KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Turns out that Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. is just fine playing the role of playoff villain.
Chisholm made headlines after New York lost Game 2 of its AL Division Series to the Royals earlier in the week when he brashly proclaimed they “just got lucky.” And the sellout crowd of 40,312 that greeted him back in Kansas City for Game 3 on Wednesday night reminded him of it, booing Chisholm every time he touched the ball or stepped to the plate.
Luck wasn’t much on his side — he went 0 for 4 with a strikeout. But the Yankees won 3-2 thanks to an eighth-inning homer by Giancarlo Stanton and a masterful performance by their bullpen, which pieced together 4 2/3 scoreless innings to silence a feverish crowd witnessing its first home playoff game in nearly a decade.
New York will try to clinch its spot in the American League Championship Series with Gerrit Cole on the mound Thursday night.
As for Chisholm, well, he’s merely the latest Yankees player to suffer the vitriol of Kansas City fans.
Those who were around in 2012, when Kauffman Stadium hosted the All-Star Game, remember the way they spewed venom on Robinson Cano, who had snubbed Royals slugger Billy Butler back when captains picked the Home Run Derby teams.
Royals fans continued to boo Cano for years every time he returned to Kansas City.
Chisholm certainly seems to be fine with that potential future.
The first wave of booing Wednesday night came when he trotted to the third base line to stand between Stanton and shortstop Anthony Volpe for introductions, and Chisholm responded with a smile. It continued during his first at-bat, a groundout to second base, and every time he stepped to the plate the rest of the night, even as he began to play into the “Bronx cheers.”
“Jazz can be colorful sometimes,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, when asked about his comments. “In his head, because of the confidence he has in himself and our group, it’s like, ‘Hey, they got lucky.’ But I don’t think that was the case. They obviously played really well. They played two really good games against us and earned themselves a victory (Monday) night.”
The Yankees earned another one themselves Wednesday night. No luck necessary.
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