WASHINGTON (AP) - Unusual scheduling spawned even more atypical travel attire for Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo.
The three-time All-Star wore a uniform, complete with a blue jersey and gray pants, on the Cubs’ early Thursday morning flight for a makeup game against the Washington Nationals, then arrived in the clubhouse with the same outfit.
“It’s all I got,” Rizzo said.
The Cubs returned to Washington for the second time in a week after Sunday’s game was postponed. The four-day series, which included another rainout Friday and a doubleheader Saturday, featured nearly 11 hours in rain delays.
Thursday’s game was scheduled on the only remaining common day off for the teams before the end of the regular season, and it split up what was to be a six-game homestand for the Cubs. It also came after a state of emergency was declared in Washington in anticipation of the effects of Hurricane Florence.
The makeup date also extended the Cubs’ streak of 23 consecutive scheduled game dates to 30. Their next day off is Sept. 20.
“At the end of the day, our front office, our owners have our back,” Rizzo said. “We’re in a long stretch of games that people in MLB that have been on the players’ side and they understand the human element of it and they seem not to care at all. It is what it is. We can sit here and complain about it or we can joke around about it.”
Rizzo’s sartorial choice was met with amusement in the Cubs’ clubhouse.
“I wish he had said something sooner because we could have all done it. I would have done it in a heartbeat,” manager Joe Maddon said.
Might Rizzo be a trendsetter?
“If we win, I’m sure you’ll see another guy wearing a uniform, too,” Rizzo said. “Hopefully, we win and keep winning and we’ll do a team dinner or something in Chicago in full uniform.”
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