The bases were loaded when Cubs players Ben Zobrist, Anthony Rizzo and Dexter Fowler took the stage Monday night on Jimmy Fallon’s “Tonight Show,” where they talked World Series, superstitions and Steve Bartman.
Fallon hoisted the Commissioner’s Trophy as the players took their seat, Zobrist with his newly acquired MVP trophy.
“The world is in love with you guys,” Fallon said before praising the now historic Game 7 win. “I wish you could’ve seen it!”
After explaining the unusual squatting superstition of a writer on the show, Fallon asked the players if they had any superstitions of their own.
Keeping things the same was a concern among the players, they said, with Rizzo refusing to get his broken phone fixed and players insisting on sitting in the same spot on the bench.
Fallon moved the spotlight to Zobrist, mentioning the infielder and Illinois native’s professional history and on-field prowess, telling him he was “crazy” and he didn’t understand him.
“I don’t understand either,” said Zobrist to chants from the crowd of “MVP! MVP!” Fallon asked why Zobrist would leave the Kansas City Royals after winning a World Series in 2015 and then move to the Cubs with their notorious championship draught.
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“One-hundred-eight years, an elusive championship, who wouldn’t want to win that?” Zobrist asked.
The “Tonight Show” host then asked the baseball stars what they thought of the massive celebration and parade in Chicago on Friday that drew 5 million fans.
“There was no end,” Fowler said of the crowd, Rizzo and Zobrist agreeing.
Fallon also touched on the perhaps fortuitous twist of fate that landed the winning game in Cleveland.
“I’m not speaking for Chicago fans, I’m kind of happy [the final game] wasn’t at Wrigley,” Fallon said, adding that he feared it would be “ripped to the ground” in the celebration to follow.
The Cubs then addressed a rumor Fallon said he had heard, that outcast fan Steve Bartman would be invited to throw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field next season.
“That’d be amazing” Rizzo said, before admitting he hadn’t heard anything about an official invite to Bartman.
But Fowler had his own addendum to the unconfirmed offer.
“It’d only be right if [former Cubs player Moises] Alou would catch the ball,” Fowler said to laughs from the audience.
