Read It And Weep (Anthony Rizzo)

Eight~ Young Gun

Anthony

There's few things that can turn a organization around. The draft is kind of like shooting blind into a open space. There are guys who go first overall who sink into oblivion and guys in the sixth round who wins five MVPs. It's a game of taking chances and the Cubs have had a lot of shots they've been able to take recently. So when they picked up Kris Bryant second overall in 2014 there was a lot of talk about what a guy like that can do when he gets to the big leagues. He has done nothing but win and hit for power at every level he's played at so far. For a organization like this who is one player away from being really good, it's great to have him with us. Give him the chance to turn this all around with us guys behind him the whole way.

So he gets the call up and we were now in the Kris Bryant era of Chicago Cubs baseball. I know I will never be the most flashy guy on the team when it comes to what I do in the box. But that's not the kind of guy I wanted to be. I was the stable yet reliable one and he was here to run the show. Him and I had hit it off good in training camp and I'm just hoping that he'll like it here enough to want to stay for a long time.

"There he is" I smile as he walks over to me. He pulls me into a hug as I welcome him to the future.

"Hey man, I am sure glad to see you. This is all a bit much to let sink in. Mind giving me a tour" he asks and I smile.

"Of course not" I assure him.

So I take him where he needs to know where to go. This place is under construction right now but for the most part everywhere he needs to be is ready for him. There's a lot of cool little things to see, parts of this cities history that I'm sure he will be adding to one day.

"So the people around here are pretty much the greatest. All of them. From the office to the players to the staff they're all amazing" I explain.

"That's good to hear" he sighs. "All I need is this place to be harder to play in than it already is."

"It's not that bad. It's not perfect but every player has his ups and downs. Nothing much you can do about it" I shrug.

"I've gotten to meet almost everyone and they've been great so far. Even got in a media scrum today" he chuckles.

I turn to look at him as I try not to over step my boundaries. Again. "Did you meet Hannah" I wonder.

He smiles at me as he nods. "Yeah, I did. Walked right up to me and introduced herself. She's quite intimidating but I think we're going to get along just fine. She seems like a cool girl" he admits.

"Did she... did she say anything bad about me" I wonder.

He looks at me weird before shaking his head. "No, not at all. She said you were a great person for this organization and all the guys love you around here" he explains.

I try to hide the surprised look on my face but I'm sure I wore it like my baseball uniform. "Really" I ask making him laugh.

"Yeah. She didn't speak ill of anyone" he assures me.

"Weird" I admit.

"She was actually really nice. I had my girlfriend Jessica with me and she promised to take us out sometime soon and show us around" he explains.

"Aren't you afraid she's just using you guys for her personal gain" I wonder. She is in the media after all.

He rests his hand on my shoulder as he shakes his head. "The thing about reporters like her is that she doesn't go looking for trouble. If a problem presents itself she wants to get to the bottom of it.  It she sure as hell wouldn't be the one to create the problem and not present a solution.

Did you know that she is the only person who wrote a piece about the Cubs abusing my service time and giving me a late call up? She is the soul person who called them out for abusing the system and how it treats the players. She defended me when no one else did and she didn't speak one lie. She stuck her neck out for what was right even though it wasn't easy and a lot of people didn't like what she said. But she did it anyway because she knew no one else would.

It takes a real woman to have the guts to do that" he explains.

"Good to know I'm not the only one she talks bad about" I mumble.

"She talked bad about you" he gasps.

"I mean, I deserved it. I said a bunch of things I shouldn't and she reacted accordingly, I can't blame her for being upset with me" I sigh.

"What did you do" he asks.

"I ran my big fat mouth. She deserves to be spoken to in a professional manner and I don't know, I looked at her and I forgot she was this highly decorated reporter. I treated her like a mindless piece of meat and once I realized that I was the problem and not her I felt awful. I really did. And it was so natural for me to say those things to her, that's what really messed me up. I didn't even realize what I was doing and how toxic it was. But it was too late, my foot was so far down my throat there's no going back" I laugh.

"That's rough. She's real pretty too, I'm sure you would have loved to be all over that" he admits.

"I don't know if I can date someone who is so much more emotionally stronger and aware than me. I mean she has it all, the looks, the brain, the passion. What do I bring to a relationship with her" I wonder.

"Love" he claims.

I just look at him as I sigh. "She doesn't want anything to do with me. I've tried so hard but the bottom line is I can't change what happened."

"But you control what happens next" he explains.

"I don't want to bother her. She seems like she has a lot on the plate. One of the few times I was able to talk to her she told me that she struggled with life and her place in it. I don't want to keep making her life hard" I insist.

"Then make it easier" he says.

"Listen here pretty boy, I'm not you. I can't walk into a place and everyone just be grateful I'm here" I tease.

"But they are. That's the thing. Show her what you show the guys on this team and she will see who you are behind your awful first impression" he insists.

"I don't know" I sigh.

"What are you afraid of? You like this girl don't you" he questions.

"Kinda. But I don't see her feeling anything towards me that ends up with us together" I explain.

"You never know. Life works in mysterious ways" he admits.

I smile as I wrap my arm around him. "That's it does young gun. That it does."