Anthony Rizzo, 2016 World Series champion, reveals most important piece to winning it all in MLB postseason
With the MLB postseason in full swing, every team and its fan base vying for the World Series trophy is hoping that their superstars can rise to the occasion and get the job done.
However, every great team who has hoisted the hardware at the end of a grueling season knows it takes more than just those All-Stars to win it all. In fact, it takes every single person from the top down.
Just ask World Series champion and three-time All-Star first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who helped the Chicago Cubs break its 108-year streak without winning a World Series in 2016 after defeating the Cleveland Guardians in Game 7.
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Of course, it was stars like himself, Kris Bryant and others celebrating on the field after he secured the final out at first base. But Rizzo can’t help stressing the importance of every player, coach, clubhouse attendant and more during October baseball.
"I just think that on every team you have the stars, the middle-of-the-tier players, and your role players. Everyone’s so important to a team," Rizzo told OutKick, while highlighting PAYDAY’s "Low Key Legends" initiative, which emphasizes the importance of the unsung heroes within an organization. "It takes all 26 guys, it takes your entire staff. So, in order for the superstars to win their championship – let’s say Aaron Judge. He’s the MVP of the Yankees, of the whole league. For him to win a championship, it’s going to take every single guy on that roster. It’s not just one guy who carries you.
"It’s the small things. It’s the baserunning, the pickoffs, the relays. It’s all the lowkey things that maybe don’t look as glitzy and glammy, but that’s what it takes to win a championship."
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We asked Rizzo who his "Low Key Legend" would be, and he didn’t even hesitate when thinking back to his career.
"In the baseball world, I would definitely say Danny Mueller," he responded. "He was the clubhouse attendant in Chicago. He was my guy. He always had me high-energy, ready, and always a bundle of joy when I walked in. Whatever I needed, he was there. Then, the hitting coaches. They are just behind the scenes doing their scouting reports, knowing everything I’m thinking, so when I walk in, I don’t have to think. They just have everything ready for me, knowing what I want so I can go out there and play effortlessly.
"Those are the guys behind the scenes that are just fueling this greatness you see on the field."
At this stage of the season, teams have completely bonded into a family rather than just colleagues, if they didn’t do so during spring training and the early-season grind. Rizzo enjoyed every "family" he was a part of in the bigs, where October baseball brought out that team chemistry.
"I think we’re together forever. We’re together for 200-plus days a year," he said. "In October, win or go home, you’re still saying to each other, ‘In a few weeks, I get to pick my own friends.’ So, we’re like family in the clubhouse. Guys know when to get on guys, when they need a little more love, when to back off – maybe they’re a little more sensitive. That’s the family and bond that’s created in a season. Every year is different. Every year is unique, but for me over my career, Danny’s been a low-key legend for me forever, and my hitting coaches I’ve always had a good relationship with them where they always had my dialed in."
Then, when it’s time to play ball, it’s not just the clean-up hitter or the ace that carries the load of winning a postseason game. It takes a village, and the Milwaukee Brewers gave a prime example of that in Game 2 of their NLDS series against the San Diego Padres.
Of course, the highlights will capture the moment Jackson Chourio walked it off in the bottom of the ninth inning with bases loaded and two outs against the Padres’ dominant closer, Mason Miller. That grabs the headlines and fan appreciation.
However, Rizzo pointed to an unsung hero – a "Low Key Legend" – that helped make it all possible.
"It’s a team of destiny because they’re a smaller market, but this is how they’ve been all year. To stay on brand with Payday and low-key legends, Gary Sanchez in the at-bat before, pinch hitting, taking the walk to get the bases loaded. That’s the low-key legend moment of the game. The superstar moment is when Jackson Chourio coming up and getting that base hit."
So, while your stars need to step up in the biggest ways possible in crucial moments throughout the postseason, always remember the "entire army" behind each franchise all battling for the same prize at the end of the year.
Those unsung heroes could be the difference between going home with nothing, or forever being called a champion.