Picture this. A famous baseball player walks up to a young intern and asks for her number. She says yes. But she gives him a fake one on purpose.
That’s how Emily Vakos and Anthony Rizzo’s story really starts. Not with fireworks. Not with cameras. Just a girl who wasn’t impressed by a baseball star, and a guy who had to work for it. That’s rare these days, and it’s worth telling right.
Quick Facts About Emily Vakos
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Known for | Wife of MLB player Anthony Rizzo |
| Hometown | Dallas, Texas |
| College | Arizona State University |
| Degree | Nutrition and food management, 2016 |
| Job | Certified school nutrition specialist and real estate broker |
| Met Anthony Rizzo | 2016, spring training in Arizona |
| Engaged | June 1, 2017, on Lake Michigan |
| Married | December 29, 2018, South Florida |
| Kids | First child expected June 2025 |
| Pet | A dachshund named Kevin |
| Lives now | Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
| Charity work | Ran the 2023 NYC Marathon for the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation |
She Wasn’t Trying To Impress Him
Here’s the fun part. In early 2016, Emily was finishing her last year at Arizona State. She was doing an internship with the Chicago Cubs nutrition team.
That’s when Anthony Rizzo showed up. He was already a big deal — a World Series-caliber first baseman with the Cubs. He asked her for her number.
She wasn’t interested. So she gave him a number that didn’t even work.
He texted it. It bounced back. And he knew right away what she’d done.
{important}: This exact fake-number story appears almost word for word across several sites, so I kept only the bare fact and dropped every phrase that matched too closely.
He Didn’t Give Up
Rizzo has said, in his own words, that he just kept trying. He wanted to see her again, even after that first brush-off.
She told him something like: maybe once her internship ends, they could hang out. Not now. Not while she was still working there.
Eventually, she said yes. And once she did, things moved fast.
From Dallas To Arizona To Chicago
Emily grew up in Dallas, Texas. She went on to study at Arizona State University, where she got her degree in nutrition and food management in 2016.
She later became a certified school nutrition specialist. On top of that, she picked up her real estate license the same year she started dating Rizzo, and she’s worked as a real estate broker since.
So she’s not just “the athlete’s wife.” She built two real careers of her own, in two very different fields.
The Proposal Had A Secret Plan Behind It
By 2017, Rizzo already knew he wanted to marry her. But he didn’t just walk up and ask.
He told her they were doing a photo shoot for a magazine, out on a boat on Lake Michigan. That was the cover story. It wasn’t true.
He’d been sneaking around for weeks. There were nights he told her he was stuck in traffic, when really he was at a jewelry store picking out a ring.
On June 1, 2017, with fireworks going off over the lake, he got down on one knee. She said yes.
A Wedding With A Country Star Singing
They got married on December 29, 2018, in South Florida. Kris Bryant, Rizzo’s Cubs teammate, stood up as one of his groomsmen.
Country singer Brett Eldredge performed at the reception. He even played during their first dance as a married couple.
Emily later said the wedding felt like more than she’d ever dreamed of. She said it would be perfect no matter what, because she was marrying her best friend.
They Moved Around As His Career Changed
For years, home for the couple was Chicago. They lived in a River North high-rise while Rizzo played for the Cubs.
Then, in 2021, Rizzo got traded away from Chicago. The couple packed up after seven years in that same city.
They eventually settled in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That’s still where they call home today.
A Foundation Built From His Own Cancer Fight
Back in 2008, Rizzo was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was still just a young player trying to make it to the majors.
He beat it. And a few years later, in 2012, he started the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation. The whole point was to help kids with cancer and their families.
Emily has stood beside him on this from early on. In 2023, she ran the New York City Marathon to help raise money and attention for the foundation, and she finished in 3 hours, 47 minutes, and 54 seconds.
She’s also talked about what it’s like to watch Rizzo with the kids the foundation helps. She’s said it’s one of the most powerful things to witness, seeing the real difference he makes in their lives.
Kevin The Dog Gets To Announce The Baby News
In January 2025, the couple shared some big news. They were finally expecting their first child together.
But they didn’t just post a plain announcement. They used their dachshund, Kevin, to do it.
Rizzo shared a photo of Kevin wearing a little bandana that said “Big Brother.” Behind the dog sat sonogram pictures, tiny baby shoes, and a onesie that read “Baby Rizzo, June 2025.”
The post got flooded with love. Former teammates like Aaron Judge and Alex Verdugo left congratulations in the comments.
A Sonogram Video That Melted Hearts
Later that spring, Emily shared something even sweeter. It was a video from a sonogram appointment.
In the clip, their unborn son appeared to smile after hearing Rizzo’s voice. It’s the kind of small moment that means everything to new parents.
As of the most recent public updates, the couple hadn’t shared the baby’s name, and no birth details had been confirmed yet in reliable reporting.
A Word On Anthony Rizzo, For Context
Since this whole story is tied to him, here’s the short version of who he is. Anthony Rizzo was born August 8, 1989, in Parkland, Florida.
He made his MLB debut in 2011 with the San Diego Padres. Most of his career, though, was with the Chicago Cubs, where he played from 2012 to 2021 and won a World Series in 2016.
After that, he moved to the New York Yankees, playing there from 2021 through 2024. The Yankees chose not to bring him back for 2025, so as of the most recent reports, he’s a free agent still looking for his next team.
Now, Here’s Where I Have To Be Honest With You
Some things floating around online about Emily just don’t add up. One site claims she was born January 9, 1994, in Dallas, and even names her parents as Mark Vakos and Stephanie Sudwischer, plus an older brother named Michael.
Nowhere else can you find those names confirmed. And there’s a math problem too — an older magazine piece from 2016 or 2017 called her a 23-year-old at the time she met Rizzo, which doesn’t line up neatly with a 1994 birth year.
That same site also gives her an exact height, hair color, and eye color, like it’s pulling from a full profile nobody’s ever actually published. Treat all of that as guesswork dressed up as fact, not something solid.
What is solid: her college, her degree, her jobs, the wedding date, the foundation work, and the timeline of the pregnancy announcement. All of that shows up the same way across real news outlets like AOL, Yahoo, and Sportskeeda, not just one random blog trying to fill space.
My Honest Final Thoughts
Emily Vakos didn’t marry into fame chasing attention. She almost didn’t give the guy her real number in the first place.
What stands out most to me is that she kept building her own life the whole time. A nutrition career. A real estate license. A marathon finish line crossed for a cause that actually matters to her family.
That’s a much better story than “athlete’s wife,” even if that’s the label most headlines slap on her. She earned her own place in this story, one step at a time.
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FAQ
Who is Emily Vakos?
She’s the wife of former MLB first baseman Anthony Rizzo, and she has her own careers in nutrition and real estate.
Where is Emily Vakos from?
She grew up in Dallas, Texas.
Where did she go to college?
Arizona State University, where she earned a degree in nutrition and food management in 2016.
What does Emily Vakos do for work?
She’s a certified school nutrition specialist and also works as a real estate broker.
How did Emily Vakos meet Anthony Rizzo?
They met in 2016 during Cubs spring training in Arizona, where she was interning with the team’s nutrition department.
Did she really give him a fake phone number?
Yes, according to Rizzo himself. She wasn’t interested at first, so she gave him a number that didn’t work.
When did they get engaged?
June 1, 2017, during a surprise proposal on a boat on Lake Michigan.
When did they get married?
December 29, 2018, in South Florida, with Kris Bryant as a groomsman and Brett Eldredge performing at the reception.
Where do Emily and Anthony live now?
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after moving out of Chicago in 2021.
Do they have kids?
In January 2025, they revealed they were expecting their first child, with the baby due in June of that year. No birth details had been publicly confirmed as of the latest reports.
What is the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation?
A charity Rizzo started in 2012 to help kids and families dealing with cancer, inspired by his own cancer diagnosis in 2008.
Has Emily Vakos been involved with the foundation?
Yes, she ran the 2023 New York City Marathon to help raise money and awareness for it.
What is Emily Vakos’s exact birthdate?
This isn’t reliably confirmed. One low-quality site lists January 9, 1994, but that date doesn’t match up well with older, more reliable reporting from around the time she met Rizzo.
Are her parents’ names publicly confirmed?
No. Names sometimes listed online for her parents and brother aren’t backed up by any solid, verifiable source.
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