As Jazz Chisholm Jr. spoke to reporters for the first time as a Yankee, he could see his phone blowing up.
A deluge of texts, messages and phone calls had already accompanied his “hectic” debut for the team on July 28, and the flooding didn’t stop as he uttered his first words with the club inside Fenway Park’s cramped visitor’s clubhouse. With his locker just a few feet away, Chisholm watched his phone buzz as he detailed his reaction to a trade that sent him to a franchise that everyone admires back home.
“I think everybody in The Bahamas is a Yankees fan no matter what, just by default,” Chisholm, a Nassau, New Providence native, said that night. “Like I got a [text] message from the Prime Minister [Philip Davis]. Everybody’s been messaging me about playing for the Yankees. They want to come out and watch the games and come to New York.”
What a thrill to be in the stadium when Jazz Chisholm, Jr. homered for the first time this season as his Marlins defeated the Mets! Jazz homered on an 0-2 count, facing one of baseball’s best pitchers, Jacob DeGrom, who struck out 14 during the game. @j_chisholm3 pic.twitter.com/5BMbk68OOs
— Philip Brave Davis (@HonPhilipEDavis) April 11, 2021
After wrapping up a four-homer series against the Phillies on Wednesday, Chisholm told the Daily News that “the baseball scene in The Bahamas when I was growing up was the Yankees.”
The 26-year-old added that the island country has access to the YES Network. He grew up watching the likes of Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Canó, Mark Teixeira, Nick Swisher and CC Sabathia.
“There was no other team other than the Yankees to watch on TV,” Chisholm said. “It was the Yankees playing someone on the YES Network every night.”
Chisholm gravitated toward Rodriguez because he wanted to be different from his Jeter-adoring family. He eventually went on to play for Jeter in Miami when the former Yankees captain worked as the Marlins’ CEO and a minority owner.
Now Chisholm is just the second Bahamian-born player in Yankees history, joining Antoan Richardson.
That’s a big freakin’ deal where he’s from.
“Bahamians are extremely proud of him and his achievements. His move to such a prestigious team has awoken a lot of excitement and pride across the country,” Omri Kelly, a sports reporter for The Nassau Guardian, told The News. “As Jazz mentioned, many people here are Yankees fans already, so with him being a Bahamian, this trade has only heightened the enthusiasm. The Yankees have gained some new fans, and I am sure in the games to come you will see Bahamian flags in the stands.”
Added Sheldon Longley, The Guardian’s sports editor: “To have a Bahamian starting at center field and third base and hitting two home runs in a game for one of the biggest sports brands in the U.S. is a huge deal for us here in The Bahamas. It’s a dream come true for Jazz, and he is producing. We look forward to him being a major contributor to the Yankees in their postseason run.”
Bahamian excellence at its finest! Congratulations, @j_chisholm3, and best of luck on your new path as a @yankee! Keep making us proud! #242totheworld pic.twitter.com/WLcBajeFwS
— Office of The Prime Minister The Bahamas (@opmthebahamas) July 29, 2024
Longley has covered Chisholm for years, first in the Freedom Farm Baseball League and then as a pro with the Diamondbacks and Marlins.
He knew Chisholm long before the flashy, fun-loving ballplayer made a name for himself in the States.
“He’s a cool guy,” Longley said. “What you see is what you get. The same kind of person and player he is on the field, he is the same way off the field. He’s open-minded and loves to express himself.”
As a kid, Chisholm said that only those who loved baseball played it in The Bahamas, where cricket, soccer, basketball and track and field are also popular.
He spent a lot of time playing in random scrimmages simply because he had a passion for the game. Today, there are more organized youth leagues – and an example of success for young Bahamian players to look up to.
“When I was growing up baseball was just for the guys that wanted to play baseball,” Chisholm said. “Now it’s more like, ‘Hey, you can make it to the league if you play baseball because you see Jazz is in the league, and that means anybody can make it.’ But when I was coming up, all the guys that played baseball was just playing for fun. And we just loved it that much.”
Chisholm turned that love into a career.
After moving to the U.S. at age 12, he attended Life Prep Academy in Wichita, Kansas. He graduated at 16. Too young to be drafted, Chisholm returned to The Bahamas for a year, where he spent time training.
He revealed that he actually went 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 that the Yankees “almost” signed him as a teen. However, he didn’t agree with the team’s plans for him – he didn’t elaborate – and so he inked his first pro contract with Arizona.
“It went really well,” Chisholm said of the workout, which took place in the Dominican Republic. “It was just that the way they wanted me to go about it after I signed with them, I just didn’t like it. So I went to another team.”
The Diamondbacks ultimately sent Chisholm to Miami in the 2019 trade that netted Zac Gallen.
Only in his fifth season, Chisholm already has the highest career WAR of any Bahamian-born player. André Rodgers, an infielder from 1957-1967, is second on a list that includes just 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 rank among their organization’s top 30 prospects, giving Bahamian baseball fans hope that more representative major league talent is on the way. Walcott, a shortstop like Chisholm was growing up, is Texas’ No. 1 farmhand and ranks 70th in all of baseball, according to MLB.com’s most recent update. The 18-year-old is currently at High-A and has been described as “the next Jazz.”
In the meantime, all baseball-loving Bahamian eyes are on Chisholm, who is off to a sensational start with the Yankees. He will play in the Bronx as a member of the home team for the first time on Friday when the Bombers host the Blue Jays.
“I can’t wait,” 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 are all eager to support him as he embarks on this new chapter with the Yankees.”