New Bomber Rizzo: ‘Oh, it’s gonna be fun’

Anthony Rizzo already has an amazing memory from Yankee Stadium — the old one. As a kid with family in New Jersey, the new Yankees’ first baseman was in the ballpark July 18, 1999. As most Yankees fans know, he got to watch David Cone throw a perfect game.

Now, after being acquired by the Yankees in a deadline deal with the Cubs, Rizzo is ready to make more.

“Oh, it’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be fun. I look forward to that roll call for the first time,” Rizzo said of the Yankees fans calling out the names of the players on the field. “We did play there in (2014 with the Cubs) and it was 15 degrees and we were facing (Masahiro) Tanaka in a doubleheader. It was Tanaka and Pineda in a doubleheader. It was freezing and we got rained out the day before. So, I look forward to going back. It’s nice and hot and I will be able to enjoy it a lot more.”

Rizzo, who helped the Cubs break 108-year curse and win a World Series in 2016, because he is an excellent first baseman, has fallen a bit off the pace that made him a regular All-Star and MVP candidate earlier in his career, but he is still a very good first baseman.

This season, he’s slashing .248/.346/.446 with 14 home runs.

But he’s an instinctual hitter who can make a lineup better, said one evaluator who is very familiar with Rizzo’s swing.

“He’s a hitter that can do what the game asks him to do at the moment,” the evaluator said.. “He uses the whole field, competes with two strikes and he moves runners.

“He is a hitter that plays to win.”

And that is why Brian Cashman took the opportunity of the Cubs fire sale to go out and get him.

Rizzo is a free agent at the end of this year who turned down a five-year, $70 million extension offered to him by the Cubs. Cashman said the Yanks have not thought about this as a long-term move.

“We added Rizzo for this stretch drive. This is all about the 2021 effort. We haven’t daydreamed into the future at all,” The Yankees GM said.

The move might have been somewhat unconventional since the Yankees had Luke Voit, who led the majors in home runs in 2020, expected to play first base this season. He has been limited to just 29 games this season because of injuries. Voit, who is on the injured list but was nearing a return, was with the team this week as it faced the Rays in St. Petersburg, but stayed behind to work at the spring training complex when the team went on to Miami.

Voit was held out of the first 34 games of the season by the knee surgery and then he suffered a strained oblique and missed 23 games. In the 29 games he has played, Voit has struggled to get going, hitting .241/.328/.370 with three homers and 11 RBI.

“We’re sorry about obviously Luke Voit’s season, the way it’s gone thus far, but obviously we have a two month sprint now to try to, to push ourselves into the postseason and take a shot at the ultimate prize,” Cashman said. “We felt this enhances those opportunities for us.”

Rizzo was not looking at the long-term picture either right now.

“I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about this franchise and how it’s operated from the inside now, and I’m excited to dive in and learn and see everything that the Yankees franchise has to offer,” Rizzo said. “I know it’s amazing and I know the history here and it speaks for itself. As far as contracts and whatnot. This is just about winning baseball games and getting onto a roll with our guys here and gelling and having fun and bringing out the best energy in everyone and getting us to the postseason.

“Anything could happen so it’s just kind of one day at a time,”