Benches clear after kerfuffle in Game 4 of Kansas City Royals-NY Yankees ALDS series
At age 26, Jazz Chisholm could play for another decade in Major League Baseball.
No matter how long he plays in his career, each time he returns to Kauffman Stadium from here on out, he’ll likely hear boos. Royals fans have let him have it during the American League Division Series after he said KC was lucky to win Game 2.
During Game 4 on Wednesday night, Chisholm was in the middle of another controversy. This came in the sixth inning when Maikel Garcia was thrown out at second base to complete a double play.
Garcia was tagged twice by the Yankees’ Anthony Volpe.
It appeared Garcia was heading back to the dugout when he heard something he didn’t like. Soon after, Garcia and Chisholm were chirping at one another, and that led to the Royals and Yankees benches and bullpen emptying.
To be fair, Garcia didn’t endear himself to Yankees fans this series when he trolled a Yankees starter and made an off-color remark to a New York fan after Game 2.
Fortunately, the stats for the fracas in Game 4 at Kauffman Stadium were all zeroes:
- No punches thrown
- No ejections
- No one injured
However, Royals fans won’t soon forget Chisholm’s role in the brouhaha.
Started with Maikel Garcia and Anthony Volpe
Dallas Braden, the former MLB pitcher turned Oakland A’s broadcaster, suggested the tumult was the result of Garcia’s slide into second base.
Braden believes Garcia tried to knock the ball from Volpe’s glove and Volpe took exception. But things seemed to escalate after Garcia had started to walk away from Volpe.
Braden shared his take on play on X (formerly Twitter).
What Jazz Chisholm said
Braden’s theory of why there was pushing and shoving was confirmed by Chisholm, who accused Garcia of malfeasance.
“I just felt like he tried to go and injure Volpe because he was being a sore loser,” Chisholm told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. “He was talking a lot on Instagram and Twitter and stuff. I do the same thing, but I’m not gonna go and try and injure somebody if they’re winning a game. And I didn’t like that, so I told him we don’t do that on this side and I’m always gonna stick up for my guys.”
Aaron Boone said this wasn’t exactly something out of the 1970s Royals-Yankees rivalry.
“If there’s some upset over the slide, just go back and show a little Hal McRae/Willie Randolph,” Boone said, “and we’ll all laugh at ourselves”
This story was originally published October 10, 2024 at 9:17 PM.
