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09/13 14:45 CDT Anthony Rizzo retires with the Chicago Cubs, nearly catches
home run in Wrigley bleachers
Anthony Rizzo retires with the Chicago Cubs, nearly catches home run in Wrigley
bleachers
By SARAH TROTTO
Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) --- Anthony Rizzo celebrated his retirement in the famed bleachers
in Wrigley Field.
It was quite a day.
Rizzo joined the Chicago Cubs as a team ambassador on Saturday. The big first
baseman threw out a ceremonial first pitch to Cubs outfielder Ian Happ, one of
his former teammates, before grabbing a seat in the bleachers in left for the
team's afternoon game against Tampa Bay.
Rizzo, 36, nearly hauled in Moiss Ballesteros' first career homer for Chicago
in the second inning, but it went off his hands. A fan next to Rizzo retrieved
the ball.
Rizzo, a 14-year major league veteran, said he planned to eat a hot dog, drink
adult beverages and possibly throw a baseball to Happ in left field.
"I have one day to really live it up," Rizzo said.
Rizzo made his major league debut with San Diego in 2011, but he rose to
stardom after he was traded to Chicago in January 2012.
The three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner hit .272 with 242
homers and 784 RBIs in 10 years with the Cubs. He helped the team win the World
Series in 2016 for the franchise's first title since 1908.
Rizzo was traded to the New York Yankees as part of a sell-off at the 2021
deadline.
Rizzo and his family were visiting Chicago for the musical festival
Lollapalooza this summer when Cubs owner Tom Ricketts invited them to dinner,
where they discussed the ambassador role.
"Getting traded was just such a whirlwind, heartbreaking, so many emotions and
getting to play for the Yankees was so special for me," Rizzo said. "I grew up
a Yankees fan.
"To be invited back here where I really created my legacy is very special to me
and very humbling."
During Saturday's festivities, Rizzo, a Hodgkin lymphoma survivor and 2017
Roberto Clemente Award winner for community service, wore a Cubs jersey signed
by cancer patients visited by the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation. The
foundation has raised funds for cancer research and support for patients'
families.
"Going through the airport pretty much every time, a family comes up to us and
says, ?You helped us here, you helped our friend here,'" Rizzo said. "That's
such a rewarding feeling."
After breaking his right arm last year, Rizzo said he prepared his family for
the possibility of his career ending. Rizzo became a free agent when the
Yankees declined his $17 million option in November.
"It was kind of decided early on if I didn't get the right opportunity it was
probably going to be it," he said. "And I couldn't be happier."
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