If you are among the millions of baseball fans who utilize Twitter as your source for the very latest up-to-the-second breaking news and information about our beloved game, and let’s face it, if you are not, you are already behind the power curve, then you are already very well aware of the passing of Boston Globe baseball writer Nick Cafardo, who died suddenly and unexpectedly on Thursday morning. He was 62 years old.

I did not know Nick, not personally at least, and he most certainly did not know me. We had never met, never spoken to one another, nor had we even seen one another before. But I knew Nick Cafardo as if we were longtime friends.

How so, you ask?

As a writer, journalist or merely a curious baseball fan, if you wanted to know anything – anything – about the Boston Red Sox and searched on Google, you would not only find the answer to your question(s), but chances were exceptionally good that it would be Nick Cafardo who answered them for you through one of his many absolutely brilliant Boston Globe articles. It was like having Nick on speed dial.

As you might imagine, when it became apparent that the Dodgers would be facing the Boston Red Sox in last year’s World Series, those in the media needed information on or about Alex Cora’s team, and needed it fast. That need was usually fulfilled by or through something that Nick Cafardo had already written about; whether it be a quote from a player, coach, or even Alex Cora himself, Nick had it for you.

In the simplest of terms, Nick Cafardo was the ‘reliable source’ that everyone turned to for all things Red Sox related – period. In fact, as recently as last week, I had utilized some of Nick’s previous (and excellent) work while researching an article on current Dodger and former World Series champion Red Sox pitcher Joe Kelly. Without Nick’s thorough information I would have been completely lost.

On behalf of the entire staff at ThinkBlueLA, we send our deepest and sincerest thoughts and prayers to Nick’s family, friends, and colleagues. He will be deeply miss by all who knew him.

…and even by those of us who did not.

God Bless You, Nick.

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