Aaron Boone spent the last 24 hours trying not to lose his mind over a lollipop. Tuesday night he had a different problem. Figuring out what to say when the guy who shoved a sucker in his mouth at second base goes out and wins the game.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. didn’t just play through the heckling in Detroit. He used it. The Yankees second baseman turned a steady stream of lollipop jokes from Tigers fans into a go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning. Final score: Yankees 4, Tigers 3. New York snapped a three-game skid because Chisholm decided the best response to getting roasted is hitting one out.
Chisholm finished 2-for-4 and raised his OPS to .716. Not great for the season overall. But the guy has 12 homers now, and a lot of them have come when it actually matters. Tuesday was one of those nights.
“The lollipop kid came through tonight in a big way,” Boone told YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits after the game. “He can have all the lollipops he wants now. Some people right around the on-deck circle were ‘sucker’ this, ‘lollipop’ that, so I know he got a lot of satisfaction out of hitting that home run. As long as he doesn’t take it out to second base with him, we’re good.”
For those catching up: the lollipop thing started Monday night when Chisholm strolled over to second base during a pitching change with a lollipop hanging out of his mouth. Boone was not amused. He said after that game he’d talk to Chisholm about it. Whatever he said, it worked. Or it didn’t work and Chisholm just hit a homer anyway.
Detroit fans were on him all night. Shouting stuff about suckers and lollipops and probably a few other things you can’t say on a family broadcast. Chisholm celebrated the homer by holding up a jar of Dubble Bubble for the cameras. The guy has a feel for the moment.
The 28-year-old is in the final year of his contract. If he keeps producing in big spots, some team is going to pay him. Maybe that team is the Yankees. They’re 47-31 and sitting in a good spot in the AL East. But they’ve got Tarik Skubal coming up Wednesday. The two-time Cy Young winner is about the worst matchup you could ask for after a feel-good win.
For one night though, the clubhouse is embracing the lollipop saga. That’s the kind of thing that happens when you win. Lose a couple more and it stops being cute. But Boone seems to get it now. Chisholm is who he is. The trick is keeping the antics on the right side of the line. Tuesday night he found the line and stomped on it.
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