As a pitcher for the Barrie Baycats, Brad Bissell is accustomed to players trying to steal bases on him.
But as a homeowner, the 36-year-old is now an unfortunate victim of theft, too.
Bissell is one of only three players to have received Intercounty Baseball League championship rings from each of the Baycats' six title seasons (2005, followed by five consecutively from 2014 to 2018), but a recent break-in at his Midland home has left the beloved No. 24 with only three now in his collection.
“I had these sitting on their ring boxes and one had fallen behind, so they grabbed five instead of all of them,” Bissell told BarrieToday at Coates Stadium on Saturday night. “The police recovered two of them in a stop of a vehicle last week and I have no idea where the others are.”
The break-in occurred Monday, June 10.
Four days later, Southern Georgian Bay OPP officers responded to a report of counterfeit Canadian $10 bills being used at a Midland-area businesses.
That investigation led to the arrest of two men, followed by the seizure of drugs, weapons and other recovered stolen property from recent daytime residential break-ins, including two of Bissell's rings.
Bissell told BarrieToday that, unfortunately, break-ins are common in his Midland hometown and other small communities right now.
But he just doesn’t understand why the thieves bothered to take the unique rings at all.
“My neighbour is the one who caused me to look around, because he came over about 25 minutes after I’d got home to say he thought he saw someone walking around my back room earlier. But he thought it was just me,” Bissell said.
“I teach at a high school, so it definitely wasn’t me and I started looking around the house," the left-handed pitcher added. "There was an iPhone on the table, kids' tablets, Mac Books and a DSL camera, but they took the rings that clearly say 'Bissell' on them and aren’t going to be worth anything monetarily.
"Not the brightest (thing to do). Now, they did get some cash from a jar, but other than that, nothing.”
The two rings recovered were from the 2015 and 2018 seasons, and he also still has the one from 2016, which wasn't stolen.
Bissell isn’t sure where his first ring from 2005 is, nor the 2014 and 2017 jewelry, but told BarrieToday he isn’t overly worried about it.
“Of course, I would love to have them all back; it was hard work and effort. It’s the connection to my teammates and the organization, but at the end of the day, it’s not the end of the world,” he said.
“At the same time, I have all the pictures and video, which is the good thing about winning in 2014 until now, as opposed to winning in 2005 when there wasn’t a video," Bissell added. "There were a few pictures, but I wasn’t even there for Game 6 because I had to go back to school, so I missed the final game.
The rings still carry sentimental value, but he tries not to dwell on the theft.
"It’s nice to share that stuff with my family, but at the end of the day, if something was going to go missing from my house, if that’s what had to get taken for other stuff not be stolen, I’m OK with that," Bissell said.
With the Baycats currently sitting on top of the IBL standings with a 13-2 record, Bissell says that even if they don’t find his other stolen three rings any time soon, he hopes this season ends on a happy note.
“Hopefully I have four when the season ends," he said.
