Anthony Rizzo welcomed to Wrigley Field for the first time since '21 trade

There’s no questioning Anthony Rizzo’s legacy in Chicago. With the Chicago Cubs, he was a three-time All Star, a four-time Gold Glove winner, a one-time Silver Slugger and a World Series champion. 

Through his years in a Cubs uniform, from the start of the 2012 season to when he was traded at the 2021 deadline, Rizzo cemented himself as the team leader. The captain. He took one of his first big steps in that direction when he tried single-handedly to take on the Reds dugout in July 2014, and he culminated that process when he caught the final out of the 2016 World Series and tucked the ball in his back pocket.

Now, three years after being traded, Rizzo is back at Wrigley Field for the first time as a visiting player. 

“I anticipate it being really special,” he said before Friday’s game. “I really hope to take in the moment as best I can.”

There were a few such moments, as he was reuniting with former teammates like Ian Happ, but especially when the crowd had their opportunities to express their feelings for the former Cubs first baseman.

When Wrigley Field public address announcer Jeremiah Paprocki announced the Yankees’ lineup, he was drowned out by the fans’ cheering when he got to Rizzo’s spot in the lineup. Minutes before first pitch, the tribute video on the scoreboard drew roars from the crowd. Rizzo emerged from the visitors’ dugout and tipped his cap after it was over to more cheers. And then, when he came to the plate for the first time to lead off the second inning, it felt like he had never left. Close your eyes and you’d have thought he was still wearing a Cubs uniform.

This weekend series carries weight for both teams beyond nostalgia. It’s good that we can afford ourselves the time to pause and show appreciation for a player who meant so much to the city of Chicago for such a long time. But as this weekend series begins, the Cubs are still fighting to stay in the National League wild card race. The Yankees are a half game behind the Orioles in the American League East. 

Rizzo spent a decade playing at Wrigley for the home team, and his years at the Friendly Confines taught him a few things to look for on the drive to the ballpark as a visitor.

“I looked at the lake and saw it was rough, so it means the wind’s blowing in,” Rizzo said. “I just thought about a lot of visiting teams coming here trying to beat us when we played here, and that was the drive they took every day on the bus.

“It’s cool to see the ivy again, nice and green.”

It’s hard to ignore the possibility that Friday’s moments of celebration and remembering might never have happened.

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said his negotiations with Rizzo leading up to the trade in ‘21 were more challenging than typical contract talks because they have known each other since Rizzo was 17 years old, and Hoyer was involved in bringing Rizzo to San Diego and then to Chicago.

“It was somewhat personal, and I don’t think I probably handled it the best,” Hoyer said. “I think he might say that. I think it was probably a little different than some. And obviously that led to the trade.”

In hindsight, Rizzo said getting traded to the Yankees has been a positive for him because it pushed him outside of the comfort zone he had developed in Chicago. Going to a new organization meant starting over in a lot of ways, and for a player who came to the Cubs when he was just 22, Rizzo said it forced growth he needed.

“Getting traded has definitely helped me grow as a leader, as a person, as everything in life,” he said. “You get used to something for so long here, and then getting traded to an organization and learning all new names and faces and new players. It was awesome. It was refreshing.”

Even three years removed from the trade, many Cubs fans still lament that Rizzo was traded at all. He had the makings of a lifelong Cub, but contract talks didn’t pan out, and he was dealt at the same time Hoyer traded the other pieces of the World Series core. These days, Rizzo says he can see himself living in Chicago again when he is done playing, but his goal is to stay in New York as a player. 

“I really hope to retire a Yankee,” he said. “I love playing on the Yankees. I love the opportunity that I’ve had, especially with the guys that I get to play alongside of every single day. But who knows? Who knows what the future is?”

Whatever does happen down the road, Rizzo will forever hold a special place in Cubs history.

He and the rest of the 2016 team that ended the 108-year World Series drought are part of a select group in franchise lore, but Rizzo more so than the rest. It seems right that he caught the final out of Game 7, because he was there at the beginning of the process that it took to get to that moment, going from the 101-loss team in his first season to multiple playoff appearances at the end of his Cubs’ tenure.

Rizzo of course fondly remembers the last out in Cleveland eight years ago, but he — maybe fittingly — takes a little more joy in remembering Game 6 of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers. To end that game, Rizzo was the final part of a double play. He remembers catching the throw from Javier Báez for the game’s final out. The moment that sent the Cubs to the World Series for the first time since 1945 meant a little more to Rizzo, because it happened at Wrigley Field.

“Catching that last out to send us to the World Series, doing that at home, the NLCS, Clayton Kershaw pitching against us,” Rizzo said. “I think we were down in that series two [to] one to start and be able to clinch here at home. And I feel like the fans were just happy. We just got to the World Series and that celebration and excitement.”

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