CHICAGO — Just days before he officially enters the free agency market, Japanese-born Chicago Cubs pitcher Shōta Imanaga has touched the baseball world by donating $500,000 to the cancer support fund of former legend Anthony Rizzo — who is now an honorary ambassador for the team.
And then, in the midst of a quiet farewell ceremony at Wrigley Field, Imanaga said only one sentence that made thousands of hearts stop:
“I don’t want to be remembered for my shots, but for my sincere heart.”
While the free agent market is heating up with huge deals, Shota Imanaga’s actions made everyone stop. He chose to leave not with a halo, not with a noisy farewell, but with a profound gesture for the community and for the person who inspired him.
According to a representative of The Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation, the $500,000 from Imanaga will be used to support children and young people undergoing cancer treatment, as well as families facing financial difficulties.
Rizzo – a cancer survivor and now a symbol of resilience in Chicago – was moved to share:
“I don’t know what to say other than thank you. Imanaga is not just a player, he is a man with a great heart. This action will help hundreds of patients feel that they are not alone.”
When he joined the Cubs in 2024, Shōta Imanaga was not expected to be a star. But he quickly won the hearts of fans thanks to his humble spirit, gentle smile and tenacious playing style. With an ERA of only 2.91 and more than 190 strikeouts, he became one of the most consistent pitchers in MLB in the 2025 season.
However, what made fans love him was not just the numbers, but his personality. Imanaga regularly participates in charity activities, quietly going to Chicago Children’s Hospital, donating gloves to children and spending time talking to cancer patients.
A Cubs employee recounted:
“He never announced it to the media. He just asked us, ‘Does anyone need a smile today?’”
This donation was not accidental. Many sources said that Anthony Rizzo was the one who encouraged and helped Imanaga integrate into MLB in his first days in the US.
They quickly became close – one was an old icon, the other was a new face. When Rizzo returned to the Cubs as an ambassador earlier this year, he joked:
“If I had a brother in baseball, it would be Shōta.”
And perhaps Imanaga has never forgotten that.
When asked at an internal farewell at Wrigley Field what made him choose to support Rizzo’s fund, Imanaga smiled, looking around the field – where he once threw fiery pitches to cheers from the crowd.
“I’ve received so much from this place – love, trust, and tears. If this is my way of saying thank you, I want people to remember me with a sincere heart, not a statistic.”
The room fell silent. Several teammates – including Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson – shed tears.
On social media, the hashtags #ThankYouShota and #HeartOfCubs quickly went viral. Thousands of Cubs fans wrote touching tributes:
“He didn’t just pitch for the team, he threw love into the heart of Chicago.”
Anthony Rizzo concluded with a simple, yet powerful sentence:
“He came as a stranger, and left as part of the family.”
In the competitive and glamorous world of baseball, sometimes the greatest thing is not winning, but kindness. And today, Shōta Imanaga proved that — even when leaving, a man can still bring the whole city to tears with his kindness.
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