Top rookie cards of recently retired Anthony Rizzo
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Anthony Rizzo, one of baseball's best personalities, has announced his retirement. A key cog on the 2016 World Series Cubs will retire as a Cub in a ceremony on Saturday, according to reports.
Rizzo, originally drafted by the Red Sox in the sixth round out of high school in 2007, had a bump in 2008 when he was diagnosed with limited-state classical Hodgkin's lymphoma in April of that year. After treatment he was deemed in remission just five months later.
The first baseman would get traded in 2010 to the Padres and make his debut in 2011. He was traded before the 2012 season to the Cubs, where he stayed until 2021 when he would end his career with the Yankees.
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Rizzo's first Bowman Chrome rookie comes from the 2010 Bowman Chrome set. With him in his Red Sox uniform the image seems to be of him just after a swing, bat in hand and his eyes looking forward. This was during a time when autographed cards didn't have a white shaded area for the auto, keeping this signature a little hidden between the dark silver card and the dark blue ink.
According to Card Ladder, this card peaked on August 8, 2021, when it went for $460. The most recent sale, according to Card Ladder, occurred on December 6, 2024 for $275.
The rookie card for Anthony Rizzo comes out of the 2011 Topps Update product, the same product as Mike Trout's rookie. The parallel to have is the Diamond Anniversary. Speckled in diamond-like shine, the extra sauce on the card makes it pop that much better.
According to the PSA estimate, the value of a PSA GEM MT 10 should be around $80. The last sale, according to eBay sold listings, went for $107.50 on September 8, 2025.
Although not a rookie, one of Rizzo's coolest cards is his 2020 Panini Diamond Kings Downtown insert. It's one of the most iconic modern day inserts, and mostly known for football and basketball, baseball ones are extra rare.
This piece last sold, according to Card Ladder, on August 20, 2025 for $295. That was not far off the peak sale of $310 that occurred on January 16, 2025.
Along with catching the final out of the 2016 World Series, one of Rizzo's most iconic moments was on display during a game on April 28, 2021. The Cubs were down by 10 in the seventh inning against the Braves, when manager David Ross put Rizzo out to pitch against friend and foe Freddie Freeman.
After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 2008, Cole worked as an advertising copywriter until shifting to print journalism a few years later. Managing three weekly newspapers in the Dakotas, Cole won numerous awards from the North Dakota Newspaper Association including Best of the Dakotas and, their top award, General Excellence. He returned to collecting in 2021 and has since combined his passion for writing with his love of cards. Cole also writes for the Sports Cards Nonsense newsletter and has made guest appearances on multiple sports card collecting podcasts including Sports Cards Nonsense, and the Eephus Baseball Cards Podcast. IG: coleryan411 X: @colebenz