Upon Closer Examination

 I know I tend to examine photos of my favorite ballplayer, Anthony Rizzo, as though they are frames of the Zapruder film. But I found something extraordinary about this celebration shot.

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.