The NHL hockey season officially winds down this week, with the last games of the regular season set to be played on the 18th. The playoff will begin a few days after, and for the 13th straight year, my Buffalo Sabres will not be among the playoff teams. Despite this extended futility, there are a lot of positives on the team that I remain hopeful that next year things will break in their favor and the streak will end. Speaking of positive things, I received a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) last week. Someone sent me an envelope of cards. The return address merely said TCDB, so obviously this i ..read more

I had an opportunity to do a nice small TCDB trade with a gent named Johnny. Part of the trade was related to the Time Travel Trading Project, so you'll see that later on this month. The rest were a few more Red Sox needs.      The Lester and Ortiz wrap up the Red Sox cards I needed from the 2014 Topps set (not including short prints of course), and I picked up two inserts that have a connection to the 1999 All-Star Game. I have that game recorded on VHS. Between the unparalleled pre-game tribute to the "All-Century Team" and the amazing pitching dominance by Pedro, it was a n ..read more

An "old school" player from Staunton, Virginia (Also where I work)   1989 Topps #98 Larry Sheets   One of a handful of players from my current part of the world, Sheets is the father of current Major League player Gavin Sheets. I found this great interview with him: https://ballnine.com/2022/03/24/larry-sheets ..read more

My recent Tony Gwynn pull made me wonder if that was the best card hit I ever pulled from a pack. I've pulled some great cards in my time, but could anything top a relic card of a Hall of Famer, especially if it was limited to only 25 copies? I decided to look through my collection and find out. Then I decided, why not try and make this a blog bat-around? I'd love to see what other bloggers have pulled! Fortunately for me, the TCDB has a feature that lets me see lists of all my autographs, relics, and serial numbered cards. I just had to go through each one and try to remember which ones came ..read more

I was worried for a little bit, the bounty of baseball cards at my local Wally World dried up, and for awhile I feared things had returned to an unfortunate new normal. However, a recent stop showed replenished shelves. I grabbed a few pack, and bow am I ever glad I did! 3rd Place #211 Tampa Bay Rays (TC)    I always enjoy seeing the players have fun, and when that fun is depicted on cardboard then all the better. Bonus points for a cameraman cameo!   2nd Place #128 Christopher Morel (FS)    One of the most popular cards of the first series, and it ..read more

First foreign player To represent Team Japan World Baseball Classic   2022 Topps Opening Day #149 Lars Nootbaar (RC)   Nootbaar, whose mother is Japanese, batted leadoff for the eventual winners in the 2023 WBC gold-medal game. **********CONTEST!********** Head to The Diamond King's blog before 5pm PST for your chance to win over 100 serial numbered cards ..read more

  On St. Patrick's Day, everyone is Irish. On Cinco De Mayo, we celebrate all things Mexican. Today, I embrace my Polish heritage! It's Dyngus Day, which you've probably never heard of unless you are from Buffalo or Cleveland.  Dyngus Day is a Polish holiday celebrated the Monday after Easter. It is a day for all of us Poles to eat kielbasa, listen to polka music, spray your loved ones with water, and whip pretty ladies with pussy willow branches!   I know what you're thinking - no, this isn't an April Fools Day joke. This is a legit holiday!       Now gra ..read more

  For the past few years, I've written a celebratory post on this date wishing Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale a happy birthday. I always thought it was amusing that a Red Sox player shared the same birthday as me. Well, Chris Sale is no longer on the Red Sox, having been traded to the Atlanta Braves during the off-season. I still wish Sale well (both today and during the season), but I needed to find something else to post on my birthday. Fortunately, I discovered something great and truly magical occurred on this date.   Hope springs eternal in the game of baseball. One of the best th ..read more

All-Star M.V.P. Drove in both A.L. squad's runs homer and sac fly   1991 Topps #625 Terry Steinbach   Steinbach hit a solo home run off of Dwight Gooden in the 3rd inning of the 1988 Midsummer Classic, and in the following inning drove in Dave Winfield with a sacrifice fly. Those were the only two runs the AL team scored, which was enough for a 2-1 victory over the National League team ..read more

Only 3 cards this time around (or 2 if you a stickler for such things). Still, these cards having been sitting unclaimed for over 3 years, so let's see who is on the chopping block today!   Trade #79 (Personal collection swap) Added to my personal collection 01/15/21: 1981 Topps #47 Ken Brett, 1981 Topps #49 Bob Shirley, 1981 Topps #59 Dan Petry, 1981 Topps #610 Darrell Porter, 1981 Topps #641 Mark Belenger, 1981 Topps #681 New York Mets - Joe Torre (TC)   Added to the Time Travel Trade Stack 01/15/21: 1981 Topps #226 Manny Sanguillen (See Trade #88) 1981 Topps #277 Alfredo Griffin ..read more