'She Said Yes!': Cubs' Anthony Rizzo Pops The Question With Lake Michigan Fireworks

CHICAGO, IL — Since April's World Series ring ceremony in April, the Chicago Cubs have had few things to cheer about this season. The team was swept during a recent West Coast road trip, and the North Siders are now playing below .500 as they return home Friday to play a series against their National League Central rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals. Thankfully, first baseman Anthony Rizzo provided a bright spot, announcing his engagement to Chicago real estate broker Emily Vakos on Thursday night, complete with Lake Michigan fireworks.

"Luckiest guy in the world! She said YES. Future Mr. & Mrs. Rizzo," the Cubs All-Star wrote on his Twitter account Thursday, June 1. Rizzo posted engagement photos on his account there and the social media platform Instagram. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Lake View and Chicago — or other neighborhoods. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

The couple haven't set a wedding date yet, and Rizzo told the Chicago Sun-Times that she wasn't expecting him to pop the big question.

"She was totally surprised," he said. "That’s what I wanted. Somehow kept that under wraps."

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Vakos wasn't the only one surprised by pyrotechnic-enhanced engagement. Former teammate Dexter Fowler — in Chicago with his new team, the Cardinals — texted Rizzo on Thursday night to ask if he knew anything about the fireworks he saw going off from his hotel room, the Sun-Times reports.

Not everyone, however, was happy that Rizzo was off the metaphoric market that gossip sites and tabloids talk about as if it's some equal-opportunity OK Cupid or Tinder.

There must be something about winning a World Series that makes a single baseball player want to settle down. In January, third baseman Kris Bryant married longtime girlfriend Jessica Delp, and Rizzo was one of the groomsmen. The engagement certainly had an immediate positive effect on Rizzo: He scored the game-winning run in the eighth inning Friday, as the Cubs beat the Cardinals, 3-2, ending a six-game losing streak.

But the one question no one has asked yet: Did Rizzo need to buy an engagement ring that was at least as extravagant as the one he received from the Cubs for winning the World Series?

Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo gives high-fives in the dugout Friday, June 2, after he scored the game-winning run in the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images)

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