First baseman Anthony Rizzo announced Wednesday that he’ll officially retire as a Chicago Cub, almost a year after he last suited up in an MLB uniform. He’ll be honored by the organization on Saturday when the Cubs host the Rays at Wrigley Field.
In parts of 14 seasons, Rizzo hit .261/.361/.467 (123 OPS+) with 1,644 hits, 338 doubles, 303 home runs, 965 RBI, 922 runs and 40.4 WAR. The three-time All-Star won four Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger, a Platinum Glove and the Roberto Clemente Award during the course of his career.
And, of course, there was the 2016 World Series championship, when Rizzo caught the final out (make sure to zero in on him sneakily pocketing the ball).
Rizzo hit .340/.431/.620 with five doubles, three homers and 10 RBI in the NLCS and World Series (13 games) combined that season. He was one of the Cubs’ best and most important players that season and, though Kris Bryant won MVP, there’s an argument that Rizzo was the face of that club. He finished fourth in MVP voting in both 2015 and 2016.
Originally drafted in the sixth round out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., by Theo Epstein and the Red Sox, Rizzo was then acquired by Jed Hoyer and the Padres in the deal that sent Adrian Gonzalez to the Red Sox. When Epstein and Hoyer were back together with the Cubs, they traded for Rizzo.
That series of moves got the Cubs one of the first cornerstone players during the rebuild that led to the World Series title. After being acquired in January 2012 as a minor-leaguer with one short and unsuccessful MLB stint, Rizzo debuted with the Cubs on June 26 and made an immediate impact, hitting .285 with a 116 OPS+ and 15 homers in 87 games that year. He was then cemented as the Cubs’ first baseman until he was traded in 2021.
Wildly popular during his time with the Cubs, Rizzo was a visible face for the organization in the Chicago area and had a litany of charitable events. A cancer survivor himself, Rizzo runs The Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation in support of cancer research and providing help for pediatric cancer patients and their families.
As noted, the Cubs traded Rizzo in 2021. He joined the Yankees and had a quality season in 2022 with 32 homers and a 130 OPS+. He was able to return to the World Series with the Yankees in 2024 after a very good ALCS, though they lost to the Dodgers.
Despite the credentials, Rizzo is unlikely to be a Hall of Famer. He’s 46th in JAWS among first baseman and the most statistically similar players at Eric Karros, Kent Hrbek and Prince Fielder.
It was a memorable and admirable career for Rizzo. Even without making it to Cooperstown, he’ll forever be beloved in Wrigleyville for having such a huge hand in winning the World Series that had eluded the Cubs for so long.
