Chicago Cubs fans didn’t get to say goodbye to first baseman Anthony Rizzo when he was traded to the New York Yankees in 2021. Rizzo wasn’t in the starting lineup in the team’s final home game before the trade deadline.
After announcing the end of his MLB career Wednesday, however, Rizzo showed his heart remains on the North Side. He will retire a Cub and become an ambassador for the team.
The accolades received during Rizzo’s time on the North Side are plentiful — three All-Star nods, four Gold Gloves, a Platinum Glove and a Silver Slugger award.
But the 36-year-old cancer survivor also gained fans for his work with pediatric patients, his fun-loving demeanor and his adorable pet.
Here’s a look at 44 things to know about Rizzo as No. 44 returns to Chicago.
Column: Anthony Rizzo — ‘everybody’s go-to guy’ — returns to the Chicago Cubs family
1. Anthony Vincent Rizzo was born in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Aug. 8, 1989 — one year after the Cubs were supposed to play their first night game at Wrigley Field.
2. Rizzo’s parents were originally from New Jersey where Lyndhurst Pastry Shop later carried an Italian ice treat named after the first baseman. It was side-by-side scoops of “Yum Yum” (vanilla) and chocolate.
3. He competed at Coopertown Dream Parks in New York with the Bombers in 2002.
4. As a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Rizzo was named to the Class 6A All-State Baseball team in 2007 as an infielder. Also on the team? Former Chicago White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal.
5. After a gunman shot 17 people dead — including Rizzo’s former football coach Aaron Feis —at his former high school in early 2018, Rizzo returned to Florida to speak at a prayer vigil for the victims. In 2020, Rizzo donated $150,000 and helped raise additional funds so the school could install lights for its baseball and softball fields.
6. The shooting caused Rizzo to advocate for stricter gun legislation and criticize those who bullied student activists.
7. Thanks to his mother’s scream, Rizzo found out he was drafted on June 8, 2007. The Boston Red Sox — under general manager Theo Epstein — took the Sun-Sentinel Broward County Class 6A-5A-4A Player of the Year in the sixth round of the MLB draft with the 204th pick overall.
8. He then had a tough decision to make. After hitting .468 with 11 home runs and 40 RBI, Rizzo signed a national letter of intent to play at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, where his older brother, John, played football.
9. Another FAU scholarship had been extended to Palm Beach Community College pitcher Stephen Vento, who the Cubs selected in the 23rd round of the same draft.
10. Ultimately, Rizzo skipped college and received a $325,000 bonus by signing with the Red Sox.
11. While he was playing first base in April 2008 for the Red Sox’s High-A affiliate Greenville Drive in South Carolina, Rizzo experienced curious symptoms, including swollen ankles. He was diagnosed on May 8, 2008, with Limited Stage Classical Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and went home to Florida for treatment. Rizzo’s grandmother was fighting breast cancer at the same time.
12. Red Sox pitcher (and future Cubs teammate) Jon Lester, who had been diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma, offered Rizzo this advice: “I just told him to be normal. Be as normal as you can be. And I know that can be hard to do with chemo and the different drugs and the way you feel day to day. On the days I felt good, I got up and went fishing. I went to the gym. I did stuff.”
13. Another burst of joy from Rizzo’s mother signaled he was cancer-free. The family was on a flight to Texas in early fall 2008 to watch his older brother John’s FAU football team. That’s when they learned that after 12 chemotherapy treatments, Rizzo’s cancer was in remission.
14. The Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation was created in 2012 to support pediatric cancer patients and their families.
15. Rizzo was presented with baseball’s Roberto Clemente Award on Oct. 27, 2017, for his work with pediatric cancer patients. He was the third Cub to receive the award following Rick Sutcliffe in 1987 and Sammy Sosa in 1998.
16. In its 14th year, Rizzo’s foundation will hold another “Walk-off for Cancer” 5K run/walk in Parkland this December to raise money for pediatric cancer treatment.
17. Rizzo was traded by the Red Sox on Dec. 6, 2010, to the San Diego Padres with pitcher Casey Kelly, outfielder Reymond Fuentes and a player to be named later (Eric Patterson) in exchange for five-time All-Star first baseman Adrián González.
18. While playing Triple A baseball in Tucson, Ariz., for the Padres, Rizzo led the Pacific Coast League with 63 RBIs and batted .365 by early June 2011. He finished the 2011 season with 26 home runs and 101 RBIs, a .423 on-base percentage and .652 slugging performance
Padres’ Anthony Rizzo goes into third base with a triple in front of the Nationals’ Alex Cora during the fifth inning at Petco Park on June 9, 2011 in San Diego. (Denis Poroy/Getty)
19. Rizzo, then the Padres’ No. 3 prospect, was called up by then-general manager Jed Hoyer, and his first MLB start came on June 9, 2011. Rizzo, who started at first base, had a triple, two walks and scored a run in San Diego’s 7-3 win over Washington at Petco Park.
20. On Jan 6, 2012, Hoyer and Epstein — both then in the Cubs front office — traded 2008 first-round pick Andrew Cashner and minor-league outfielder Kyung-Min Na to the Padres in exchange for Rizzo and minor-league right-hander Zach Cates.
21. The Cashner trade wound up being one of the most lopsided deals of the 2000s. Rizzo developed into a player who logged 40.4 Wins Above Replacement for the Cubs, while Cashner totaled 3.2 with the Padres.
22. On May 12, 2013, the Cubs showed their faith in Rizzo by giving him a seven-year, $41 million contract with two option years through 2021.
23. He averaged 154 games a year for the Cubs from 2014-19, hitting .283 and averaging 29 home runs and 103 RBIs per season.
24. Rizzo was the 18th Cub to wear No. 44. Only one other player wore it longer — 1945 NL MVP and three-time All-Star Phil Cavarretta. The Lane Tech grad joined the Cubs at age 18 — before he graduated high school — and stayed 20 years. Cavarretta also played two for the White Sox. The number was unofficially taken out of commission by the Cubs until 1971 but never retired. No Cub has worn Rizzo’s number in a regular-season game since he left the team.
25. When he was traded on July 29, 2021, to the Yankees, Rizzo couldn’t wear No. 44; that was retired for “Mr. October” Reggie Jackson. Rizzo wore No. 48 instead.
26. In his first Cubs game on June 26, 2012, Rizzo drove in the game-winning run for a 5-3 win over the New York Mets and shrugged off the huge expectations when he met afterward with the media.
Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo is hit by a pitch in the eighth inning during a game against the Giants on May 22, 2017, at Wrigley Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
27. Rizzo set a franchise record with the Cubs for the number of times he was hit by a pitch: 165. In his MLB career, Rizzo was struck 222 times by pitches — 8th all-time in the league according to Baseball Reference — due to his close-to-the-plate batting stance.
28. Only five players have hit more home runs as a Cub than Rizzo. Four are in the Hall of Fame — Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Ryne Sandberg. Sammy Sosa leads the franchise with 545 homers.
29. Seven Cubs struck out more often than Rizzo, who whiffed 871 times. Rizzo was followed by Kris Bryant.
Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo celebrates his home run against the Cardinals in the third inning on Sept. 19, 2019, at Wrigley Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
30. Rizzo hit more home runs (7) and RBIs (14) off former Milwaukee Brewers reliever Wily Peralta than any other pitcher he faced in his career, according to Stathead Baseball.
31. Of all the pitchers Rizzo faced at least 20 times, former left-handed starter Gio Gonzalez had the most success against Rizzo, giving up two singles in 32 plate appearances to hold him to a .063 batting average.
32. Rizzo, himself, pitched twice during his time as a Cub. Manager Joe Maddon summoned Rizzo to the mound in 2018 with two out in the top of the ninth and the Arizona Diamondbacks winning 7-1. Rizzo induced A.J. Pollock to fly to center field on a 61 mph fastball that brought loud cheers from the Wrigley Field crowd. Rizzo’s first mound appearance in this 997th major-league game followed a scoreless inning by backup catcher Victor Caratini.
33. On April 28, 2021, Rizzo returned to the mound and faced three batters. He struck out Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman in the seventh inning.
34. Who can forget the “Bryzzo” bromance? (BTW, the nickname was bestowed on the pair by the Tribune’s Paul Sullivan.) Rizzo and Bryant were inseparable besties while both played for the Cubs. From an ESPN commercial to a bobblehead and customized bats, the friendship was even emblazoned on “Bryant Rizzo 2016” T-shirts.
‘Bryzzo,’ an oral history: The stories behind MLB’s hilarious ad campaign
35. Bryant and Rizzo teamed up for their most memorable play for the last out in the thrilling, extra-inning Game 7 of the 2016 World Series. Their gloves from that moment were later put up for auction.
36. Rizzo tucked that World Series-winning game ball into his back pocket and presented it to team chairman Tom Ricketts during the Cubs’ championship celebration.
37. Rizzo met Emily Vakos, who attended Arizona State, in 2016 during Cubs spring training in Arizona. Vakos interned for the Cubs’ nutrition team.
Anthony Rizzo with his then-girlfriend, now wife, Emily Vakos before the All-Star Home Run Derby at Petco Park, in San Diego on July 11, 2016. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune)
38. On an off day in 2017, Rizzo proposed to Vakos aboard a boat on Lake Michigan. (It was one year after Rizzo helped orchestrate a surprise proposal for a Cubs fan at a local sports memorabilia show.) The couple married on Dec. 29, 2018.
39. Ironically, Rizzo’s wedding ring was recovered from Lake Michigan earlier this month by diver Yohei Yamada, according to Block Club Chicago.
40. The Rizzos introduced their new dachshund Kevin to fans in early 2020.
41. In early 2021, Kevin was featured prominently on a customized pair of Rizzo’s cleats he nicknamed the “Kevin 1s.”
42. It was a photo of Kevin — wearing a bandana that said “Big Brother” — on Instagram that announced the Rizzos were expecting their first child in June 2025.
Yankees’ Anthony Rizzo salutes the crowd before batting against the Cubs in the second inning at Wrigley Field on Sept. 6, 2024. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
43. Rizzo received a standing ovation from fans in September 2024 as his walk-up music (“Intoxicated” by Martin Solveig & GTA) was played. It was the first time he played at Wrigley Field since being traded to the Yankees three years earlier. The Yankees declined Rizzo’s $17 million club option for the 2025 season.
44. The night before Rizzo announced his retirement, he returned to Yankee Stadium with his wife and young son. Rizzo chugged a Bud Light when he was shown on the ballpark’s Jumbotron.
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