager of the Red Sox, the Red Sox always finished with a winning record, with 2 AL East titles. His teams never finished lower than 3rd place.

 

1990 Topps

#321 Joe Morgan (MGR, TL)

Yep, another autograph! This one was an eBay purchase. 

 

He also received votes for Manager of the Year in 3 of those 4 seasons, but never won. In a foolish decision by Red Sox ownership, Morgan was let go after the 1991 season. Their main reason: They were afraid another club might scoop up highly regarded managerial candidate Butch Hobson, so they made him their manager instead. Morgan would famously quip: "This team isn’t as good as people think it is" which proved prophetic as Hobson never ended up with a winning record in 3 season as manager.

 

RIP, Mr Morgan. Thank you for four magical years amongst a lifetime of service in baseball. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Never forget

 

Repack Haiku #477 (Alan Wiggins)

Holds Padres' record

For base thefts in a season

Later died from AIDS

 

1987 Topps Traded #126 Alan Wiggins

 

Batting ahead of Tony Gwynn as San Diego's leadoff hitter, Wiggins stole a club record 70 bases in 1984. Sadly, his cocaine addiction led to him becoming the first Major League ball player to die as a result of AIDS. He was only 32 at the time of his death, and weighed 75 pounds. 

6 Degrees Of Raffy - A Choose Your Own Adventure!

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: 

1. It's more important to connect teammates: connect to Ted Williams (playing years only)
2. It's more important to connect guys who at least worked together: connect to Ted Williams (managing years OK)
3. 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!

Yesterday Morning

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.