Rizzo touts love for Cubs, fans in Wrigley return

Anthony Rizzo doesn’t feel a sense of closure for his first trip to Wrigley Field since getting traded to the New York Yankees by the Chicago Cubs three years ago.

New York’s first baseman isn’t sure he will ever need closure in Chicago after helping the Cubs win their first World Series title in 108 years in 2016.

“I think that door will always be open in Chicago,” Rizzo said. “The amount of respect I have for the fan base there, and the love I have for them and the Cubs.”

Not that he doesn’t have similar feelings with the Yankees, who re-signed Rizzo after the 2021 season and again a year later to his current $40 million, two-year contract that has a team option for 2025.

“As much as we love Chicago, I think where we ended up was perfect for us,” he said.

Still, nothing has matched the magic of eight years ago, when Rizzo had maybe his best overall season and the Cubs beat Cleveland in an epic Game 7 in the World Series.

The first championship for the Cubs since 1908 came pretty much halfway through Rizzo’s nine-plus seasons with them. Rizzo came up in Boston’s system before a trade to San Diego, and the Padres later shipped him to the Cubs.

“After we won the World Series, the stories that you heard, all the pictures of the people going to the graves — just the countless stories you still hear,” Rizzo said. “It was really special after we won and just the years after, being there, seeing how happy those fans were. I think anyone you ask on that team will say pretty much the same thing.”

Not surprisingly in the era of free agency and trade deadline dealing, most of the players from that team are elsewhere. While Rizzo keeps in touch with several of them, the series starting Friday will be as much about the venerable home of the Cubs as anything else.

And those fans.

“I loved it,” Rizzo said of playing at Wrigley. “The fans bring the energy there every day, similar to Yankee Stadium, similar to Fenway, similar to Dodger Stadium. I think Fenway’s my favorite place to visit as a visitor, and I’m excited to go to Wrigley as a visitor and just go back and be on the other side of it.”

In 2016, Rizzo hit .292 with 32 home runs and 109 RBIs, those power numbers tied for his career high. It was the most recent of his three All-Star nods, which happened consecutively, and was the only season in which he was a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner.

“After we won the World Series, the stories that you heard, all the pictures of the people going to the graves. Just the countless stories you still hear. It was really special after we won and just the years after, being there, seeing how happy those fans were.”

Anthony Rizzo on winning World Series with Cubs

The numbers haven’t been quite the same with the Yankees, but injuries have plagued the past two seasons. The 35-year-old Rizzo had a concussion last year and recently returned from a right forearm fracture that sidelined him for about 2½ months.

The Cubs and Yankees played a series each of the past two seasons, but both were in New York. Now Rizzo waits for what seems certain to be a warm greeting from Cubs fans.

“It’s going to be awesome,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who visited Wrigley frequently as a player since his first six-plus seasons in the big leagues were with NL Central rival Cincinnati. “He’ll be forever etched in their history and forever beloved in that town. I’m sure it’s exciting for him to go back.”

As much as he cherishes what happened in Chicago, Rizzo believes the timing was pretty good on the deadline deal that brought him to New York when the Cubs were moving into a rebuilding phase.

“Just getting traded was a refresher for my career,” Rizzo said. “To be able to live in the city and play at Yankee Stadium is something I wish every baseball player could experience. The lights are brighter. They shine a little brighter every day. It brings the best out of you.”