As Jazz Chisholm Jr. spoke to reporters for the first time as a Yankee, he could see his phone exploding.
A deluge of texts, messages and phone calls had already accompanied his “eventful” debut with the team on July 28, and the deluge didn’t stop when he spoke his first words with the club in the cramped visitors’ locker room at Fenway Park. With his locker just feet away, Chisholm watched his phone vibrate as he detailed his reaction to a trade that sent him to a franchise everyone back home admires.
“I think everybody in the Bahamas is a Yankee fan, no matter what, by default,” Chisholm, a native of Nassau, New Providence, said that night. “Like I have a [text] Message from the Prime Minister [Philip Davis]”Everybody’s been messaging me to play for the Yankees. They want to come see the games and come to New York.”
What an emotional moment to be in the stadium when Jazz Chisholm, Jr. hit his first home run of the season as his Marlins beat the Mets! Jazz hit a home run on an 0-2 count, facing one of the best pitchers in baseball, Jacob DeGrom, who struck out 14 players in the game. @j_chisholm3 pic.twitter.com/5BMbk68OOs
— Philip Brave Davis (@HonPhilipEDavis) April 11, 2021
After completing a four-homer series against the Phillies on Wednesday, Chisholm told the Daily News that “the baseball scene in the Bahamas when I was a kid was the Yankees.”
The 26-year-old added that his country has access to the YES Network. He grew up watching stars like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Canó, Mark Teixeira, Nick Swisher and CC Sabathia.
“There was no team on TV but the Yankees,” Chisholm said. “It was the Yankees playing somebody else on YES Network every night.”
Chisholm approached Rodriguez because he wanted to distance himself from his family, who adored Jeter. He ended up playing for Jeter in Miami when the former Yankees captain was working as the Marlins’ CEO and minority shareholder.
Chisholm is now the second Bahamian-born player in Yankees history, joining Antoan Richardson.
It’s a big deal where he comes from.
“The Bahamians are extremely proud of him and his accomplishments. His move to such a prestigious team has generated a lot of excitement and pride throughout the country,” Nassau Guardian sportswriter Omri Kelly told The News. “As Jazz mentioned, a lot of people here are already Yankees fans, so with him being Bahamian, this trade has only added to the excitement. The Yankees have gained new fans, and I’m sure at future games you’ll see Bahamian flags in the stands.”
Sheldon Longley, Guardian sports editor, added: “Having a Bahamian starting in center field and third base and hitting two home runs in a game for one of the biggest sports brands in the US is a huge development for us here in the Bahamas. He’s a dream come true for the Jazz, and he’s been productive. We look forward to seeing him make a major contribution to the Yankees’ playoff run.”
Bahamian excellence at its finest! Congratulations, @j_chisholm3and good luck on your new path as a @Yankee! Keep making us proud! #242intheworld pic.twitter.com/WLcBajeFwS
— Office of the Prime Minister of the Bahamas (@opmthebahamas) July 29, 2024
Longley covered Chisholm for years, first in the Freedom Farm Baseball League and then as a pro with the Diamondbacks and the Marlins.
He knew Chisholm long before the flashy, funny baseball player made a name for himself in the United States.
“He’s a nice guy,” Longley said. “What you see is what you get. He’s the same kind of person and player that he is on the field, he’s off the field as well. He’s open-minded and likes to express himself.”
As a child, Chisholm said that only those who liked baseball played it in the Bahamas, where cricket, football, basketball and track and field are also popular.
He spent a lot of time playing in random friendly matches simply because he had a passion for the game. Today, there are more organized youth leagues – and a success story for young Bahamian players.
“When I was younger, baseball was for guys who wanted to play baseball,” Chisholm said. “Now it’s more like, ‘Hey, you can make it if you play baseball because you see the Jazz are in the league, and that means anybody can make it.’ But when I was younger, all the guys who played baseball were just playing baseball for fun. And that’s what we loved so much.”
Chisholm turned that love into a career.
After moving to the United States at age 12, he attended Life Prep Academy in Wichita, Kansas. He graduated at age 16. Too young to be drafted, Chisholm returned to the Bahamas for a year, where he spent time training.
He revealed that he had actually gone to a private workout for the Yankees, who have a “full, if not extensive” scouting presence in the Bahamas, according to Donny Rowland, the organization’s director of international amateur scouting.
Chisholm said the Yankees “almost” drafted him when he was a teenager. However, he disagreed with the team’s plans for him — he didn’t elaborate — and so he signed his first professional contract with Arizona.
“It went really well,” Chisholm said of the training in the Dominican Republic. “I just didn’t like the way they wanted me to go about it after I signed with them. So I went to another team.”
The Diamondbacks ultimately sent Chisholm to Miami in the 2019 trade that acquired Zac Gallen.
Chisholm, in only his fifth season, already holds the highest career scoring of any player born in the Bahamas. Andre Rodgers, an infielder from 1957 to 1967, is second. a list that includes only nine names.
However, Kelly noted that several active prospects are from the Bahamas, including the Rangers’ Sebastian Walcott, the Cubs’ BJ Murray Jr. and the Diamondbacks’ Kristian Robinson.
All three are among the top 30 prospects in their organizations, giving Bahamian baseball fans hope that more major league talent is on the way. Walcott, a shortstop like Chisholm was growing up, is the No. 1 farm player in Texas and ranks 70th in all of baseball, according to MLB.com most recent update. The 18-year-old is currently in High-A and has been described as “the next Jazz”.
Meanwhile, all Bahamian baseball fans have their eyes on Chisholm, who has had a sensational start to the season with the Yankees. He will play in the Bronx for the first time as a member of the home team on Friday when the Bombers host the Blue Jays.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Chisholm said. “It’s going to be exciting.”
In the Bahamas, countless others feel the same way.
“His success is seen as a reflection of our nation’s talent and potential,” Kelly said. “We all look forward to supporting him as he begins this new chapter with the Yankees.”
