Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs. (Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports)
The Chicago Cubs somehow have a team hall of fame without these five guys in it.
These five guys not being in the Chicago Cubs team hall of fame is an absolute travesty.
We haven’t been this mad about five guys since inadvertently dropping three days’ worth of French fries out of a greasy bag and onto the sidewalk. But here we are! With a team with absolutely nothing left to play for this year, the Wrigley faithful were denied the opportunities to celebrate these five living legends in all of their greatness in a team hall of fame museum.
Here’s the Cubs official criteria for being a candidate to be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame:
- 5-plus years as a member of the Chicago Cubs
- Significant contributions made to the organization
With that criteria in mind, there are a few no-brainer candidates the Cubs need to make sure they not only enshrine, but make sure to give a grand ceremony to during a game.
Anthony Rizzo/ Kris Bryant
(2012-2021), (2015-2021), Chicago Cubs
Without Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant, the Curse of the Billy Goat still remains
I get it. They are still in their baseball-playing primes in their early 30s, but the Cubs should have put first baseman Anthony Rizzo and third baseman Kris Bryant into their hall of fame before shipping them out of town in their late July fire sale. These are the two most prominent members of the 2016 World Series core, the tandem who recored the final out to break the dreaded curse.
Could Bryant and Rizzo return to the Cubs on a new contract next year? Potentially, but this organization is heading towards an incredibly painful rebuild they probably do not want to be a part of. Yes, money talks, but so does showing their two most important players from the 2010s some respect. The best era of Cubs baseball in all of our lifetimes was centered around these two.
The last thing the Cubs organization should want to do is strain the relationship with key members of their 2016 World Series Championship team. Bryant may play for the San Francisco Giants and Rizzo may play for the New York Yankees, but they should be lifelong ambassadors of the Cubs organization, presumably the very instant they hang up the spikes. They earned plaques already.
Who cares if they are active? This is a brand new hall of fame, and you can do whatever you want.