Cubs first baseman travels to Florida to offer support

Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo left spring training Thursday for his home in Parkland, Fla., to offer support in the wake of a deadly shooting at his former high school.

Rizzo had been an early arrival in Arizona, where Chicago’s pos- ition players aren’t set to report until Monday ahead of the club’s first full-squad workout.

A 2007 graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where the shooting took place Wednesday, Rizzo donated US$150,000 to his alma mater in November to help toward lights for the baseball and softball fields. His parents still live in the area.

Rizzo tweeted his support , saying, “Parkland and Coral Springs please stay strong!” and “This is out of control ... and our country is in desperate need for change.”

He added: “I hope In this darkest of times back home this brings everyone together and we can find love. You’re all in my prayers”

Manager Joe Maddon exchanged text messages Wed- nesday night with Rizzo in the aftermath of the nation’s deadliest school attack in five years.

“We were all about that, we were all for that,” Maddon said. “Told him to get back to us if there’s anything that we can do to help, I don’t even know what that means. I definitely want him to go back there and become involved, as he should. It’s just horrible.”