By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ANTOAN Richardson and his New York Mets could be joining Jasrado “Jazz” Chisholm Jr and his New York Yankees in the Major League Baseball postseason.

While Chisholm Jr and the Yankees clinched their berth in the American League East with the top spot last week, Richardson and the Mets will have to wait for this final week of play to determine if they advance in the National League East.

Richardson and the Mets are 87-69 and five games behind the front-running Philadelphia Phillies. But they are just two games ahead of the third place Atlanta Braves, who are 85-71.

The Mets and the Braves are scheduled to face each other in a three-game series that starts today and wraps up on Thursday at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “If we win this series, this would clinch a playoff spot,” said Richardson of their remaining games for the rest of the regular season. “So we just want to continue what we’ve been doing and that is to play team ball. I feel like once we finish the race, we will be a contender.”

Coming over from the San Francisco Giants in November 2023, Richardson is now in his first year as the first-base coach, a position he has adopted very well since he retired from playing.

“We’ve been chasing a lot of adversity throughout the year from having a tough beginning of the year when we lost our first five games and we were 11 games below the .500 mark,” Richardson said.

“But for the last four months, we’ve been one of the better teams record wise, so honestly, I’m just super excited to be a part of this team. It’s been a learning experience and so whatever happens, we can still be proud of this team, putting ourselves in this position to be thinking about the playoffs.”

If they clinch their spot, Richardson and the Mets will join Chisholm Jr and the Yankees, who are sitting atop their league with a 92-64 record.

“I think that would be good for baseball,” said Richardson about the possibility of having two Bahamians playing in the postseason at the same time.

“I think this would be great for New York and for Bahamians to participate in the postseason in baseball. It would be even greater if it could be written if the two of us could be playing in the final series of the postseason.”

If fate doesn’t work out that way, Richardson said he would be extremely proud of Chisholm Jr and the phenomenal year that he’s had since he was acquired from the Miami Marlins in July.

“I think Jazz is a talented young man,” said Richardson, who watched Chisholm Jr follow him as the sixth Bahamian to play in MLB. “I think coming to New York has been a really good challenge for him.

“I think he’s kind of stepped up to that challenge and has embraced the city of New York. So it’s been fun to watch him kind of grow as a baseball player and as a man. 

“I just hope that he can continue on that road because he’s having a good time and he’s excited about getting to the playoffs and a chance to win a championship.”

Neither Chisholm Jr or Richardson have a major league title, but they are helping their respective teams in their quest to go for the whole hog this year.

The two have not had a chance to interact since Chisholm Jr came to the Bronx and Richardson is in Queens, but if the Yankees and the Mets could take care of their respective business, they could be singing the blues together in October when the MLB culminates with the World Series.

Richardson, 40, is coaching his first year with the Mets after he moved from the Giants, beginning as a field coordinator and minor league coordinator in February 2019. 

By December, he was promoted as the first-base coach. Before he began his coaching career, Richardson made his MLB debut with the Braves on September 4, 2011. He eventually ended up playing for the Yankees up until September 28, 2014 when he officially retired.

Chisholm Jr, 26, made his MLB debut on September 1, 2020 for the Marlins. He went on to make the All-Star Classic in 2022 before he was traded to the Yankees in July.

Ed Armbrister, who died at the age of 72 on March 17, 2021, won a pair of World Series titles with the Cincinnati Reds in 1975 and 1976. He was best remembered for his controversial bunt in the National League Championship before they went on to sweep the Yankees in the World Series.

Other Bahamians to play in MLB were Ormond Sampson, Andre Rodgers, Tony Curry, Wenty Ford, Wil ‘Sudgy’ Culmer, and Lucius Fox, but none of them made the postseason.