Chicago Cubs: Kris Bryant surprises little leaguers on Zoom call

Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant pleasantly surprised a suburban Chicago little league team via Zoom call.

The Chicago Cubs and the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the sports world in unimaginable ways. Not only is the world of sport on lockdown, but canceled sporting events and empty arenas are leading the country into an economic downfall.

Not only that, but athletes are also left with facing unprecedented uncertainty about whether or not they will be able to play in 2020. We tend to think the impact of the pandemic is predominantly on professional sports and professional athletes. However, all athletes playing sports at all different levels are in a similar boat to professional athletes.

While they might be overlooked at first, there is no denying that little leaguers and other young athletes are feeling lost without playing sports. With their season put on hold due to COVID-19, a little league team reigning from Bartlett, Illinois, has been doing their best to cope by maintaining weekly Friday’ ‘ practices” via Zoom. This past Friday, the team’s practice was a little bit different from the rest all due to Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant.

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs: Adrian Sampson is forcing his way into the conversation
• Projecting the Chicago Cubs bullpen to open the 2023 season
• Cubs fans are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel
• Justin Steele has evolved into a frontline starter for the Cubs
• The future of first base is murky right now for the Cubs

Bryant made a surprise appearance during their practice, and the youngsters loved it. Bryant did his part to bond and engaged the little leaguers in conversation. Bryant shared personal memories like his favorite baseball memory, which happens to be his first Little League home run. KB proceeded to give the team advice on how to improve their swings. His advice was to take batting practice with Wiffle balls

One Bartlett player asked KB who his best friend on the Cubs is, and Bryant answered Anthony Rizzo. This segwayed into a conversation where the little leaguer shared that his last name is Rizzo as well, and he was given his middle name ”Anthony” specifically after Anthony Rizzo. How cool is that? Another one of the players asked how he could get KB to sign a baseball card for him.

By the end of the call, Bryant told the team that they would be receiving new cleats to use if/ when there happens to be a season. The cleats would be from Adidas as part of their “Home Team” campaign. The campaign’s mission is to help hold fans and their communities together during the COVID-19 pandemic as the nation is in isolation. KB’s appearance on this Zoom call was also a part of this campaign, and it definitely left a positive impact on this team.

Amidst this pandemic, lots of professional athletes, like Bryant, have been teaming up with advertisers and foundations to both promote an idea and to keep the image of athletes alive. Hopefully, more players like Bryant engage in initiatives like this one until live baseball is back. With the different ideas out there, probably, one of them will avenge, and it will be safe for baseball, as well as all other sports to be played again soon.