Rizz is sharing an on-field hug after the Yankees punched their ticket to the World Series. Who is #93? Ben Rice.
Rice is the kid the Yankees brought up to take Rizzo's place when he broke his arm earlier this summer. The player – 10 years his junior – who is considered one of the top contenders to replace him in 2025.*
Both men said they are close, that Rizzo has been a mentor. But that's what players say to reporters.
This photo makes me well up.
• Yes, he played through pain for a team that will very likely dump him in a matter of weeks.
• Yes, he somehow managed to hit .429 with an OPS of 1.000, despite those two fractured fingers.
• He's this beloved by his teammates. Even the one he competes with internally.
• And all of this is on top of the man he is off the field, a Roberto Clemente Award winner, who champions pediatric cancer patients in New York, Chicago and Fort Lauderdale.
On a Monday morning where the world can seem like a teeming cesspool (I'm looking at you, Donald Trump; see post below), I remind myself of the following:
Anthony Rizzo is going to the World Series again.
And then I smile.
*If they decide to go cheap at first base and spend all their salary on re-signing Juan Soto, which they may.
IMHO, he will return. He doesn't care about $$$. Class guy, they will bring him back...
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