8 years after Cubs' 2016 title, Cleveland fans are booing Anthony Rizzo in the ALCS

Bouncing back-and-forth between the Iowa State game and Game 5 of the ALCS between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians, I caught Anthony Rizzo stepping to the plate for his second at-bat of the night. Immediately, I noticed that, despite being more of a B-list name on this roster, Rizzo was being booed - loudly - by the fans at Progressive Field.

It was like he played villain in one of the most heartbreaking losses in Cleveland sports history or something. Rizzo, now 35 and looking to reach the Fall Classic for the first time since 2016 with the Chicago Cubs, is beloved in the Windy City for his accomplishments and still loathed in Cleveland.

The three-time All-Star entered Game 5 with an OPS north of 1.000 in this year's Championship Series - that's impressive no matter what, but even more so when you consider he didn't see live pitching for more than two weeks as he recovered from a pair of fractured fingers early in the postseason.

Rizzo, the face of the franchise for that immensely talented 2016 Cubs team, did it all that season. He won a Silver Slugger and a Platinum Glove and earned an All-Star selection while leading his club to 103 regular-season victories. After a horrendous showing in the Division Series against San Francisco, he turned it on in a big way, posting an OPS from there on out - including a .360/.484/.600 slash line in the World Series.

Wrigley Field was packed late this summer when he returned to the Friendly Confines for the first time since being traded to the Yankees in 2021 - and it was a love fest for the fan favorite. As heartwarming as that weekend was and as love-filled as it was, it's safe to say feelings of a very different variety still hold the hearts of fans in Cleveland.