Baseball is a game of numbers. You've got your exit velocities, your spin rates, and those expensive specialized metrics that front offices obsess over. But honestly? Sometimes the most meaningful moment in a season has absolutely nothing to do with a spreadsheet.
On April 28, 2021, the Chicago Cubs were getting absolutely demolished by the Atlanta Braves. The score was 10-0 in the seventh inning. It was a miserable night for Chicago fans. Then, Anthony Rizzo stepped onto the mound.
When the 1B Becomes the Ace
Most position players pitch like they’re just trying to get the nightmare over with. They lob the ball in at 50 mph and hope no one gets hurt. Not Rizzo. He had been begging manager David Ross to let him pitch, specifically because he saw Freddie Freeman coming up in the order.
Freeman was having a career night. He was 4-for-4. He’d already hit a home run. Basically, he was untouchable.
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Rizzo didn't care.
The two of them are close friends, and the energy shifted the second Rizzo started his "warm-up" tosses. You could see the grins from the nosebleeds. Rizzo was chirping from the mound. Freeman was laughing in the box. It felt less like a Major League game and more like a backyard session between two guys who just really love the sport.
The At-Bat That Broke the Internet
It wasn't a quick three-pitch strikeout. Rizzo actually had to work for it. He started with a looping ball that missed the zone. Then he ramped it up—well, "ramped" is a strong word—to about 74 mph. Freeman fouled it off.
Then came the pitch.
Rizzo shook off his catcher. He stared down the reigning NL MVP with a straight face that he couldn't hold for more than two seconds. He wound up and released a beautiful, high-arcing 61 mph curveball.
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Freeman swung. He swung hard.
He missed.
The stadium erupted. Not because the game was close, but because we just saw one of the best hitters on the planet get sent back to the dugout by a first baseman throwing slower than a suburban dad in a beer league. Rizzo hopped off the mound like he’d just won the World Series, and Freeman walked away shaking his head, still wearing that massive grin.
Why Freddie Still Hears About It
"He’s going to have that over my head forever," Freeman told reporters after the game. He wasn't wrong. Even now, years later, that 61 mph "bender" is a staple of MLB highlight reels.
It highlights a nuance of hitting that people often forget: timing is everything. When you spend your whole life training to hit 98 mph heaters, a 60 mph lob is basically a glitch in the Matrix. Your brain tells you to swing, but your hands are already finished before the ball even reaches the plate.
The "Frederick" Legacy
This wasn't even the first time these two went viral that week. Just days earlier, Rizzo was mic’d up while chasing Freeman down in a rundown. He was literally screaming "FREDERICK! FREDERICK!" as he ran after him.
That’s the thing about the Rizzo strikes out Freeman moment. It wasn't just a gimmick. It was a reminder that even in a billion-dollar industry filled with intense pressure and trade rumors, these guys are still just kids playing a game.
Rizzo retired as a legend in Chicago and New York, but for many fans, that single strikeout remains a top-five memory. It lightened the mood of a blowout loss. It gave the fans something to cheer for when there was nothing left on the scoreboard.
What You Can Learn from a 61 MPH Pitch
If you’re looking for a takeaway from this weird piece of baseball history, it’s that perfection is overrated. Freeman is a Hall of Fame caliber hitter. Rizzo is a Gold Glover. But on that night, the "wrong" pitch was the perfect one.
- Expect the unexpected. In any high-stakes environment, the sudden change of pace is often more effective than raw power.
- Relationships matter. The reason this moment went viral wasn't just the strikeout; it was the genuine friendship between the two players.
- Don't take it too seriously. Even at the highest level of professional sports, there is room for a laugh.
If you want to relive the magic, go find the video of Rizzo’s post-game interview. He talks about "pitching around" Ronald Acuña Jr. just so he could get to Freeman. That’s elite-level trolling.
To really understand the mechanics of how a position player can fool an MVP, you should look into the "effective velocity" theory. It explains why a massive drop in speed is just as disruptive as a massive increase. Next time you're watching a blowout, don't turn the channel. You might just see a first baseman throw the best curveball of the year.