A man of the people.
Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo gave his teammates some generous gifts for Opening Day this year, per The Athletic.
Rizzo gifted his teammates two bottles of wine each, valued at $130 and $470, along with a personal handwritten note.
“You go through spring training, and everyone is on their own different journey of how they got here,” said Rizzo told The Athletic. “Whether it’s a lot of Opening Days in a row or your first or somewhere in between. Just a little exciting thing for an exciting day. A fresh slate. Fresh opportunities. A lot of high hopes and dreams.”
Rizzo's generosity and thoughtfulness went a long way with his Yankee teammates.
“It goes along with the pageantry and the festivities of Opening Day,” said Gerrit Cole. “Brings a smile to everybody’s face. It’s Tony’s way of showing he cares. … It’s inspiring. He’s a great teammate, and he’s a great example to follow.”
“I’m one of the younger guys, and you look up to guys like Rizzo and Big G (Giancarlo Stanton) and (Aaron) Judge and down that whole end of the locker room,” said reliever Ron Marinaccio. “Those are the guys you want to feel comfortable around the most. To see something like this, a handwritten card from one of them … it would be easy for somebody to go out and buy a gift for somebody. But to take time and then write a handwritten message as well, it means a lot to a younger player coming in.”
According to Rizzo, he learned this Opening Day move from Jon Lester and Jason Heyward during his time with the Chicago Cubs. Lester and Heyward were known for dishing out gifts on Opening Day, and now Rizzo has followed suit.
"That’s just who he is. He has an infectious personality. … Chicago had something special with him, and now New York gets to see what’s special with him, too," said Kyle Schwarber, who was teammates with Rizzo on the Cubs.
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