Chicago Cubs: Which ‘modern’ teammates will have their number retired?

Chicago Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo

Well, this one is about as obvious as beer and hot dogs at a baseball game. Anthony Rizzo has been everything that embodies what it means to be a Cub since 2012. He has his own charity, has won the Roberto Clemente Award for his off-field work, and on the field he has won three gold gloves, been to three All-Star games, and won three Gold Gloves. Rizzo is top ten in franchise history in home runs and has a chance to crack the top five if he finishes his career in Chicago.

He has been hit by the most pitches of any Cub in history, which is more of a painful record than anything. Rizzo is tied for tenth all-time in career OPS numbers as a Cub. He is moving up the record books and has the second-most home runs ever hit by a left-handed hitter in Cubs history. He is currently at 217 dingers as a Cub, 218 overall, and the record for left-handed batters is 392 set by Williams. Rizzo’s .376 on-base percentage is fourth among Cubs’ left-handed hitters.

Rizzo was the centerpiece behind the whole rebuild that Theo Epstein and company orchestrated. Rizzo has dealt with a lot of losing and stuck with the team to win in the end. He signed a seven-year deal to keep him as a Cub shortly after he came up to the Majors in 2012. He had a short stint with the Padres in 2011, but it was forgettable.

Cubs’ GM Jed Hoyer has had Rizzo at every stop, and one of his first order’s of business was to acquire Rizzo to the Cubs as well. He never stopped believing in Rizzo, and fans never stopped believing in this front office.

For everything Rizzo represents, from the years of losing to the culmination of a championship, to surviving cancer as a high school student, Rizzo is a great example to never give up and keep going. That’s what the Cubs did, and number 44 will always be Anthony Rizzo.