It’s Official: Marjory Stoneman Douglas Baseball Field is Now Named After Anthony Rizzo

February 3, 2020 • By Matt Rothman

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[caption id="attachment_6542" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Anthony Rizzo, with William Kennedy and Grace Solomon. Their law firm was a sponsor of the fundraiser "A Night Under the Lights with Anthony Rizzo" in 2018. {courtesy}[/caption]

By: Matt Rothman

It was a special evening on Monday night at Marjory Stoneman Douglas as graduate and Chicago Cubs first basemen, Anthony Rizzo, unveiled the new lights and new name of the baseball field.

The Eagles will now be playing their home games at Anthony Rizzo Field under the lights. Head Coach Todd-Fitz-Gerald said the lights would make things easier for the players' parents and other fans who want to attend games. He began getting the ball rolling for the lights with the help of former Principal Ty Thompson and reached out to the former player.

After a large fundraiser called "A Night Under the Lights with Anthony Rizzo" in 2018 which raised $150,000 in donations from Rizzo and others, enough funds were raised to light the baseball field for the first time Monday night.

While Rizzo has seen so much success in the MLB winning the Cubs' first World Series in 108 years, he was clearly touched by all the support.

"My dream was to play Major League Baseball, but it started in Parkland in little league and high school," Rizzo said. I always wanted to play under the lights here, and we were never able to, and now, with state-of-the-art lights, it can make the experience a lot better for the kids."

Both the baseball team and softball team had their first practice with the lights following the ceremony and will be opening their new season on February 7.

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Matt Rothman

Matt Rothman is a 2018 graduate from Florida Gulf Coast University receiving his bachelor’s degree in journalism and then graduated from the University of Florida as a graduate student. He also works for the Mohave Valley Daily News in Bullhead City, Arizona covering high school sports.