Ranking the 5 Best Anthony Rizzo Moments in a Cubs Uniform

[matto1233]

Image courtesy of © Jon Durr-Imagn Images

In case you missed it, Anthony Rizzo is officially retiring as a Chicago Cub. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported that he will be honored during Saturday’s contest against the Tampa Bay Rays and that he will serve as an ambassador for the team going forward.

This is something that we should all feel good about when there’s been little to feel good about on the North Side since Rizzo was traded four years ago. The first baseman was the face of Cubs baseball during the most fruitful and successful period of the modern era. It often feels like the ending fell a bit flat—and it did, to be clear. Saturday, however, represents an opportunity to right that wrong. 

Let’s remember the good times and look back at some of his most memorable moments in a Cubs uniform. 

Honorable Mentions

The 2015 NLDS home run barrage

In many ways, the 2015 Cubs were a year early. Sure, they had acquired Jon Lester that offseason, but guys like Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber had yet to even make their big league debuts. They were supposed to get a taste of being competitive that year before really hitting the ground running in 2016.

 

Still, they announced their presence in a big way. After knocking off the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Wild Card game, they took down the St. Louis Cardinals in four games in the NLDS thanks to a home run barrage from so many of their young sluggers. Rizzo, of course, played a huge part in that. He hit one bomb during the Game 3 onslaught that ultimately ended with the Cubs launching six home runs, a postseason record that has only since been tied. He also hit the home run in Game 4 of that series that gave the Cubs the lead for good, propelling them into the NLCS. 

2016 NLCS Game 6 home run off Clayton Kershaw

Sure, the game was already mostly in hand when Rizzo hit this dinger to make it a 5-0 lead, but something about this one always felt symbolic to me. Combine the crowd chanting Kershaw’s name in jest, Kershaw’s frustrated scream, exasperated look, and defeated crouch to the ground, and you have, to me, the one moment where you knew that the Cubs did the darn thing. They made the World Series and took down arguably the greatest pitcher of this generation to get there.

 

5. The fight against Cincinnati

Hindsight is always 20/20. That said, I remember feeling like this game was one where the Cubs had found a leader. It’s cliche, I know, and as a data-first guy, I am always skeptical that something like that can have a profound impact on a team.

 

Still. Something about the way Rizzo was ready to fight the entire Cincinnati Reds team to defend his teammate said something. It felt like a crossroads in the Cubs’ attempt at a rebuild, and knowing what we know now, I think that maybe this was some sort of step in his maturation and development. I also remember thinking that Arismendy Alcantara’s four-hit game on that day was a harbinger of things to come for him. One out of two ain’t bad. 

4. The tarp catch and the ledge catch

Nothing personified the mid-to-late-2010s Cubs quite like defense. Every time you turned them on, you knew there was a chance to see something new. Whether it be Ben Zobrist and Kris Bryant playing every position, a pitcher in left field, or Javy Baez making ridiculous plays, they always kept things new and interesting on that side of the baseball.

 

Rizzo was, of course, no exception, winning four Gold Gloves in his Cubs tenure, and making plays like these that are still talked about to this day. There are even bobbleheads commemorating each of these two catches. It should be noted, too, that with the extension of the screens (for good reason), we will probably never see catches like this again. 

3. Striking out Freddie Freeman

Of course. An obvious entrant on this list. You can’t talk about Anthony Rizzo without talking about the fun that he had while playing the game we all love. No moment personified that more than when he managed to strike out Freddie Freeman.

 

It was meaningless, sure, but it was also silly, and helps serve as a reminder that these are all just grown adults playing a game. Rizzo’s unique ability to play with such intensity while also not taking himself too seriously helped endear him to so many fans and made him into the fan favorite that he was. Remember when he offered hand sanitizer to Orlando Arcia in the first game of the COVID-affected 2020 season? Or when he shared orange slices with the team in the dugout like a little leaguer?

2. Home run after a 14-pitch plate appearance on Opening Day 2.0

The date of this home run was June 11, 2021. That probably means little to you in retrospect, but back then, that was Opening Day 2.0 for the Cubs. That meant it was the first day that Wrigley Field was allowed back to full capacity after the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Sure, this was just a regular season game, but given the circumstances, it felt like more. During a time where we all felt so alone, we all suddenly felt so together, roaring after every foul ball that Rizzo continually hit, coming all the way to a crescendo as he tied the game with a home run in a game that the Cubs would go on to win.

1.The 2016 World Series

I am, admittedly, cheating a bit here, and am going to lump a few highlights from the 2016 World Series into one section. But if you haven’t noticed, I lumped other highlights into other sections, too. You try picking only five Anthony Rizzo highlights!

While this first particular highlight might have gotten lost to time a bit, it feels fitting that it was Rizzo that got the Cubs on the board in the World Series. After losing a 6-0 shutout that never felt particularly close in Game One, it was Rizzo that gave the Cubs the lead in the first inning of Game Two. As if to say “relax everyone, we’ve got this.”

This is another very specific highlight, but it is a double that led to Rizzo scoring the eventual go-ahead run in Game Five of the World Series.

I also wanted to use this to mention one of my favorites anecdotes from The Cubs Way by Tom Verducci, a fantastic book about the Cubs’ World Series run that year. You might have noticed him punching the air like a boxer after hitting the double. Well, here is the backstory, via Verducci’s book:

”An hour before Game 5, [Rizzo] broke out his pregame inspirational and comedic presentation, quoting motivational lines from movies with no clothes on. The Cubs won, so Rizzo did it before Game 6, too. They won again, so he did it before Game 7, as well. 

After batting practice was over, and only an hour before the seventh game of the World Series, Rizzo stripped off all his clothes, cranked the theme from Rocky on the clubhouse stereo one more time, jumped on top of a coffee table, and began quoting lines from the movie and throwing his best shadow-boxing punches. Pitcher Hector Rondon, joining in on the hijinks, picked up an aerosol can of shoe cleaner and sprayed it in the direction of Rizzo’s groin.

Startled and angered, Rizzo stopped and yelled ‘What the heck, man!’

He cut the music and stormed off toward the bathroom, where he went into the showers to clean off the spray. 

‘I’m thinking, Dang, what’s he doing?’ [David] Ross said. ‘We can’t have this negative vibe right before the game. I go by there. I can tell he’s a little irritated. He is irritated.’

Ten minutes went by. Rizzo finally emerged from the shower. He walked back silently to his locker with a towel around his waist. The room was quiet and uneasy. 

Ross walked up to Rizzo and broke the silence. 

‘Hey! It’s not how many times you get knocked down … it’s how many times you get up!’

Rizzo chuckled. 

‘You know what?’ He said. ‘You’re right!’

Said Ross, ‘He rips the towel off, runs up, turns the music on again, and he jumps back on the coffee table and starts doing the Rocky motions again and shadow-boxes.’”

Rizzo picked up the boxing stuff, presumably, as a way of showing that the Cubs were never going to give up. In a matter of two pitches, with Andrew Miller and the Cleveland bullpen looming, the Cubs went from down 1-0 to tied 1-1 and with the go-ahead runner on second base, thanks to Kris Bryant and Rizzo.

And who can forget about Bryant? I know this is an article about Rizzo, but it’s still difficult to separate the two. They formed arguably the most potent lineup duo in baseball for about a five year stretch. They were seen as incredibly likable teammates and friends, so much so that the Bryzzo Souvenir Company videos became viral hits. 

All of this brings me to Rizzo’s defining moment as a Cub. The defining picture in Chicago Cubs history is one of Rizzo, arms in the air in jubilation, celebrating the final out of the 2016 World Series. Who better to have the ball in that final moment than the one that touched so many lives through his charitable work for cancer and Lurie’s Children’s Hospital? Who better than the longest tenured of the team’s young sluggers? Who better than the unofficial captain, shadow-boxing, Reds-fighting, fun-having first baseman?

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[Old Time Cub Fan]

Thanks for the a great article about one of the great Cubs. I always felt he should have been MVP for the year and one could argue WS MVP. 

[matto1233]

3 hours ago, Old Time Cub Fan said:

Thanks for the a great article about one of the great Cubs. I always felt he should have been MVP for the year and one could argue WS MVP. 

I vividly remember thinking he should have won it! And also meant to include in the article, his 1.084 OPS did lead the team in that World Series. 

[Trudy]

Great article filled with great memories!