A half-hearted attempt at a baseball card blog, and occasionally other baseball musings
Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Repack Haiku #477 (Alan Wiggins)
Monday, September 7, 2026
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.
- Brock Holt
- David Ortiz
- Dustin Pedroia
- Mookie Betts
- Ted Williams
- Xander Bogaerts
- Anthony Ranaudo
- Edwin Escobar
- Matt Barnes
- Rusney Castillo
- Bryce Brentz
- 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
Thursday, September 3, 2026
Yesterday Morning
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.
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Repack Haiku #476 (Zach Day)
Monday, August 31, 2026
TCDB Trade Recap: Cards From Phoenix, AZ
Friday, August 28, 2026
TCDB Trade Recap: Cards From Greenville, TN
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Repack Haiku #475 (Blaine Beatty)
Monday, August 24, 2026
Trapped In Time: Remnants Of The 206th - 210th Trades
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
Friday, August 21, 2026
The Collector's Anniversary Celebration Extravaganza!
A few needs, with some exciting rookies and legends of the game to boot! The pack didn't contain all Red Sox though! There were two cards that didn't fit the theme:
Looking at just the front and back, it appears to be more Platinum Anniversary cards. Which was in fact the case.
So why did Chris request this to be the last thing opened? Because sandwiched withing these two cards, Chris truly saved the best for last!
Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Repack Haiku #474 (Tim Teufel)
Monday, August 17, 2026
Time Travel Trading Update #116
Gavin also included these cards, but didn't have much information on them. I was able to find some other instances of these cards online (here, here, and here) that would make them part of the 1930 Player's Cigarettes Country Sports set of cards. However, if you look at the links, you'll notice that the backs are not the same. It's almost like these cards were replicated with blank backs, and then someone stamped some church information on them. I have no choice but to list them as the original set, but I'm going to tag them as replicas just to be safe.
The Time Travel Trade Stack:
#163 Stuart Fairchild (RC)
#183 Jose Macias (RR)
#43 Jo Adell (RC)
#75 Chandler Parsons
#387 Kansas City Clutch (CL, CPC)
#49 John Wall
#264 Roy Halladay (CL, REC)
#186 Mel Ott
#133 Chris Johnson (AP)
#C141 T.J. Houshmandzadeh
#50 Francesco Quinn
#TCH31 Chipper Jones
#NYY8 Jason Giambi
#UH172 Mike Piazza (SH)
#57 Mike Piazza
#263 Jeff Allison (FY, RC)
#366 Frank Thomas (AS)
#126 Steve Cox
#57 Orlando Hernandez
#6 Harmon Killebrew
#NNO Alex Rodriguez ("ET")
#16 Eric Williams
#214 Tony Saunders
#232 Raul Mondesi (FF)
#76 Marshall Faulk
#7 Fowl Boggs
#31 Eric Karros
#43 Rex Chapman
#1 Mike Piazza
#21 Edgar Martinez
#NNO Danny Sullivan
#145 Chad Penney
#442 Mark Recchi (LBM)
#302 Jeff Kent
#339 John Olerud
#5 Ivan Rodriguez
#344 John Olerud
#227 Ronnie Lott
#40 Saku Koivu
#F5 Marcelo Balboa
#246 Mike Rathje
#204 Hakeem Olajuwon (JS)
#13 Tracy Murray (DPK, RC, VAR)
#66 Karl Malone/John Stockton (ST, VAR)
#278 Negele Knight (VAR)
#435 Charles Barkley (AS)
#BC6 Jeff Bagwell (ROY, VAR: no dot after INC)
#5 22-9 Record in the Minors (YR)
#22 Bam Bams Nine in a Week (YR)
#41 First to Fan 1,000 Times (PH)
#56 Season - .545 On-Base Percentage (PH)
#106 The Babe's Best
#138 He Brought Children Joy
#138 He Brought Children Joy
#133 Nolan Ryan "2000th Strikeout"
#141 Nolan Ryan "Big Dollars"
#142 Nolan Ryan "Strong Houston Staff"
#201 Gilberto Reyes
#202 Andres Galarraga
#203 Delino DeShields
#204 Tim Wallach
#205 Spike Owen
#207 Marquis Grissom
#208 Ivan Calderon
#404 Bip Roberts
#18 Will Clark
#9A Mike Samples
#10A Ray Nettles
#11A Dickie Harris
#19A Steve Molnar
#21A Leon Bright
#22A Waddell Smith
#127 John Cullen
#CC5 Wayne Gretzky (LL)
#306 Brian Skrudland (AS)
#349 Joe Sacco (TP, RC)
#1 Dave Stieb (DK, VAR)
#6 George Bell
#62 Lee Guetterman (VAR: dark logo)
#178 Dave Valle (VAR: dark logo)
#299 Scott Radinsky (ASR)
#511 Steve Balboni (VAR: dark logo)
#1 Warren Moon
#71 Mark Kelso
#99 Herschel Walker (CL)
#108 Burt Grossman
#131 Merril Hoge
#132 Rocky Proehl
#28 Symbiosis
#42 The Schizoid Man
#46 The Dauphin
#60 Home Soil
#62 11001001
#205 Eric Bissonnette
1990-91 O-Pee-Chee Premier (hockey)
#46 Jody Hull (RC)
1990 Fleer
#34 Don Kessinger
#154 Wayne Nordhagen
#2 Ryne Sandberg
#668 Stan Humphries (RC)
#102T Howard Cross (RC)
#64 Armon Gilliam
#299 Roberto Alomar
#20 Tony Gwynn
#51 Rich Garces
#32 Dave Winfield
#275 Eddie Murray
#58 Boomer Esiason
#298 Dave Winfield (VAR)
#330 Mike Schmidt (VAR)
#BC-23 Mark McGwire (VAR)
#1 Keith Atherton
#6 Randy Bush
#9 George Frazier
#58 Willie Hernandez
#59 Larry Herndon
#63 Bill Madlock
#110 Roger Clemens
#310 Ron Guidry
#7 Benny Santiago (RB)
#13 Mike Henneman
#2 Warren Spahn
#U-36 Dan Gladden
#U-69 Bill Madlock
#353 Ernie Camacho
#30T Mike Dunne
#18 Steve Largent
#40 Ken Griffey
#48 Gorman Thomas
#19 Don Mattingly
#18 1985 World Series (WS)
#166 Mike Davis
#257 Dan Quisenberry
#171/#312 Dwayne Murphy/Brian Fisher/Roger McDowell (FS)
#7T Steve Bedrosian
#68T Mickey Mahler
#6 Fernando Valenzuela
#180 Dexter Manley
#U-10 Hubie Brooks
#3 Don Baylor
#38 Bill Bates (RC)
#3 Tom Fergus
#210 Ben Oglivie
#369 James Owens (VAR)
#15 Willie Wilson (DK)
#72 Lenn Sakata
#NNO Carl Lundgren (VAR: American Beauty back)
#81 Omar Moreno
#133 Rick MacLeish
1981 Donruss
#15 Michael Cole
1981 Topps
#65 Al Bumbry
#8 Mike Williams
#11 Dan Melville (RC)
#12 Matt Robinson
#18 Charley Hannah (RC)
#22 Jon Keyworth
#24 Richard Osborne (RC)
#26 Doug Beaudoin
#29 Dick Ambrose
#188 Cunningham/Jackson/Clsayborn/McGee (TL, CL)
#194 Danny Buggs
#199 Louie Giammona (RC)
#214 George Starke (RC)
1979 Topps
#6 Dallas Tornado Logo
1978 Topps
#623 Eduardo Rodriguez
#10 Lefty O'Doul
#18 Jimmie Dykes
#99 Hal Chase
#NNO Melvin Harder
#NNO Fred Merkle
#565 Mickey Lolich
#515 John Ellis
1976 Topps
#15 John McGraw
#472 Bruce Dal Canton
#474 Luke Walker
#482 Tom McCraw
#23 Ted Harris
#91 Dunc Wilson
#106 Don Luce
#130 Jean Ratelle (AS2)
#167 Gilles Marotte
#175 Lady Byng Trophy (TRO)
#101 Astros 1972 Rookie Stars (Greif/Richard/Busse) (RS, RC)
#106 Milwaukee Brewers (TC)
#108 Gary Waslewski
#158 Jerry Kenney
#159 John Boccabella
#159 John Boccabella
#160 Andy Messersmith
#161 Brock Davis
#163 Tug McGraw
#176 Tom Haller (IA)
#180 Dock Ellis (IA)
#182 Ed Kranepool (IA)
#194 Fred Norman
#225 1971 World Series Game No. 3 (WS)
#225 1971 World Series Game No. 3 (WS)
#225 1971 World Series Game No. 3 (WS)
#231 Casey Cox
#120 Willie Horton
#152 Angels 1971 Rookie Stars (Allen/Llenas) (RS, RC)
#161 Coins Checklist (CL, VAR)
#8 Walt Garrison (RC)
#NNO Ralph Baker
#NNO John Bramlett
#NNO Billy Martin
#NNO Bob Talamini
1967 Topps
#26 Ray Moore
1959 Topps
1957 Topps
#73 Don Mueller
#12 Del Crandall
#88 Willie Jones (VAR)
#129 PO-1W Lockheed
#51 Eddie Robinson
#118 Frank Reagan
#197 Victory Medal
#101 Leo Durocher (MGR)
#127 Eddie Sawyer (MGR)
#149 Dick Sisler
#2 Black-throated Green Warbler
#1 Lou Ambers
#4 Robert Taylor
#10 California Jay
#47 Lord Trenchard
#632 Max Pallenberg
#633 Carola Neher
#13 Louisa May Alcott
#NNO Punt-Gunning (replica)
#NNO Rabbit-Shooting (replica)
#NNO Steeplchasing (replica)
#42 Roumania
#4 Otter-Hound
#19 Maids, Buy a Mop
1915 Church & Dwight Useful Birds Of America First Series (J5) (non-sport)
#1 Quail
The Time Travel Trading Project is simple in concept. I started out with a random pack of 2018 Topps Series 1 baseball cards. My aim was to trade every card in that pack for something older. Each card I receive in turn is then made available for trade, with the goal to get the oldest card I can get.
Number of trades completed: 448
Unique trading partners: 94
Number of cards mailed out: 2,307
Year of oldest card mailed out: 1910-11
Number of cards received: 3,358
Year of oldest card received: 1890











































