1:02 pm | September 13, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:
WASHINGTON — Amidst a marathon stretch in the schedule, Anthony Rizzo resorted to desperate measures.
Following Wednesday night’s loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cubs slugger dressed in full uniform for the team’s overnight flight to Washington, D.C., where Chicago is playing a makeup game against the Nationals before heading right back to the Windy City for a weekend series against the Cincinnati Reds.
This morning, shortly after 9 a.m., Rizzo posted pictures from the flight on Twitter with the caption, “Staying game ready.”
Staying game ready. pic.twitter.com/84dgPUPm9Y
— Anthony Rizzo (@ARizzo44) September 13, 2018
Five hours later, he walked off the team bus and into the visitors’ clubhouse at Nationals Park, still wearing the exact same uniform: alternate blue jersey, gray pants and cleats.
“I was just kind of having fun throughout a tough stretch in the season,” said Rizzo, standing in front of his locker. “I mean, we’re flying into a state of emergency with rain in the forecast. It’s kind of a joke, so why not keep joking around about it and just have fun?”
Originally, Chicago was supposed to be off Thursday, but after a wet weekend that resulted in Sunday’s game against the Nationals being washed out, plans changed.
Rather than wait until the end of the season to make up the game, if needed, MLB opted to send the Cubs on Thursday to D.C., where the threat of inclement weather has been lingering for days due to Hurricane Florence.
“What can you do?” said Rizzo, who claims he didn’t even bring a change of clothes on the trip and slept in his uniform, and who plans on traveling back to Chicago on Thursday night in the same attire he wore on the inbound flight.
“At the end of the day, our front office, our owner, they have our back. We’re in a long stretch of games. There’s people in MLB that have been on the players’ side. They understand the human element of it, and they seem not to care at all. So it is what it is. We can sit here and complain about [it], or we can joke about [it]. I’ll take the joking around part — a lot more fun.”
Thursday marks the 24th straight day that the Cubs have had a scheduled game. They next host Cincinnati for three games, then travel to Arizona for three more before finally getting a break next Thursday.
Over the previous 23 days, the NL Central-leading Cubs have posted a 13-9 record, but are just 6-8 over the last 14 games. Meanwhile, the second-place Brewers have won 11 of 14, including two of three vs. Chicago earlier this week, to move within a game of first entering Thursday’s games.
Following Wednesday’s 5-1 loss to Milwaukee, the Cubs hopped a flight to Washington and didn’t get into their hotel rooms until about 4 a.m. Despite the tumultuous schedule, Rizzo’s antics seemed to give his fellow Cubs a lift.
“To see him on the plane like that,” teammate Kris Bryant said, “it made everybody get over the loss a little quicker and a lot happier.”
Manager Joe Maddon, whose team is known for its creative road trip attire, was disappointed that Rizzo’s antics were a surprise.
“I wish he had said something sooner because we all could have done it,” Maddon said. “I would have done it in a heartbeat.”
In his first at-bat against the Nationals on Thursday, Rizzo lined a single to the gap in left center field, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.
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