He was on my mind

When I was a little girl I loved a popular song that began, "When I woke up this morning, you were on my mind ..." When I woke up this morning, that song and Anthony Rizzo were on my mind.

He went down in the 7th inning of the Yankees-Red Sox game. He collided with another player, fell, and rolled onto his right wrist. In the moment, I thought the important thing was that he was safe. After all, Rizz has been hit by pitches more than 200 times. He acknowledges the sting but then just shakes it off and takes first base.

But then he didn't get up.

He walked off the field with his manager and the Yankees medical team and was replaced on the base pads and in the line up. A preliminary fluoroscope at Fenway showed no broken bones, but he was still in pain, so more tests will be performed today.

This breaks my heart. I have always believed baseball is a metaphor for life, and Anthony Rizzo's travails seem to be about so much more than the game. 

In 2021, the Cubs traded him at the deadline. He did not want to go. Obviously. But he threw himself into being a Yankee. No whining, no complaints. In 2022 he was the victim of a botched epidural (a rather extreme way to treat back strain!) which cost him playing time. No whining, no complaints. In 2023 he played through an undiagnosed concussion (fuck you, Yankees medical staff), which not only threatened his career but his long-term cognitive abilities. This year he has fought to come back. He struggled and was even benched for a couple games -- embarrassing for a star of his stature -- but no whining, no complaints. He'd just regained his timing when this happened.

This should not be happening to him. He plays with such joie de vivre. A cancer survivor, he gives back with the same joy and passion. (Here's a recent post about his good works.) Yet he's in physical this morning as the New York press and some Yankee fans are literally feeding on his carcass. You'd think they'd be cheering for the hero in their midst to rebound, but no. They are calling for him to be dumped at the trade deadline.

I hate the unfairness of it. I have a gripe with Yankee fans and press but also with destiny and karma. Sometimes life just pisses me off so much!

Yes, when I woke up this morning, he was on my mind. And I'll be obsessing about him until the Yankees release word on his condition.