CHICAGO — Three years later, Anthony Rizzo is finally going home again.
For the first time since the Cubs traded him to the Yankees in 2021, after a 10-year tenure in which he endeared himself to the city and fan base by playing a leading role in the club’s first World Series championship since 1908, Rizzo will return to Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon as a visitor.
“As far as closure to that, I think that door will always be open in Chicago,” Rizzo said before the Yankees spent Thursday’s off day in Chicago. “The amount of respect I have for the fan base there and the love I have for them and the Cubs will never be [matched].”
Rizzo has had this weekend circled on the calendar since the schedule came out last year, though for a long time it seemed so far away.
The 35-year-old is still in his first week back from the injured list after missing two and a half months with a forearm fracture, but he has jumped back into the September playoff race that he was no stranger to as a Cub.
Set to have 40 friends and family members in attendance — along with some 41,000-plus that may count him as family after he helped bring them a championship in 2016 — Rizzo said he expected there to be some added emotion when he walks to the plate for his first at-bat.
“We’re all excited to have him be celebrated,” said Gerrit Cole, who had plenty of NL Central battles with Rizzo when he was pitching for the Pirates. “Just a fan favorite, team leader, hard-nosed, great player, played every day.
“He deserves to close the book.”
There is only one player left on the Cubs’ active roster who was on the 2016 World Series team with Rizzo — right-hander Kyle Hendricks, who started Game 7 against Cleveland in what became an epic showdown, flush with a rain delay entering the 10th inning before the Cubs won it to break a 108-year curse.
Rizzo said he still thanks umpire Joe West for calling the rain delay every time he sees him, and reminisces when he goes back to the visiting clubhouse at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
This weekend will offer another chance for nostalgia for Rizzo, with the memories likely to come flooding back from the Cubs’ championship run.
“Obviously, he’ll be forever etched in their history and forever beloved in that town,” manager Aaron Boone said.
Asked if he fully understands what he means to that fan base, Rizzo pointed to the aftermath of the World Series when he was endlessly thanked and told stories about fans visiting relatives’ graves to celebrate.
“So it was really special after we won and just the years after being there and seeing how happy those fans were was really cool,” Rizzo said.
Rizzo had previously said he wanted to be a Cub for life, but reportedly turned down extension offers of four years for $60 million and five years for $70 million during the spring of 2021.
Instead, he was traded to the Yankees that summer and has since signed deals that have earned him $50 million over the last three years with a $17 million club option for 2025 (or a $6 million buyout).
“The contract and all that kind of worked itself just by playing these years and making the same — or maybe a little bit more than what was offered,” Rizzo said. “So I think just getting traded here was a refresher for my career, as well. To be able to live in the city and play at Yankee Stadium is something that I wish every baseball player can experience. The lights are brighter, they shine a little brighter every day and it brings the best out of you.”
Rizzo — one of just two players (along with Juan Soto) on the Yankees’ active roster who have won a World Series — is now hoping to use that experience to help bring a championship back to The Bronx this October.
But first, a trip down memory lane in Chicago.
“It’ll be a special experience for me, [my wife] Emily, my family just to go back,” Rizzo said. “Did a lot of really special things in that city. It’ll be cool to go back as a Yankee.”
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