A new perspective: Alanna Rizzo on life after the Dodgers

By almost anyone's account, Alanna Rizzo had it all: a successful career covering a perennial postseason contender, a comfortable home near the beach in Southern California, and the adoration of Dodgers fans who respected her vast baseball knowledge.

But Rizzo gave it all up two years ago to change jobs, move across the country, and prioritize someone she'd long neglected: herself. It was a tough decision, but time has proven to Rizzo it was the right one. The intervening months have brought her to a place where she can still hold tight to the sport she so deeply regards while making space for love, family, and lots of Cuban cooking.

"It was agonizing," Rizzo said, recounting the weeks at the end of 2020 and in early 2021 when she weighed her options. Her then-fiance, former big league catcher Chris Iannetta, was also on the brink of a career transition - retiring after 14 major-league seasons. With two young children in Massachusetts, he intended to make his full-time home base there. After a six-year long-distance relationship, Rizzo and Iannetta were ready to stop juggling schedules.

"I remember being back in Los Angeles in January 2021, doing some stuff for the network, and really trying to figure out what direction I was going to go. I even anticipated that maybe I do half the season, maybe I just do road games, maybe I do half the year to train my replacement. … After a lot of anxiety, back and forth, and discussions with the Dodgers, I just decided it would be best for once to put my personal life ahead of my professional life and move. It was heart-wrenching because I loved that job, and I love living in L.A., and I loved the team, and the organization treated me with nothing but class."

The decision was even more excruciating considering the amount of work it took Rizzo to get the job with the Dodgers, a culmination of a lifetime of achievement.

"In this industry, you think you are what you do. You're identified with and defined by what your job is," she said. "It was difficult because all of a sudden you feel like you're not as relevant, you're not as important."

Sports broadcasting wasn't Rizzo's first career choice. After graduating from the University of Colorado with a degree in international business, the Colorado Springs native pursued a marketing career in the beverage and hospitality industry.

"I did that for about five years, and I was just bored out of my mind," Rizzo said. "It was incredibly unfulfilling. I went back to school, took a second mortgage out on my house to pay for school, and went into journalism."

After graduating with a master's degree in journalism at the age of 28, she needed to work her way up from the bottom, or close to it. She began in Wichita Falls, Texas, the 182nd-largest market in the U.S. in 2003.

"You pay your dues," said Rizzo, who soon moved from Texas to Madison, Wisconsin, before graduating to Denver, where she covered the Rockies. She then took a national role at MLB Network on "Intentional Talk" with Kevin Millar and Chris Rose.

But those roles paled in comparison to her next move in 2013: in-game reporter for Spectrum SportsNet LA covering the Dodgers, the No. 2 market in the country. The club had a lot of eyeballs on it, not just because it was in a big city but because it was very good. The Dodgers won the division every year during her eight-year tenure and went to the World Series three times, winning once. "I think what pushed it over the top and became my identity was the Dodgers. It's one of the internationally most recognizable teams," she said.

And Rizzo wasn't just gaining notice with the fans, as she also garnered respect within the clubhouse.

"As soon as I was traded over to the Dodgers and talked to her, I could tell she really understands the game. It's refreshing, it's like you're just having a conversation about baseball," said utility player Chris Taylor, who arrived in L.A. after a midseason trade from Seattle in 2016.

"I think everyone loves Alanna," he added. "Everybody thought of her as a friend. She knows baseball, she's great at what she does, she's a true professional, and she's one of the best in the business.

"And, obviously, she's just a great person."

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who spent 10 seasons in the major leagues as a player and is in his ninth year as a manager, knows broadcasters like Rizzo are a key connection between his clubhouse and the rest of the world. "That broadcaster is the conduit from the fans to the game to the players," he said.

Rizzo's strength was that she could get in the trenches, unafraid to do the hard work each season. "Alanna is a grinder. Baseball, the sport itself, is a grind. It's hard. She understands how hard the game is," added Roberts, entering his eighth season with the Dodgers.

Both Roberts and Rizzo said consistency is the key for a reporter to do their job well.

"Respect comes with consistency, whether it be showing up, experience, or trust. We all liked, loved, respected Alanna for what she did as a professional, but more importantly as a person," Roberts said. "When a broadcaster has that trust with the coaches or the players, then she gets more access, and that allows for her to paint a better, clearer picture to the fans."

Rizzo added: "Always showing up, always having good questions allowed me to take the audience places they weren't allowed to go as a fan."

Her intimate understanding of the grind of an MLB baseball season is what prompted Rizzo to make a change. "With this type of job, I feel like either you're 100% in or you're not in, and you have to give it your all." As the 2021 season approached, she realized she couldn't do that - life was changing.

Without a clear picture of her next career move, Rizzo relocated to Massachusetts to be closer to Iannetta, whom she married in November 2022. Life since then has had some pleasant surprises.

"I walk my dog on her long, daily midday walk," Rizzo said. "She gets three or four walks a day, but that's the long one, and then I'll come home and cook dinner. I never, ever thought in a million years I would do that before." Rizzo used to joke that she didn't need to buy a house with a kitchen because she didn't cook.

But cooking creates a new connection to her roots and memories from her childhood. "I learned all of my favorite Cuban recipes that my mom - who's a Cuban immigrant - used to make us growing up," she said. "I have loved being in one place and actually being able to plant roots and establish traditions. Before, people would say, 'Where is home for you?' and I didn't know."

Rizzo also found more time to focus on her passion project, Guidry's Guardian Foundation. Established in 2018 and named after her first dog, its work is twofold: offering financial assistance to individuals and groups providing shelter, medical, and adoption costs for animals while raising awareness for pets looking for a new home.

Rizzo had mused about how to channel her love for animals, but a frantic call from her make-up artist who had just picked up a stray dog prompted Rizzo to formalize her passion into a foundation.

"Something told me Alanna would be able to help, so I called her, and she did," said Karina Martin, who found the dog wandering in South Los Angeles as she headed home from Dodger Stadium after a Sunday game. Rizzo located an adoptive family for the dog - Chapo - and Guidry's was born. "If I see a dog in need, I know I can call her, and she never says no. Never," Martin added.

Through the foundation, Rizzo has not only helped dogs but created a community of people. Shelagh Wagener adopted her Labrador-chow mix, Bear, through Guidry's in California.

"He's like a soulmate dog. And it was Alanna's intervention that saved his life," Wagener said.

Since the adoption, she's participated in a Guidry's alumni mixer, gone on doggy playdates with Rizzo and her dog, Bentley, and has come to count Rizzo as one of her dearest friends.

"A lot of the Guidry's alumni started as Dodger fans but shared Alanna's love for dogs," Wagener said. "What strikes me most about Alanna is once you adopt, foster, or are in her orbit through Guidry's, you are really part of a family."

Wagener also views Rizzo as a professional role model. "The first time we met, she got us tickets to a Dodger game as a thank-you for Bear. She came up to the stands to say hello to us, and when she walked away, everyone in the stands started talking to us about her and how good she was at her job. How badass she was," Wagener said.

Despite Rizzo's move from the Dodgers, she still has the baseball IQ that earned her so many fans - and she's putting it to use. Shortly after leaving Los Angeles, she found her next gig, rejoining MLB Network as a host and reporter.

"I know I'm very grateful for this job and to still be in the game, it's just a very different game now," she said.

Achieving a work-life balance in professional sports is rare, but Rizzo's managed to do it and can now focus on carving out a legacy. "I hope to be remembered as somebody who was very giving, as someone who would die for the people who I care about," she said.

No matter how her life continues to transform, there's one thing she knows that'll always be a constant: baseball. Quoting White Sox legend Minnie Minoso, Rizzo said, "Baseball's been very, very good to me."

Jolene Latimer is a feature writer and video producer for theScore.