Tyler Chatwood cards with autograph

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On December 7th, the Cubs signed former Rockies pitcher Tyler Chatwood to a 3-year, 38 million dollar contract. I knew nothing about this pitcher but if the Cubs were willing to spend that much money on him, I figured I’d better invest in him too. I hopped on eBay the next day and found a lot of his cards that had a best offer. It was priced at $19.99 but they sold to me for $12.99 + shipping.

Despite the auction claiming it to be a rookie lot, it technically was not. Beckett has his rookie cards limited to 2011 even though these cards say 1st Bowman or Bowman Chrome cards. Not a big deal as I just wanted some cards of his just in case he turns out to be a solid addition to the team. There are a couple refractors and a gold card along with an autograph. I don’t have many autographs in my collection so it’s always nice to add a new one.

Cards in this order:

(5) 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects #BDPP7 Tyler Chatwood Los Angeles Angels
(2) 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects Refractor #BDPP7 Tyler Chatwood Los Angeles Angels
(1) 2008 Bowman Draft Prospects #BDPP7 Tyler Chatwood Los Angeles Angels
(1) 2008 Bowman Draft Prospects Gold #BDPP7 Tyler Chatwood Los Angeles Angels
(1) 2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP188 Tyler Chatwood Autograph Los Angeles Angels

1980 Topps Chicago Cubs team set

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As I was browsing around eBay one day, I came across the 1980 Topps Chicago Cubs team set. I bid on it and won it for $2.80 plus $3.99 shipping! Not a bad price! I finally went through them today and compared them to the list of cards on Beckett.com as well as TradingCardDB.com. Beckett had an extra guy on there that is actually a White Sox player which I’ve emailed them about.

Both sites also listed a 1980 Topps #202 Home Run Leaders/Dave Kingman/Gorman Thomas card which was not in the eBay order. It wasn’t shown in the picture of the listing so I’m not going to complain about it. I’m guessing since the card has both a Cubs player and Brewers player on it, it wasn’t considered part of the set. I’d still like to find it so I can complete the set though.

According to Baseball-Reference.com, the Cubs went 64-98 in 1980 so not a very good season. I was a toddler at this period of time so I only recognize a few players like Sutter, Buckner and Kingman. No worries though as I still want to collect as many Cubs team sets regardless how they did in each year.

If anyone has 1980 Topps #202 Home Run Leaders with Dave Kingman and Gorman Thomas, please let me know! If I find it on my own, I will update this post. Thanks!

UPDATE: Thanks to a kind soul named Chris on Twitter (@addysdaddy181), the card is on its way to me! Thanks to all who replied to my request!

UPDATE #2: I’ve received the card from Chris and my 1980 Topps Cubs team set is complete! Hurray!

Cards in this order:

1980 Topps #17 Bruce Sutter
1980 Topps #54 Dennis Lamp
1980 Topps #103 Bill Caudill RC
1980 Topps #135 Bill Buckner
1980 Topps #153 Tim Blackwell
1980 Topps #175 Rick Reuschel
1980 Topps #240 Dave Kingman
1980 Topps #298 Ken Holtzman
1980 Topps #323 Mick Kelleher
1980 Topps #343 Mike Vail
1980 Topps #381 Team Checklist
1980 Topps #398 Barry Foote
1980 Topps #431 Mike Krukow
1980 Topps #452 Steve Dillard
1980 Topps #472 Willie Hernandez
1980 Topps #493 Jerry Martin
1980 Topps #514 Steve Ontiveros
1980 Topps #523 Ken Henderson
1980 Topps #541 Miguel Dilone
1980 Topps #574 Scot Thompson
1980 Topps #594 Dick Tidrow
1980 Topps #628 Doug Capilla
1980 Topps #639 Larry Biittner
1980 Topps #676 Dave Geisel / Steve Macko RC / Karl Pagel Future Stars
1980 Topps #691 Ivan DeJesus
1980 Topps #716 Lynn McGlothen

My first Jimmy Garoppolo cards

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I’ve kept a watchful eye on QB Jimmy Garoppolo since his college days at Eastern Illinois University. Sadly he was drafted by my least favorite team: the Patriots. There was rumors of him being traded to the Bears but nothing ever came of it. Garoppolo was born in Arlington Heights, IL which would have been quite the homecoming had he made it to the Bears. Thankfully he got traded to the 49ers who I think will really turn things around next year with Jimmy running things.

I am mainly interested in collecting him because he went to Eastern Illinois University which is my alma mater. Other notable football players from EIU are Sean Payton (currently the head coach of the Saints) and Tony Romo (former Cowboys QB and now TV analyst). Not bad company! I figured I’d better get a few of his cards before they skyrocket. I searched around eBay and a lot of stuff was way out of my budget especially the graded cards. I ended up bidding on a 9-card lot of ungraded 2014 cards and eventually won the auction.

I really like the cards where he’s in his Eastern Illinois uniform. I will have to pick up a few more of them down the road.

Cards in this order:

2014 Bowman #105 Jimmy Garoppolo RC New England Patriots
2014 Press Pass #20 Jimmy Garoppolo
2014 Prestige #252 Jimmy Garoppolo RC New England Patriots
2014 SAGE HIT #10 Jimmy Garoppolo
2014 SAGE HIT #60 Jimmy Garoppolo NL
2014 Topps #432 Jimmy Garoppolo RC New England Patriots
2014 Topps Strata #141 Jimmy Garoppolo RC (Passing) New England Patriots
2014 Upper Deck #62 Jimmy Garoppolo
2014 Upper Deck Star Rookies #15 Jimmy Garoppolo