Chicago Cubs should bring back the captain title for Anthony Rizzo

The Chicago Cubs have not named a team captain since Sammy Sosa. But Anthony Rizzo has earned the distinction – for so many reasons.

It’s not hard to imagine Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo with a ‘C’ emblazoned on his chest. He led the team during the tenuous rebuild, helped deliver a World Series championship and played a critical role in the Cubs’ three consecutive postseason appearances.

On the diamond, Rizzo – like Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt – is perennially underrated. He tied career-highs in both home runs (32) and runs batted in (109) this season and is coming off a Platinum Glove Award in 2016. The 2016 adage of ‘You Go, We Go’ applied to former Cubs outfielder Dexter Fowler fits Rizzo like a glove.

But the front office brass and manager Joe Maddon don’t seem in an hurry to bring back the title for this squad. Known for their chemistry, the Chicago Cubs gel in ways many big league clubs don’t. The genius behind it all, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, admits now that having the right guys in a clubhouse makes a bigger difference than he once thought.

Despite the team’s misgivings about bringing back the ‘captain’ designation, Rizzo has done everything possible to earn it. He is the heart and soul of the Cubs – and it’s time the organization acknowledges this in a big way.

Chicago Cubs: Sammy Sosa was everything we wanted

As I mentioned, longtime Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa was the last man to hold the honor of captain for the Chicago Cubs. Sosa, once considered a sure-thing Hall of Famer, blasted 545 home runs for the club before departing in an infamous manner.

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But before the blood turned bad, the Cubs’ all-time home run leader filled the bleachers on a near-daily basis. He remains the only player in baseball history to have three-straight 60-homer campaigns. In his 66-homer season of 1998, he drove in 158 runs and slashed .308/.377/.647 en route to the National League MVP.

In his 13 years on the North Side, Sosa-led Cubs teams made the postseason just two times – in 1998 and 2003. His personal performance was a mixed bag, but he came up big in the 2003 NLCS against the then-Florida Marlins, hitting two homers to go with a 1.031 OPS.

Of course, we all forget about his historic accomplishments now. Well, maybe not forget, but turn a blind eye to Slammin’ Sammy. In his years since leaving the organization, wounds have only festered and Sosa has done little to smooth things over.

But, once upon a time, he represented the very best of the Chicago Cubs. Launching balls onto Waveland Ave. and sending the Bleacher Bums into a crazed frenzy, Sammy Sosa was the face of the franchise.

Chicago Cubs: The Don Baylor years

Along with Sosa, former Cubs skipper Don Baylor attached the ‘captain’ label to several other players in the early 2000s.

First, it was right-handers Kevin Tapani and Rick Aguilera and another great Cubs first baseman in Mark Grace (along with Sosa). Of course, Grace headed to Arizona and played a role on the historic 2001 World Series champion Diamondbacks and Aguilera hung it up after the 2000 campaign.

For Baylor, the title carried weight.

“To me, it’s a responsibility,” Baylor said. “It’s not just thrown out there. It means something.”

In 2001, infielder Eric Young and current New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi earned the designation. At the time, both were key pieces for the Cubs – but it’s hard to mention these guys with the likes of Sosa or even Grace when you think about some of the leaders in franchise history.

What does this tell us? Something we all already know. Naming captains is largely a choice of management – and the man at the helm now, Joe Maddon, doesn’t seem keen on the idea of bringing it back.

“I like the fact that it (leadership) is spread out among them. The topic was leadership. I think that has to be taken more than it’s being given.”

Chicago Cubs: Cooperstown is Ronnie’s home now

When you think great ‘Chicago Cubs,’ you think of three to four names.

Ernie Banks, Fergie Jenkins, Billy Williams and – a longtime Cubs’ captain – Ron Santo. The Hall of Fame third baseman spent his all but one year of his career on the North Side of Chicago. His passion and love for the Cubs spanned his entire life – even as the Cubs’ radio color man.

Chicago Cubs

But as a player, he embodied what it meant to be a Cub. The nine-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner loved his team deeply – while leading them in almost every way on the diamond. Most importantly, he was always looking for the bright side of situations.

I’ve been a Cub all my life. I came up here when I was 20 years old and spent my whole career here in Chicago. I’ve always been an optimist; I believe you have to be in order to survive, to be honest with you – in health, with what I’ve been through. That’s the way I am.

One glaring difference

It’s premature to compare Rizzo to Santo. But there are some clear similarities. Both battled major medical issues in their lives. For Rizzo, cancer. Santo, meanwhile, battled diabetes – the disease that ultimately cost him both of his legs.

They both were undoubtedly the leaders in the clubhouse. Of course, Rizzo has achieved more than Santo in one regard. The Hall of Fame third baseman spent 15 years with the Cubs – but never won a title. In fact, he never saw postseason action at all.

But don’t let that distract from what Santo did on the diamond. He led the league in walks four times, on-base percentage twice and was a remarkably consistent presence in the Cubs’ lineup for more than a decade. He was – and still is to this day – one of the best examples of what a leader is.