WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Most Yankees players will have fond memories of their first appearance in the Little League Classic.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. takes his “little brother” with him.
When the Yankees infielder arrived in Williamsport on Sunday, he boarded the club’s shuttle bus and sat next to Russell McGehee, who is competing with Henderson, Nevada, in the Little League World Series, and who listed Chisholm as his favorite player in a television graphic.
They started talking, and they kept talking, and they’ll keep talking.
“He reminds me of myself when I was younger,” Chisholm, who is out with an elbow injury, said after the Yankees lost 3-2 in 10 innings to the Tigers at Bowman Field. “He’s just a kid who loves to go out there and play.”
Chisholm reflected on early conversations with baseball leaders such as CC Sabathia, Dom Smith and JP Crawford, all of whom he built relationships with as he made his way to the MLB.
Mr Chisholm said the three “treated me like a little brother” and cared about him, always answering the phone when he called.
Now it was the turn of the 26-year-old Chisholm. He talked to Russell and they hit it off immediately. Chisholm heard Russell trying to copy some of his plays.
“When your heart is set on you, there’s nothing you can do but follow your heart,” Chisholm said.
There are other things you can do: exchange phone numbers with Russell, text each other, follow him on Instagram, sit in with him at a Yankees game. Chisholm did all of these things.
He and Russell enjoyed a wild few innings together, with Chisholm cheering on his teammates from the stands. Call for roll call Anthony Volpe imitates Chisholm’s step-back jump shot.
“It was a lot of fun, just acting like a kid and yelling at the guys at bat,” said Chisholm, who has settled into the Yankees’ shoes. “It reminded me of how I was in Little League and saw some of the guys I’ve had my whole life and how they took care of me.”
It was a great day, but Chisholm said it was the first of many to come. Russell will attend a player development camp he’s hosting in Los Angeles in November, Chisholm said.
If we don’t meet in person by then, we’ll meet again in three months.
“He’s officially my brother,” Chisholm said.
