April 9, 2017; April 18, 2017 – At the relatively young age of 27, Anthony Rizzo was acknowledged as the leader of the Chicago Cubs team that won the 2016 World Series, ending 108 years of frustration for the franchise and its fans. That season the 6-foot-3, 240-pound left-handed first baseman hit .292 with 32 homers and 109 RBIs. His leadership role was confirmed symbolically at the 2017 home opener at Wrigley Field when, standing in the center field bleachers, he was the first to hoist the World Series flag, followed by his teammates. He then emerged from the grandstand and carried the World Series trophy across the field.

That Rizzo would play such a big role in the Cubs’ long-awaited triumph was hardly predictable when the Fort Lauderdale, FL, native was chosen by the Red Sox out of high school in the sixth round of the 2007 amateur draft. He then was traded twice before he was 22. Not exactly the normal trajectory of a can’t miss prospect. To make matters worse, in 2008 he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and underwent six months of chemotherapy. In 2012 the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation was established to raise money for cancer research and to provide support to children and their families battling the disease.

A tireless worker, Rizzo broke into the majors in 2011 with the San Diego Padres, who then traded him to the Cubs in the offseason. In 2013 he became the starting first baseman and was selected to the All-Star team three consecutive years beginning in 2014. He finished fourth in the MVP vote in both 2015 and 2016 and won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards in 2016. In 2013 Rizzo also played in the World Baseball Classic, hitting third for Team Italy, which advanced to the second round for the first time. In 2017 he won the Roberto Clemente Award, which honors a player who combines good play and strong work in the community.

Transcript

Interviewer: Larry Baldassaro

Date: April 9, 2017

Anthony Rizzo: I mean, I… Italian American, you know, have ancestors from Italy. We grew up doing most Italian American things, Sunday dinners and, that’s really it.

Larry Baldassaro: Do you know where they were from?

Anthony Rizzo: They’re from Sicily, in Ciminna.

Larry Baldassaro: Who is that? On your dad’s side?

Anthony Rizzo: That’s my dad’s side. I’m not sure where my mom’s side was from, but I d… I’m pretty sure my mom’s side was from Sicily as well.

Larry Baldassaro: So everybody’s from Italy?

Anthony Rizzo: Yes. Yeah.

Larry Baldassaro: Cool. So did you grow up considering yourself as Italian American? Identifying?

Anthony Rizzo: I mean, I grew up as… In Florida. So people ask me what, where I came, like, where… Say I’m Italian, other than that, I just grew up, I wanna say normal, like, normal American.

Larry Baldassaro: American.

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah.

Larry Baldassaro: So what about baseball? Was that your first sport, your favorite sport all along as a kid or?

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah. I mean, I always loved baseball. I always played… We played every sport, but I liked baseball also. Just stuck with it.

Larry Baldassaro: When did you start thinking about maybe becoming a professional baseball player?

Anthony Rizzo: I think when people started telling me I was good enough, in high school. When it was becoming more of a reality, but as a kid, every kid thinks they’re gonna be a professional, so… Really when scouts started coming to the house.

Larry Baldassaro: Mm-hmm. And you were signed by the Sox originally. What about the process of getting to the majors? What was that like for you?

Anthony Rizzo: It was, I mean, it was long. It was a good experience though, so it’s grow up important parts of your life, 18 to 21. So I learned a lot and but it was fun. It’s memories I’ll never forget either.

Larry Baldassaro: Was it difficult enough that you wondered sometimes if you were gonna make it or not?

Anthony Rizzo: No, I never… I always knew. I, you know, think if you’re in this sport and you don’t think you’re gonna make it, why are you playing? So, I always thought I was gonna be here and, you know, just determined to get here.

Larry Baldassaro: Back to when you were younger, were you aware of other Italian ballplayers in the past or currently, or?

Anthony Rizzo: You know, I didn’t, I wasn’t a big… I w… I didn’t watch baseball as much as I played it. So I was always outside playing. But I just liked the game in general. It doesn’t matter, you know, what race or color they were. I just liked watching good baseball.

Larry Baldassaro: Yeah. Craig Biggio told me the same thing, that when he was a kid, he never watched the game. Just liked the game.

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah. Yeah, I was always outside running around.

Larry Baldassaro: Yeah. This is probably an obvious question or an obvious answer, what are your biggest thrill so far?

Anthony Rizzo: Definitely winning the World Series. You know, it’s a long time coming for a great city.

Larry Baldassaro: I know you’ve been asked that question a million times-

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah, I sure have

Larry Baldassaro: This season, right? But I have to ask.

Anthony Rizzo: Sure have.

Larry Baldassaro: Do you wanna talk about your cancer issue or do I even bring it up?

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah. I mean, it was obviously not fun part of my life, but, overcame that and was able to build a very strong foundation out of it. And now I get to give back to a lot of families that are also going through it and turn a negative into a positive, which is, you know, great life lessons, no matter what it is. So, you take the negative, you take the bad, and you try to find good in it. And that’s what we do with our foundation.

Larry Baldassaro: You talk to kids, though, too?

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah, we do a lot. We… I mean, I go to the hospitals, visit them. We give a lot of money to the families, directly to families to help them pay bills. So we’re involved in a lot of different ways.

Larry Baldassaro: You know, that’s what Ted Williams did too when he was in Boston.

Anthony Rizzo: Did he?

Larry Baldassaro: He wouldn’t let the media know, but he’d go to the Mass General, Dana-Farber, and he’d visit the kids. He got so attached to some of them that when he heard that they were probably gonna pass away, he would fly back to Boston to see them one more time.

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah.

Larry Baldassaro: Never got in the press because he didn’t want that.

Anthony Rizzo: That’s ’cause the press wasn’t the press back then as it is now.

Larry Baldassaro: Good boy.

Anthony Rizzo: Can’t walk to McDonald’s without getting, you know, it being out there, so…

Larry Baldassaro: So what was this off season like for you?

Anthony Rizzo: It was a whirlwind. It was a lot of opportunities, a lot of fun, and it was exciting. It was an exciting off season.

Larry Baldassaro: So a general question, what has baseball meant in your life?

Anthony Rizzo: It’s really all I know, so… Playing for ten years now professionally, so, a lot of opportunities. Very fortunate enough to play and, yeah, pretty much stay healthy, other than the cancer hiccup. But it’s fun. It te… It’s a lot of… Teaches you a lot about yourself, a lot about life, and get to play a game for a living.

Larry Baldassaro: Do you set goals for yourself for every season?

Anthony Rizzo: More team goals. Just making sure all the guys are clicking on the right cylinders, what gets guys going, you know, when we’re down, and just being a good teammate, picking everyone else up. And I feel like by bringing that energy, good things will happen.

Larry Baldassaro: You’re twenty-seven, but you’re one of the older guys on this team, aren’t you? And you’re clearly recognized as a leader of the team.

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah, just go out and do it by example, and that’s what I try to do every day. Play hard and set the right tone.

Larry Baldassaro: Go back and say a little bit more about your family. What are your parents’ names?

Anthony Rizzo: John and Lori. They raised me and my brother and I. We’re from New Jersey. They moved down to Florida before my brother was born and, just pretty… Basically gave everything we needed, spoiled us. Worked almost hours so we can go on the travel tournaments and do things like that, so, and we’re very close. We owe… I owe everything to them.

Larry Baldassaro: What did your dad do, or what is he doing now?

Anthony Rizzo: He’s a… Works for a security company, ADT, Tyco. Does alarms and card access and all that stuff, so he’s been doing that my whole life. And then my mom used to be a bartender, and then she stopped working a few years ago.

Larry Baldassaro: Did you know your grandparents?

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah. Never met my dad’s mom, but my dad’s dad, when I was younger, he passed away. And then my mom and dad, my mom’s mom and dad passed away when I was fifteen, sixteen, seventeen. So they were a big part of my life too.

Larry Baldassaro: So you lived close to them?

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah, they were-

Larry Baldassaro: In Florida?

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah, they were always over and hung out with us and helped raise us. We went over to their place all the time, so it was… We were real close.

Larry Baldassaro: What are their names?

Anthony Rizzo: Al and Anna Mae.

Larry Baldassaro: Rizzo?

Anthony Rizzo: Rappasardi. Rappasardi.

Larry Baldassaro: That’s on your mom’s side?

Anthony Rizzo: That’s my mom’s side, yeah.

Larry Baldassaro: All right. Well, Anthony Rizzo, April eighteen, two thousand seventeen. Baseball World Baseball Classic. How did that come about, and why did you want to do it?

Anthony Rizzo: You know, I thought it was really cool to be able to play for Team Italy. You know, my ancestors from there. Wasn’t good enough to play for USA, so that was a cool experience. I never got to play on a tournament that scale ever in my life, so that was really neat to play and to play with the guy, a lot of guys from Italy, and our manager. It was a lot of fun.

Larry Baldassaro: Who approached you, and how did you find out?

Anthony Rizzo: I don’t really remember.

Larry Baldassaro: Was it [name inaudible]?

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah, I remember talking to him, but I don’t really remember who approached us. But I think we got an email maybe from Marco, and it was cool. It was a good experience.

Larry Baldassaro: How’d you enjoy it? And you were hitting third in the lineup, right?

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah, it was fun. We had a good team. We advanced to second round. You know, we had a lot of fun with it. It was in spring training, so it was a good time.

Larry Baldassaro: Anything stand out in particular?

Anthony Rizzo: No, just baseball. Just playing for the different team.

Larry Baldassaro: So other than your parents, is there someone who’s, had a great influence on you as to who you are today, either as a ball player or as a person? Mentor or something?

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah, my brother. He kind of set the bar for me my whole life. He’s two years older, so he always, you know, just set everything for me, the standard. He was very competitive. I live… I was… I’m very competitive and just kind of taught me the ropes.

Larry Baldassaro: He was a football player though, right?

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah. But I played football too in high school, so it was all good.

Larry Baldassaro: Did you go to Italy? Because I know your family’s from Ciminna. Did you… Have you been there?

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah. Yep. We went two thousand fourteen for Christmas. Yeah, we went all over. It was a good time. We went to Ciminna. It was really neat.

Larry Baldassaro: Meet family there?

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah. We matched up family trees, did the whole… They took us to the restaurant, cooked for us. It was really neat.

Larry Baldassaro: Were there a lot of relatives?

Anthony Rizzo: I think so. Yeah. It was hard with the language barrier, but yeah, it was cool.

Larry Baldassaro: What was your impression of Sicily or that area?

Anthony Rizzo: It was great. I mean, yeah, it’s definitely different. Where we are is in the mountains. It was just old town in a mountain. It was really cool. [inaudible]

Larry Baldassaro: I lived for a year in Sicily.

Anthony Rizzo: Oh, nice.

Larry Baldassaro: Near Palermo too.

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah.

Larry Baldassaro: Town similar to that.

Anthony Rizzo: Yeah, Palermo’s a big city, a lot going on.

Larry Baldassaro: Yeah. It’s incredible history.

Anthony Rizzo: It is.

Larry Baldassaro: Did you go with your mom and dad?

Anthony Rizzo: Mom and dad, brother, and his wife. Yeah.

Larry Baldassaro: I, you know, I know you gotta get ready.