Paul Sullivan: Anthony Rizzo — ‘everybody’s go-to guy’ — returns to the Cubs family

Anthony Rizzo will retire as a Chicago Cub and join the organization as a team ambassador, the team announced Wednesday.

Rizzo, one of the stars of the 2016 championship team that ended the historic, 108-year drought, will be feted Saturday at Wrigley Field before the Cubs game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

After being acquired from he San Diego Padres to start the Theo Epstein-led rebuild in 2012, Rizzo enjoyed a long, successful career on the North Side, earning three All-Star nods, four Gold Gloves, a Platinum Glove and a Silver Slugger award.

A cancer survivor who beat Hodgkin lymphoma, Rizzo devoted much of his off-the-field time in Chicago visiting children with cancer in hospitals, including Lurie Children’s Hospital, and received the Roberto Clemente Award in 2017 for his charitable work and foundation.

Epstein said that was just the “Rizz” everyone gravitated toward.

“Rizz was everybody’s go-to guy — on the field, in the clubhouse and in the community — and he never let us down,” Epstein told the Tribune on Wednesday. “The magical ride we were all so lucky to be a part of simply doesn’t happen without Anthony Rizzo. What a career and a legacy.”

Rizzo was the building block of the Cubs rebuild and quickly established himself as one of the city’s most beloved athletes. Even his dog, Kevin, was well-known. His return to Wrigley Field last September with the New York Yankees earned him the biggest reception of any of the 2016 team members upon their homecomings.

“Anthony Rizzo was the face of one of the most successful eras in Chicago Cubs history, and we are so excited he will be a part of our organization for many years to come,” Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement. “His play on the field spoke for itself. … Who could forget Anthony catching Kris Bryant’s throw from third base for the final out that clinched the (World Series)?

“In addition, he was an inspiration to so many off the field through his foundation and his work with cancer research. Anthony’s professional career on the field might be complete, but it will be great to share this next chapter with him here with the Cubs.”

Rizzo was dealt to the Yankees at the trade deadline in 2021 in a clearance sale that would mark the end of an era and the beginning of Jed Hoyer’s rebuild, which is on target this year for the first postseason appearance under his leadership. Rizzo spent 3½ seasons in New York and played on the Yankees’ World Series team last year before they declined his $17 million option for 2025, leaving him as a free agent.

Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo salutes the crowd before batting against the Cubs in the second inning at Wrigley Field on Sept. 6, 2024. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Rizzo, now 36, went unsigned in the offseason but hadn’t indicated publicly that he was done playing. Friends such as former Chicago Blackhawks star Chris Chelios urged him to return to the Cubs, but that scenario was never going to happen with left-handed-hitting Michael Busch at first base, veteran Justin Turner as the backup and Seiya Suzuki as the primary designated hitter.

Rizzo sat out instead of signing a low-salary, one-year deal with a team, as many veterans are forced to do at the end of their careers. His wife, Emily, gave birth to their first child, Anthony, and Rizzo has spent most of his time at home in Florida while dabbling as a guest analyst for MLB Network.

He was seen with his wife and infant son at Wednesday’s Yankees-Detroit Tigers game at Yankee Stadium and chugged a beer after being shown on the video board. Rizzo was the ringleader of the Cubs clubhouse and was instrumental in bringing a nightclub-style party after home wins, a DJ for postseason wins and hip-hop and dance music to the Wrigley P.A. system during batting practice.

In “The Cubs Way,” Tom Verducci’s book about the 2016 season, catcher David Ross, who later would become the Cubs manager, said Rizzo “wants everybody to have a good time. He’s more worried about everybody else having a good time and puts himself second.”

Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune

The Cubs' Kris Bryant, from left, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Báez sit in a dugout during spring training Feb. 21, 2020, in Mesa, Ariz. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Rizzo backed that up before Game 5 of the 2016 World Series with the Cubs trailing Cleveland three games to one. He stripped naked, jumped on a couch in the clubhouse and began quoting movie lines as the theme song from “Rocky” blared. The Cubs won Game 5 and came back to win the World Series in seven games.

The Cubs will celebrate the 10th anniversary of that championship next summer, and getting Rizzo as an ambassador was an important part of the reunion. He was peeved upon his departure in 2021, especially after Hoyer noted the team “made offers to everyone that I believe will hold up exceptionally well, and we weren’t able to reach deals.”

Rizzo told David Kaplan of WMVP-AM 1000: “I’m kind of confused on why. Why say that? Sounds like a bad breakup and the person saying they’re fine when they’re not fine.”

The parade of Cubs first basemen after Rizzo has included Frank Schwindel, Alfonso Rivas, Eric Hosmer, Trey Mancini, Cody Bellinger, Busch and Turner. Bellinger was dealt to the Yankees last winter in a salary dump.

The trade to New York ultimately benefited Rizzo, who admitted as much last September when I asked him if he was better off being a Yankee than a Cub.

“Yeah, in hindsight,” he replied. “Obviously if you had asked me before I got traded, there is no way I would’ve ever wanted to go anywhere else but Chicago. But getting traded has taught me so much about life in general and has helped me grow as an individual.”

Anthony Rizzo rolls past the iconic Wrigley Field marquee in a double-decker bus during the Cubs' World Series parade Nov. 4, 2016. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Cubs ambassadors aren’t required to be at the ballpark all the time, but look for Rizzo to become a frequent presence at Wrigley, likely in a part-time analyst position with the team-owned Marquee Sports Network.

Of the seven other current Cubs ambassadors, only Ben Zobrist played on the 2016 team. But Dexter Fowler, Jon Lester and others have been welcomed back in retirement. The Cubs still need to mend fences with Ross, who was blindsided by his firing as manager after the 2023 season, shortly after Ricketts spoke of the great job he’d done.

Ross hasn’t returned to Wrigley since, other than attending a concert or two. Having his old buddy Rizzo as a bodyguard could help bring Ross back into the Cubs family that he was a central part of before the dismissal.

Either way, Rizzo is back, and he told WSCR-AM 670 he planned to spend Saturday afternoon in the bleachers, where chugging beer is permitted and often encouraged.