By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

MIAMI, Florida — The Miami Marlins organisation transformed its home stadium into a celebration of the relationship between the franchise and The Bahamas, highlighted by its rising star at second base, poised for his first All-Star appearance.

Bahamian culture took centre stage as the Marlins hosted its second “Bahamian Heritage Night” Saturday at loanDepot Park in Miami, Florida and despite a 5-3 loss to the New York Mets, it was a night of celebration for Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm Jr and the Bahamian contingent.

A crowd of 18,722 filled the stadium, the third largest crowd of any Marlins home game this season, as opposed to the 7,500 that attended the first Bahamian Heritage night in 2021. Chisholm wore Bahamian flag themed cleats, batting gloves and a bandanna to commemorate the occasion.

“The first one was definitely crazy but this year it was outstanding, sold out, all my friends, family and loved ones came out to support me, I can’t thank them enough,” he said. “It’s a crazy experience when you have all these people that love you and support you and always want you to be yourself and do your best. There’s nothing better than that.”

In the fifth inning, Chisholm brought the crowd to its feet with a double off Mets starter Chris Bassitt. As he pulled into second base, Chisholm did his “wheel” celebration and shortly thereafter, the big screen in the stadium showed his grandmother Patricia Coakley in the crowd mimicking the celebration.

“I heard everybody out there, I heard my grandma, I saw her doing the wheel celebration when I hit the double, all of them were doing that up there,” he said. “It was crazy to just have that out there.”

Chisholm had an opportunity to tie the game in the eighth with the Marlins trailing 4-3, but his shot to centrefield fell just short. He finished 1-4 on the night. “I definitely wanted that homer. There was nothing more I wanted to do than to do the Euro step with grandma. I think she would have hit it with me, too. It would’ve been sick,” he said. “But it’s okay. We fought hard. We played hard and never gave up until the end. I’m proud of my boys every day.”

Following the game, Chisholm held court with scores of family and friends on the field wearing a gift from his grandmother, a homemade crown of Bahamian flag colours with the phrase “Prince Jazz, the legend has returned.”

“Back home a lot more young people are interested in baseball now because they know they can just have fun and enjoy the game,” he said. “Growing up alot of people never really thought of it that way, there were alot of rules in baseball but now they see that you can go out there, have fun and do whatever you want. It’s a great feeling to be a part of that.”

The celebration featured a pregame Junkanoo rush out led by The Bahamas Junkanoo Revue of Miami and legendary Junkanooers Barabbas Woodside and Langston Longley, as well as a postgame concert featuring popular rhythmic Bahamian music. Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

The purchase of a Bahamian Heritage package included an exclusive Bahamian Heritage Marlins jersey and access to the pregame and postgame events. This year, spectators also received a collectible Chisholm bobblehead souvenir, presented by loanDepot.

Part proceeds from the special ticket package will go to The Bahamas Baseball Association to increase investment in local baseball.

Fans celebrated well into the night after gametime enjoying their insight into Bahamian culture.

Antonio Santagelo, a New Yorker now living in South Florida, said he came for the Mets, but enjoyed the entire Bahamian Heritage night experience.

“I’m a Mets, fan, I come from a family of Mets fans and we’re having an awesome season but this is the most fun I think I’ve ever had at a baseball game,” he said. “The music they had before the game with the festival, the concert after the game, these giveaways. The energy in there was crazy man. Jazz is a star, the game was really good, but Pete Alonso’s the man and my Mets won so I couldn’t ask for a better night.”

The Mets’ slugger hit a pair of home runs to power the offence of the National League East leaders.

Elliot Rolle, a Bahamian resident in South Florida said: “I love the Heritage nights. I know they have Italian, Mexican, Puerto Rican, some other countries but nobody does it big like The Bahamas does it man. We give the people Junkanoo and Jazz, that’s what it’s all about. It’s a fun night and it also helps that he’s a great player. I hope he keeps this going not just for these nights but for a lot of the other young Bahamian kids looking up to him pushing to get to this spot.”

Chisholm emerged as the leading voting getter for National League second baseman after the first return of 2022 MLB All- Star ballots.

In phase one of voting, he leads all second basemen with 634,762 votes, followed by Ozzie Albies of the Atlanta Braves with 589,804 and Jeff McNeil of the New York Mets with 580,257.

Chisholm will need to finish among the top two at the position through the first phase of fan voting which concludes on June 30. Ballots can be cast on MLB.com up to five times a day every 24 hours.

“It feels great, the American people, the Bahamian people that have been supporting me, everyone that has been showing me love it just feels great and it’s always a great time,” Chisholm said. “I cant thank my friends and family enough and I’m just excited to be in the position that I’m in.”