Cubs rookie explains skipping game for Charlie Kirk memorial

Chicago Cubs third baseman Matt Shaw said he skipped a key late-season game to attend a memorial service for conservative influencer Charlie Kirk after Kirk’s widow Erika invited him.

Shaw told reporters in Chicago that he sought the counsel of Cubs veterans as well as manager Craig Counsell and club president Jed Hoyer before opting to attend the Sept. 21 event near Phoenix.

The Cubs played at the Cincinnati Reds that day and opted to play a man down rather than place Shaw on the restricted list. He was ineligible for placement on Major League Baseball’s bereavement list because Kirk was not a family member.

‘I made sure everybody I talked to I had their support, that they knew why I was going, that I wasn’t leaving just to leave, that it was something that was really important to my faith,” Shaw said, per the Chicago Tribune.

Shaw typically plays against left-handed starters and the Reds started a lefty, Andrew Abbott, that day. While the Cubs’ playoff spot was assured at that time, they were still faintly alive for the NL Central title, and seeding ramifications remain for both the NL playoffs and, potentially, a World Series appearance.

The outcome had greater significance for the Reds and New York Mets, who are now in a virtual tie for the final wild card berth.

Minus Shaw, the Cubs started 40-year-old DH Justin Turner at third and lost to the Reds, 1-0, bringing pulling Cincinnati even for the last playoff spot.

Shaw told reporters that he and Kirk met in the offseason living at the same Arizona apartment complex, bonded over “faith” and that Kirk, a suburban Chicago native, frequently texted him after games

Shaw and Cubs infielder Michael Busch posed for a photograph with Kirk on the Wrigley Field turf after a game in August.