How many of us can truly say that we are living our dream…? Probably not many of us. As for myself, being a (mostly) sports journalist was dream option 1-Q, maybe. After my NBA aspirations air-balled because I was too short, and I realized I threw like a girl and couldn’t hit a curveball, so my baseball dreams struck out… but you know who COULD hit a curveball? Anthony Rizzo, so he got to live his dream. On September 10th, the 14-year MLB veteran first baseman announced his retirement from his dream, playing baseball.

Field of Dreams

Rizzo was originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox organization in 2007. He toiled around their minor league system as one of the franchise’s top prospects until the Sox traded him (and three prospects) to the San Diego Padres for All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez in 2010.

Rizzo would make his major league debut for the Padres in 2011. After a mid-season demotion back to the minors, Rizzo would work his way back to the Pads roster. He finished with an abysmal .141 batting average, and the team decided to move on and dealt him to the Chicago Cubs, where he would play for the next ten seasons.

Windy City Rizz

Rizzo started his tenure with the organization by playing with their minor league affiliate, the Iowa Cubs. After hitting an impressive .342 and 23 home runs, Chicago welcomed Rizzo to Wrigley Field with open arms… he would etch his name into the record books by becoming the first player in Cubs history to knock in three game-winning RBIs in his first five games.

In 2013, the Cubs were so smitten with what they saw from Rizzo that they locked him down with a fat seven-year, $41 million contract, which had team options that could boost his salary up to $73 million. Rizz would smash 23 home runs and 40 RBIs, despite having a relatively disappointing season. He would bounce back in 2014, being named to his first MLB All-Star team.

2015 would be his breakout year. Rizzo blasted his 100th career home run and his 300th RBI, with a batting average of .278, 31 homers, and 101 runs batted in. He would also be voted to his second straight All-Star team and compete in his first MLB Home Run Derby, losing in the first round. He capped off his season by finishing 4th in National League MVP voting.

Rizzo had become one of the most popular players in baseball. He received the most votes in the NL from fans and started at first base in the All-Star Game. He had slightly better numbers than the year before, .292 batting average, 32 HR, and 109 RBIs… with another 4th place NL MVP finish.

The Curse

Back in 1945, the Cubs faced the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. During Game 4 of the Series, at Wrigley Field, Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis brought his pet goat, named Murphy, to the game. Murphy bothered other fans, and Sianis was ejected from the stadium.

The unruly goat keeper boldly declared, “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more.” Casting a hex on the franchise. The cursed Cubs lost to the Tigers in the World Series and wouldn’t return to the Series for another 71 years. The “Curse of the Billy Goat” would not be broken until the Cubbies won the National League pennant in 2016, punching their ticket to the World Series.

Breaking the Curse

The 2016 Cubs defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the NL pennant and face the Cleveland Indians (renamed the Guardians in 2022) in the World Series. This series was highly anticipated by baseball fans since the Indians had not won a World Series since 1948; their 67-year championship drought was the second-longest behind the cursed Cubs and their 71-year slump.

On a side note, in the movie “Back To The Future II,” a newspaper dated Thursday, October 22, 2015, was shown boasting the headline, “CUBS SWEEP SERIES IN 5,” which gave Cubs fans a glimmer of hope and optimism that the “Curse of the Billy Goat” would soon go off to pasture, but they would need to wait another year.

After trailing in the series three games to one, the Cubs went the distance and defeated the Indians in an exciting 7-game series. Chicago dramatically won Game 7, going ten innings and winning 8-7 after a 10th-inning rain delay. Rizzo would become the go-ahead run for the Cubs off the bat of Miguel Montero. Rizzo claimed that the rain delay was “the most important thing to happen to the Chicago Cubs in 100 years. I don’t think there is any way we win the game without it.”

Immortality

After winning the World Series, Rizzo and the rest of the 2016 Cubs will always be considered Windy City legends, on par with Jordan’s six-championship-winning Chicago Bulls. Rizzo was the face of the Cubs. Well-loved by baseball fans, not just within the friendly confines of Wrigley Field, but wherever the base paths touch.

The 2017 Cubs played mediocre baseball early in the season. Though Rizzo posted an All-Star caliber stat line once again, he lost fan voting to Washington Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman for the starting gig at first base. Rizzo joined Sammy Sosa, Billy Williams, and Hack Wilson to become the fourth Cubs player to hit 30 HR, 30 doubles, and 100 RBIs in at least three seasons.

He recorded 32 HR and 109 RBIs, while hitting .273 on the season. He had an underwhelming postseason with a minuscule .135 batting average, knocking in 6 RBIs on five hits and a singular home run. He was named the 2017 Roberto Clemente Award winner for his charitable contributions.

The 2018 season would mark the start of his statistical decline. He would spend some time on the disabled list with back issues for the first time in his career. His numbers gradually dipped, but he still posted solid numbers. He also logged his first out as a pitcher versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. A few years later, while trailing the Atlanta Braves 10-0, he would step on the mound again and record two outs, including a strikeout of Freddie Freeman with a 61-mph curveball.

Rizz Takes Broadway

Midway through the 2021 season, Rizzo was shipped to the New York Yankees. In his first two games with New York, he hit two solo home runs, walked three times, and reached base eight times, becoming the first Yankee ever to accomplish this feat. Following a solo home run against the Baltimore Orioles, he also became the first player in franchise history to record an RBI in his first six games with the team.

New York loved what they saw in Rizzo’s resurgence as a Yankee and inked him to two separate two-year deals in 2022 and re-signed him in 2023. He was on pace for another career year before suffering a concussion against the Padres. He would not play the rest of the season.

Rizzo returned for the 2024 season as the Yank’s starting first baseman. He was having a good season, hitting .223 with eight homers and 28 RBIs before breaking his arm on a collision with Red Sox pitcher Brennan Bernardino.

He came back from injury on September 1, before suffering multiple fractured fingers less than a month later after being hit by a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He made his return to the lineup late in the postseason. The team declined his team option and bought out the remainder of his contract. He would not play another game.

The Dream is Over

After sitting out the 2025 season, Rizzo made the tough decision to hang up his cleats and retire from baseball. Though I am not sure that his numbers would get him into the Hall of Fame, he accomplished things throughout his 14-year career that some Hall of Famers could only dream of: winning a World Series, three All-Star appearances, being a four-time Gold Glove winner, and being a recipient of the Roberto Clemente Award.

It is certainly a bittersweet moment. It would have been amazing to see him sign a one-year deal with the Cubs and take a farewell tour, receiving standing ovations every night as he made his curtain call, but that wasn’t the case. He did sign a deal with the Cubs, but not to play baseball; instead, he would be an ambassador for the sport. Rizzo was a dream-maker. He lived out his childhood dream and lifted the curse while making the World Series dreams of neglected Cubs fans come true. Thank you, Rizz.