The Cubs were rolling out the red carpet for Anthony Rizzo before first pitch Saturday, dedicating the new 31-foot 'Champions Gate' on the west side of Wrigley Field to commemorate the 2016 World Series team. Rizzo, who played 10 of his 14 big league seasons in Chicago and retired from the game last year, was there with his old teammates for the ceremony. Nobody figured the day's biggest moment would come from a seat in the bleachers.
Rizzo did it again!!! He’s statistically like 100X better than foul ball guy
That's exactly what happened. Michael Busch turned on a pitch from the Twins and sent it 402 feet into the right-field bleachers, and the ball ended up bouncing right to Rizzo, who scooped it off the concrete and hoisted it into the air with his young son perched on his shoulder. Busch called the whole thing "super mind-blowing" and "pretty cool" after the Cubs' 6-2 win. It's the second time in less than a year Rizzo has been in the mix on a Wrigley home run ball — he was also nearby when Moises Ballesteros went deep last September.
Michael Busch just cranked a solo shot caught by…. Anthony Rizzo in the Bleachers
This is the bit now. Barstool's been running the recurring gag of the mystery "foul ball guy" who somehow ends up with every loose ball at a game, and Big Cat's verdict was blunt: Rizzo is operating on a different level entirely. A beloved former MVP candidate and fan favorite just casually being at the center of viral bleacher moments isn't a bit — it's basically becoming a Wrigley tradition of its own.
Anthony Rizzo king of the Wrigley Bleachers
It helps that the whole thing landed on a day already built around Rizzo's Cubs legacy. He's the guy who helped deliver the franchise's first title in over a century back in 2016, and Chicago has never really let go of him even after he moved on to the Yankees and Mets down the stretch of his career. Watching him retire, get a gate named for him, and then still walk away with a souvenir baseball in the same afternoon is the kind of full-circle stuff that writes itself.
Whether this becomes an annual thing or just a delightful coincidence, the Cubs internet is fully in on tracking Rizzo's bleacher box score now. Two near-misses turned into a real catch in under a year, and if Wrigley keeps hosting these moments, don't be surprised if 'checking on Rizzo's seat' becomes part of the in-game broadcast the next time a Cub goes deep to right.