The Chicago Cubs made history once again Sunday by picking up the first World Series win at Wrigley Field since 1945, but one more loss and the team will be out of the running for a title fans have been waiting more than a century for.
As the championship hangs in the balance, how do the players handle the pregame stress? Turns out the answer is a lot funnier than you might expect.
Catcher David Ross told reporters Sunday night that teammate Anthony Rizzo’s way of destressing before the do-or-die Game 5 involved disrobing.
“It was Rizzo playing the ‘Rocky’ theme and running around, jumping around half-naked doing boxing moves,” Ross laughed. “That’s what the atmosphere was like.”
Rizzo said he had no choice but to draw from one of the most famous fictional underdog athletes there is, Rocky Balboa, for team motivation.
“I just pulled it all out,” Rizzo said. “You gotta pull out the inspirational underdog. We played some speeches in here, some motivational stuff.”
Rizzo added that one of those speeches played was the iconic “one time” pep talk from 1994’s “Little Giants.”
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“We had a good time in here before the game,” Rizzo said. “We’re saying, ‘We’re going the bout. We gotta go the distance.”
It's a method that seemed to pay off.
The Cubs and Indians will now head to Cleveland for Game 6, which will take place on Tuesday night and feature a pitching matchup between Jake Arrieta and Josh Tomlin.
