Unlike most of his teammates, Anthony Rizzo has prior World Series experience.
The celebration after their ALCS win over Cleveland, though, was just as sweet for Rizzo as it was for anyone else — if for a different reason.
When the first baseman was drilled by a pitch on his right hand on Sept. 28 — just a day before the end of the regular season — it was unclear if he would get back on the field in 2024.
“I remember when I saw the fracture myself,’’ Rizzo said of seeing the X-ray of the injury. “I saw the cracks and I said to the doctor, ‘That’s a crack, right?’ He said it was and I just started screaming.”
After all, it typically takes weeks for a fractured finger to heal enough to be able to play and the Yankees had just one week until the start of the ALDS.
“Once I realized it, I let out a lot of emotion,’’ Rizzo said. “I remember it being very tough and my wife came down and we sat there for about 45 minutes.”
And that’s when Rizzo’s attitude changed.
“After that, we shifted to figuring out how we were going to attack this [injury] so I could play through it,’’ Rizzo said.
It proved to still be too painful for Rizzo to make it back for the ALDS win over Kansas City, but he was able to return against Cleveland and played in all five games.
He went 6-for-14 with a double and two walks.
Rizzo’s defense was shaky versus Cleveland, he didn’t start Game 3 against left-hander Matt Boyd and was replaced in the ninth inning of Game 1 by Oswaldo Cabrera.
During a Zoom call from the Stadium on Monday, Aaron Boone said Rizzo’s hand was in about the same condition it was during the ALCS.
He’s been forced to catch the ball with two hands to make up for the insecurity of his right — glove — hand, but despite a lack of power, the Yankees still value his presence and that figures to be especially true against the Dodgers, as only Rizzo with the Cubs in 2016 and Juan Soto as a National in 2019 have World Series wins on their résumés.
If his hand holds up, perhaps they’ll get another.
