UPDATE — 9/24/25, 9:50 a.m. ET: Chicago Cubs third baseman Matt Shaw responded after he faced criticism for skipping a crucial game to attend Charlie Kirk’s memorial service.
“[Kirk’s] wife Erika had texted me, asking me if I would come to the funeral,” Shaw, 23, told reporters on Tuesday, September 23. “I felt as though it was something that was really important for me to do.”
Shaw explained he and Kirk became friends when they lived in the same Arizona apartment complex in the offseason.
“My connection with Charlie was through our faith,” Shaw said. “That’s something that drives me every day. That’s the reason why I’m able to do what I do every day. That’s something I’m extremely thankful for. I know that without my faith – and without the many blessings I’ve been given in my life – I wouldn’t be here able to talk to [the media], able to help this team eventually go and win championships.”
He added, “Whatever backlash comes is OK. I feel strong about my faith, and that what was meant to be, happened.”
Shaw missed the team’s game against the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, September 21, to attend Kirk’s memorial service in Glendale, Arizona. The Cubs are currently fighting for home-field advantage in the playoffs, which begin next week. Shaw returned to the lineup on Tuesday.
Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University on September 10. Shaw was also excused from the Cubs’ lineup on the night of Kirk’s death.
“I was very thankful for how the team responded,” Shaw said. “Allowing me to do that was really special.”
Shaw called Kirk “one of the biggest Cubs fans I ever met.”
“One of the last things [Kirk] said to me is, ‘Please, sir, save Chicago,’” Shaw recalled. “We’re going to do that. We’re going to save Chicago from horrible crime.”
Original story below:
Chicago Cubs third baseman Matt Shaw missed the team’s crucial game against the Cincinnati Reds to attend conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk’s funeral.
Shaw, 23, was not in the lineup when the Cubs played the Reds at Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark on Sunday, September 21. The Cubs lost, 1-0.
“Matt Shaw was unavailable today,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters after the game. “He attended the funeral of a friend.”
Bruce Levine, a baseball reporter for Chicago’s WSCR-AM, subsequently shared via X, “The Chicago Cubs excused 3B Matt Shaw today in order to attend his friend Charlie Kirk’s funeral.”
The Athletic confirmed through multiple team and league sources that Shaw traveled to Arizona for the memorial service, which happened on Sunday afternoon at Glendale’s State Farm Stadium.
The Cubs lost their fourth straight game for the first time this season on Sunday. The team has a three-game lead over the San Diego Padres for home field advantage in the MLB Wild Card Round.
Shaw is expected to rejoin the team when they open a three-game homestand against the New York Mets on Tuesday, September 23.
The Cubs star was also scratched from the team’s lineup on the night of Kirk’s death for unspecified reasons.
Shaw was selected by the Cubs in the 2023 MLB Draft and the Springfield, Massachusetts native made his professional debut in March.
In 121 games for the Cubs this season, Shaw has a .223 batting average with 12 home runs and 42 RBIs.
Kirk, who was born in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, was shot and killed during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University on September 10. He was 31 years old.
The political activist attended a Cubs game at Wrigley Field in August, where he posed for a photo on the field with Shaw and his teammate Michael Busch.
“Cubs Win!” Kirk captioned the picture.
Kirk also posted a picture of a baseball from his seat at Wrigley Field, which was stamped, “Made in China.”
“Nothing is more American than Baseball,” he wrote via X. “Baseballs should not be made in China, period. ‘Made in China’ on a baseball is a disgrace and shows the Chinese taunting our nation. No more!”
Kirk’s memorial service was also attended by President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, Elon Musk and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, actress Cheryl Hines.
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