Rizzo unites Cubs, Crew with hand sanitizer

This is what friendship looks like in 2020

July 25th, 2020

The Cubs and Brewers may have one of the most intense rivalries in the game. It's at the point where the teams make fun of each other for how the crowds usually react to softly hit fly balls:

But no matter how much they may want to beat each other, the players still know that safety comes first. So, when Orlando Arcia picked up a single in the top of the third inning on Opening Day, Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo was ready to help out.

Knowing that he couldn't joke around at the bag like he usually does, one of the game's happiest, friendliest players came prepared -- with hand sanitizer.

"Honestly, just sitting around with some of my friends, talking with some of my friends, just joking around like, 'First guy that gets on, I'm going to give him some hand sanitizer.' We were all talking about it and we all just started to laugh," Rizzo said after the Cubs' 3-0 win. "I kind of forgot about it, and then the other day I remembered it.  

"Listen, we're playing in obviously unusual circumstances. I mean, you guys know me as well as anyone, and how much fun I like to have and joke around and keep it loose. It's no different. We have a lot of respect for the Brewers. They're a good club and they bring a lot of energy, too. So, it's just one of those things that I'm surprised the cameras got it."

Nothing may seem normal this year. Between social distancing, the adjustments to the 2020 baseball season and the general lifestyle changes caused by the coronavirus pandemic, this is what friendship looks like: A smile and an offer of hand sanitizer from your most heated rival. (Plus, with the price sanitizer was going for a few months ago, this is basically like offering someone top-shelf Champagne.)

Let's all be like Rizzo and remember to be good to each other.