By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 3, 2021—While watching my beloved Washington Nationals defeat the Atlanta Braves, 5-3, yesterday, I simultaneously followed the game between the Miami Marlins and the Toronto Blue Jays on my laptop while it was livestreamed from Toronto.
As usual, watching the Nationals game provided me with several hours of euphoria, as I placed my current financial problems, which continue to induce bouts of depression, in temporary storage.
Unfortunately, Jazz Chisholm and the Marlins lost again to the Blue Jays, this time 6-5. However, Jazz hit his sixth homerun in the third inning, while going 1-5 to keep his batting average at a respectable .272.
Incidentally, Jazz and the Marlins will be in Atlanta for a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves July 2-4, and the idea crossed my mind that this would be an ideal opportunity for Astra Armbrister-Rolle, Bahamas Consul General in Atlanta, to arrange for a group of Bahamians in the Atlanta area to collectively attend one of the games with Bahamian flags and give Jazz a Bahamian-style welcome to Atlanta.
I made a similar suggestion when Jazz and the Marlins were headed to Washington D.C. for a three-game series against the Nationals at the end of April, but Jazz sustained an injury while stealing second base during the first inning of Miami’s 5-4 loss to Milwaukee on Tuesday, April 27, and he was placed on the 10-day injured list.
In that article, I noted that given The Bahamas’ close proximity to Miami, The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism should use “Jazz Chisholm’s rising stardom and growing popularity in Miami to arrange with the Public Relations Department of the Marlins to sponsor a Jazz Chisholm Night during one of the Marlins upcoming home games this season.”
I thought it was a fantastic suggestion, so I included it in an email I sent to Joy Jibrilu, Director General of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, in which I noted: “Prizes given away could include several round-trip tickets to Nassau and Freeport. I am sure that your Public Relations Team in the Florida area can generate a whole lot of publicity for The Bahamas from such a promotion, and as a former president of the Bahamas Baseball Association, who is a baseball fanatic, I would be more than happy to assist in promoting the event.”
Given the numerous Los Angeles Dodgers fans in The Bahamas, a visit by the Dodgers to Miami would be a very good time to sponsor a Jazz Chisholm Night in Miami.
Make no mistake about it, Jazz is very popular in Miami. According to an article written by Matt Melton that was published May 19, 2021, on the website marlinmaniac.com — under the heading, JAZZ CHISHOLM: WHY BASEBALL’S NEXT SUPERSTAR RESIDES IN MIAMI — Mr. Melton writes: “The current state of the game of baseball sports many must-see players, or “superstars” in other terms. Guess what? The Miami Marlins will soon have a member of that group in due time.
“That player is Miami Marlins 2B/SS Jazz Chisholm. We’ve already seen what the 23-year-old has done so far in his young MLB career, and it’s crazy to think he’s only getting started.”
He adds: “Baseball has many top stars such as Mike Trout, Jacob deGrom, and more that you could argue are currently either entering or already in their prime. You also have numerous young stars such as Ronald Acuna Jr, Juan Soto, and Fernando Tatis Jr that have also emerged in that growing group of the game’s next superstars.
“Chisholm is very quickly emerging as baseball’s next great young superstar, and it is happening right in front of our eyes.
“Chisholm you could argue has already emerged as the next superstar and is one of the current faces of Miami sports. Quickly on his way to join a long and storied list of names from multiple sports, Jazz is putting his stamp on Miami sports on a daily basis nowadays.”
Hopefully, the Ministry of Tourism will not allow this “golden opportunity” to use the rising baseball stardom of Jazz Chisholm to promote The Bahamas as one of the world’s leading tourist destinations, especially now that the restraints placed on travel by COVID-19 are gradually being removed.
Atlanta, even more so than D.C., certainly is an ideal city to let baseball fans know that one of the sport’s future superstars is a native of The Bahamas.
Should she decide to follow-up on my suggestion, I would like to recommend that Consul General Ambrister-Rolle use the services of Thia Nixon, an accomplished Bahamian journalist based in Atlanta, to help her promote the Bahamian tribute to Jazz Chisholm when the Marlins come to Atlanta July 2-4 for a three-game series.
Here’s a link to Jazz’s homerun. https://www.facebook.com/10thyearseniors/videos/1715330535305526
