‘We’ve been waiting for someone else to make it for a very long time’

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AN HISTORIC DAY: Miami Marlins infielder Jazz Chisholm chats with Jon Berti during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Bahamian baseball players Antoan Richardson and Edison ‘Ed’ Armbrister were both excited to see Jasrado ‘Jazz’ Chisholm’s rise to the Major League.

Chisholm, 22, was called up for his first appearance on the defensive end in the top of the ninth inning in their 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night at the Marlins Park in Miami, Florida.

In back-to-back games on Wednesday night, Chisholm got the starting nod in shortstop and ended up going 0-for-4 with a strike out as the Marlins lost 2-1 and dropped their win-loss record to 16-16.

Despite his slow start, Richardson, the last Bahamian to play in the Major League in 2014 with the New York Yankees, said it was good to watch the seventh Bahamian play in the big league. “We’ve been waiting for someone else to make it for a very long time, so I am very proud to see him do it because he’s put in a lot of work to get to this level,” said Richardson, now a first base coach with the San Francisco Giants.

“I really don’t have the words to describe how I feel right now. But it’s definitely and truly a proud day to see the seventh Bahamian play in the Major League.”

The 36-year-old Burrows, who would have enjoyed two separate stings in the Majors, the first coming in 2011 with the Atlanta Braves, said over time, he anticipates that Chisholm will have a long and productive career.

“He will settle in and he will do his thing,” Richardson said. “I think while he’s enjoying it, he will have some success, so I’m really excited about the things that he will do.”

As for Lucius Fox, who is knocking on the door with the Kansas City Royals, Richardson said he has the potential to be the eighth Bahamian to make the Majors, now on the 40-man roster and in the player pool.

“I think it’s thrilling to see these guys right there,” Richardson said. “We had such a long gap before I made it and now we have another one in and one on the outside looking in, so it’s pretty exciting right now.”

And with his playing days over and done with, Richardson said he will look forward to the day when he can coach the Giants when they face Chisholm and the Marlins. That opportunity could probably only come if the two teams meet in the postseason.

“I think the Giants are in a position to get a playoff spot and the Marlins are trying to do the same,” he pointed out. “So when you think ahead, you get excited about things like that.

“So I would love for that day to show up and to create some more baseball history for the Bahamas. Otherwise, if it doesn’t happen this year, we hope we can do it next year, hopefully with Lucius Fox up there with the Royals.”

Armbrister, who played from 1973-76 with the Cincinnati Reds as they won three National League pennants and two World Series titles, said he was just as thrilled as Richardson to watch Chisholm in action.

“That was one of the best moves that could ever happen for all of us as Bahamians,” Armbrister said. “We know that there are a lot of players that want to play at that level and they now realise that if he did it, they can do it too.”

Armbrister, an outfielder, who was a part of a controversial bunt in the bottom of the fifth inning in their first World Series in 1975, said when he made his debut on August 31, 1973, he was 25 years old.

Today, he said the players are signing bigger contracts than they got in his day at a much younger age, but he advised them to make the best of their opportunities while they are in their prime.

“When I see these guys signing, I want them to have a game plan to stay there as long as they could,” said Armbrister, a former croupier at the then Resorts International’s Paradise Island Casino.

“We are on a roll right now with Jazz making it and Lucius coming up right behind him. I’m happy that Jazz is right in Miami, so it should help us to be able to make the trip whenever they can play once we get through this pandemic. When I was there, I didn’t have the support that these players have today. So I want to encourage them to go out there and make the best of their situation.”

Armbrister, who has returned home to assist some of the younger players in the country, said he would like to see a programme established such as MaxD and I Elite where the government can assist in getting more players prepared for the future.

The 72-year-old Armbrister, who was inducted into the National Hall of Fame in 2008, said he would also like to see the completion of the new national baseball stadium because it could serve as a training site for some of the professional teams, who could get a chance to view more of the local players whenever they come to town.

“We have a lot of schools in all areas of the island. If we had more programmes we could assist those young boys who drop out of school,” he said. “They could come and register in these programmes so that they can find something to do to develop their skills.”

In the meantime, Richardson said he’s trying to adjust to the way of life in the United States with the pandemic and the social injustice that is going on at the same time.

“I am definitely speaking out and I’m talking because this is an important issue,” Richardson said. “When you have guys like Lucius Fox and Jazz Chisholm, who will be affected by playing baseball in America, it is important to stand up and speak about these issues and try to be a part of change. So I definitely want to make sure that those guys and the guys who are coming up behind them can see a different place whenever they get the opportunity to play professional baseball at the highest level.”

Along with Chisholm, Richardson and Armbrister, the other Bahamians to play in the Major League are Andre Rodgers, Tony Curry, Wenty Ford and Wilfred Culmer, all deceased.