Respect me! Cubs slugger Anthony Rizzo wants 'to make guys pay'
With 21 hits in his last 52 postseason at-bats, a streak that spans three playoff series and one World Series championship, Anthony Rizzo would like to think his postseason reputation precedes him.
Yet the Chicago Cub first baseman's sublime playoff run wasn't enough for Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker to pitch around him in the decisive moment during Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Monday.
And while Rizzo got the last word - in the form of a well-placed blooper that drove in the winning run in the 2-1 classic - it seemed winning the battle wasn't enough.
MORE POSTSEASON COVERAGE
Game 3: Cubs come back to edge Nationals to take 2-1 lead
More: Baker plays 2 hunches vs Cubs and both come up empty
Cameras caught a pumped-up Rizzo shouting, "Respect me! Respect me!" as he came off the field following the eighth inning.
Given the chance to cool out a few minutes, Rizzo said in his postgame remarks that he did take umbrage at Baker daring to pitch to him.
"That's the mentality I take always with the base open. I want to make guys pay," says Rizzo in his postgame remarks. "I hit where I hit in the order. I drive in runs, and that's just the mentality that I always take in. Usually I keep that stuff behind the scenes and say that stuff, but just my emotions got me there.
"I believe I'm one of the best hitters in the game and you have to believe that. There's a lot of power that comes with that."
Baker opted for Oliver Perez, the 36-year-old lefty, pitching to Rizzo rather than take his chances with catcher Willson Contreras and a right-handed reliever. Perez executed his pitch but Rizzo found a hole, in part because his prodigious spray chart created space to drop the ball between left fielder Jayson Werth, shortstop Trea Turner and center fielder Michael A. Taylor.
Hey, when you're hot, you're hot. Rizzo's now 4 for 12 with a home run in this NLDS, and has driven in four of the Cubs' eight runs.
"It's not really turning it on when you bloop one in there, you know what I mean?" Baker said. "That ball is kind of in never-never land out there, between three merging players on our team. Like I said, you couldn't have thrown the ball any better if he had thrown the ball in there."
Gallery: Best of the 2017 MLB postseason