When Jazz Chisholm Jr. revealed on Wednesday that he had wound down from a frustrating Game 1 loss in the Wild Card Series by playing MLB The Show — and winning, 12-1, by mercy rule with a team that included himself, Ken Griffey Jr. and Jimmy Rollins — video game aficionados took notice.
“Oh, I saw it on Instagram not that long after,” said Ramone Russell, “and I reposted it soon as I could.”
Russell is not just a video game player. He’s the director of product development, communications and brand strategy for San Diego Studio, the developer of the game. Russell worked with Chisholm when the Yankees’ second baseman was on the cover of MLB The Show in 2023, when Chisholm played for the Miami Marlins.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the cover of EA Sports’ MLB The Show ’23 when he was with the Miami Marlins. Credit: EA Sports
“Jazz has been a fan of MLB The Show for years,” Russell told Newsday on Thursday in a telephone interview. “He plays the game. He’s very serious about it. He’s very, very competitive. It’s always awesome to hear MLB The Show helped anybody with anything. If it gave him a little bit of a reprieve, we so much appreciate that.
“Him being a big fan of the game and playing the game was a major contributing factor with us for putting him on the cover that year. I think he represents the best parts of baseball right now. Baseball is a kid’s game played by grownups, and he really embodies that. He loves to see all that emotion, and I think that’s what the game needs more of.”
Chisholm was frustrated because he was benched by manager Aaron Boone for the series opener against star lefthander Garrett Crochet. Chisholm entered the game in the eighth and, in his only at-bat, hit a shallow fly ball to right with the bases loaded for the second out in the ninth inning of the Yankees’ 3-1 loss.
The usually affable and uber-quotable Chisholm turned his back on reporters and gave brief answers after the game. But he was back in the lineup for the Yankees’ 4-3 victory in Game 2, made a key defensive play and scored what proved to be the winning run from first base on a single down the rightfield line.
Chisholm was more talkative after Game 2, and that’s when he revealed that he had gotten over any negative vibes after the opener by playing on his team, which he named the New York Aliens.
It is not known whom the Aliens mercied. But MLB The Show has a feature called the “Real 99” that puts a special diamond with the number 99 on a player card so gamers know they are facing a real MLB player. Other Yankees with Real 99 cards include Game 2 starter Carlos Rodon and Game 3 starter Cam Schlittler.
“We’re always surprised to hear just how many MLB players play the game,” Russell said. “So if you’re online and you run into an individual who has a Real 99 card, you’re actually playing against that person . . . If you see this Real 99 Jazz Chisholm, you are playing against the man himself.”
Wouldn’t playing a video game late at night jazz you up rather than calm you down? No, said Chisholm, who said it de-stresses him.
“I think it goes back to video games as a participatory medium,” Russell said. “It’s fun and it’s a way that a lot of people relax. Stress in the video game is fake. It’s not real.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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