Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. welcomes boos from Royals fans in new role of playoff villain

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — It turns out that Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. plays the role of playoff villain well.

Chisholm made headlines after New York lost Game 2 of their AL Division Series to the Royals earlier this week when he boldly announced they “just got lucky.” And the sellout crowd of 40,312 that greeted him for Game 3 in Kansas City on Wednesday night reminded him of that, 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 one strikeout. But the Yankees won 3-2 thanks to a home run by Giancarlo Stanton in the eighth inning and a masterful performance from their bullpen, which put together 4 2/3 scoreless innings , to silence a feverish crowd that was witnessing their first home playoff game in nearly a decade.

New York will look to secure its spot in the American League Championship Series with Gerrit Cole on Thursday night.

As for Chisholm, he is just the latest Yankees player to suffer the wrath of Kansas City fans.

Those who were there when Kauffman Stadium hosted the All-Star Game in 2012 remember the way they poisoned Robinson Cano, who had snubbed Royals slugger Billy Butler as the captains won the Home Run Derby. Teams selected.

For years, Royals fans booed Cano every time he returned to Kansas City.

Chisholm certainly seems happy with this potential future.

The first wave of boos Wednesday night came when he trotted to the third base line to line up between Stanton and shortstop Anthony Volpe for introductions, and Chisholm responded with a smile. This continued in 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 playing into the “Bronx Cheers.”

“Jazz can be colorful sometimes,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said when asked about his comments. “Because of the confidence he has in himself and in our group, in his head he's thinking, 'Hey, they got lucky.' But I don't think that was the case. They obviously played two really good games against us and got a win (Monday).

The Yankees earned another hit of their own on Wednesday night. No luck needed.

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