NEW YORK – The postseason was a roller coaster for Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. On Sept. 30, he didn’t start the first game of the American League Wild Card Series against the Red Sox and expressed his disappointment to the media after the game.
With a new attitude the next day, Chisholm was back at Yankee Stadium and proved to be a difference maker in New York’s 4-3 victory over Boston to tie the series at a game apiece. His defense, plate discipline and base running were the reasons the Bronx Bombers avoided elimination.
In Game 3 of the A.L. Division Series, Chisholm drove in the game-winning run by hitting a bro bomb into the right-field seats and helped New York defeat the Blue Jays, 9-6.
From Hero to Goat
Twenty-four hours later, however, Chisholm was the goat in a 5-2 defeat that ended the season for the Bronx Bombers. The Yankees were down, 2-1, in the seventh inning. With Ernie Clement on first, one out and right-hander Cam Schlittler on the mound, Andrés Giménez hit what appeared to be a perfect double-play ball to Chisholm. But the ball hit the heel of Chisholm’s glove and bounced to center field to put runners on first and third. After Giménez stole second, Nathan Lukes singled to left to drive in two runs and make it a three-run game.
Chisholm acknowledged he messed up and he is not sure if he will get over his mistake.
“I didn’t think the ball was going to play the way it played,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about it since. I’m thinking about it now. I can’t get it out of our head, but we have to move on eventually. I have three months to move on now. But I’m still going to be thinking about it probably when the season starts next year.”
The Yankees were tied with the Blue Jays for the best record in the American League and Chisholm was hoping to be in the World Series for the second consecutive year.
“When you believe in your team and the season ends like this, you can’t help but to be upset just knowing the talent we have in this room,” Chisholm said.
