Jazz Age starts at Yankee Stadium with Chisholm putting short porch reference on his chest

NEW YORK (AP) — The Jazz Age began at Yankee Stadium on Friday with some cool threads.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. prepared for his first game in pinstripes wearing a T-shirt with “314” across his chest, a reference to how many feet the famous right field short porch is from home plate.

“This is my plan today. That's why I put on this shirt,” Chisholm said ahead of the New York Yankees series opener against Toronto. “I think it’s going to be kind of fun. I don’t think I hit all my home runs to the right-field line, anyway. Most of my home runs are really right-center field to center field. So I'm just kidding with the 314 shirt, obviously.”

Chisholm went 0 for 4 with a pair of strikeouts in an 8-5 loss, stranding a pair of runners in scoring position.

Chisholm was acquired from Miami last Saturday for three minor leaguers. He singled while playing center field the next night in a win at Boston, then made his professional debut at third base the following night at Philadelphia. He homered twice against the Phillies on both Monday and Tuesday, joining Colorado's Trevor Story in 2016 as the only players with four homers in his first three games with a team.

He entered his first home game in pinstripes hitting .368 (7 for 19) with eight RBIs, sparking the Yankees to a five-game winning streak and their best stretch since early June.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone when told of the shirt at first thought it was a reference to an area code — which covers St. Louis.

“Brings a lot of swag to the park every day and energy — kind of a light and a smile,” Boone said. “He's hugged our room and they've hugged him back. ... He plays with an energy and a confidence and a fearlessness that certainly has served him well so far."

Chisholm said his little brother and stepfather were going to be at the stadium. When the Bleacher Creatures chanted his name during the first-inning Roll Call, he mimicked a step-back jump shot in the manner of a player he idolized: Kobe Bryant.

“I think they will show him the love tonight,” Boone predicted of the fans.

A native of the Bahamas, Chisholm hit .246 with 66 homers, 205 RBIs and 81 stolen in five seasons with the Marlins, becoming an All-Star in 2022. His given first name is Jasrado.

“I don’t know the history. My grandma made it up,” he said. “Me and dad have the same name, so it’s just my grandma made up a name and she just rolled with it.”

After making quick exits in two playoff appearances with the Marlins, Chisholm appears energized joining a Yankees team that expects to compete for a World Series title. And he'll play before large crowds in the Bronx instead of Miami's sparsely filled stands.

“It’s more something to play for, playing for a championship, playing to go get a ring and the other guys in the clubhouse believing that we can go get a ring, too,” he said. “It’s a lot more exciting to be out there with the guys that I’m out there with now like a Aaron Judge and a Juan Soto, guys that could push me to my absolute best. I feel like I haven't had anybody — anyone that really pushed me to be my best, especially to compete with on the team.”

Chisholm was a middle infielder during his first three seasons in Miami, then was moved to center field for the 2023 season. New York needed him at third because of DJ LeMahieu was in a season-long slump.

“He’s kind of looked like he’s playing out in the backyard and just free and easy and letting his talent speak for itself,” said Boone, a former third baseman. “He’s made four or five outstanding plays really and made the routine play, as well. He's still still got maybe some growing pains that go along with it. There's no substitute for for experience over there.”

Just 26, Chisholm is eligible for arbitration in each of the next two winters and can't become a free agent until after the 2026 World Series. He could become the Yankees' regular second baseman next year if Gleyber Torres departs as a free agent.

“He plays the game with joy," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “Clearly there's value with the control years. Certainly it gets baked into the cake as we are going through the evaluation process, but we were focused on '24 more so than the out years.”

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New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. stands on the field before a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. walks to the dugout during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. reacts after flying out during the second inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm celebrates after his home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr., right, celebrates his three-run home run with Aaron Judge, center, as Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto, left, looks on during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. reacts to his three-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. reacts to his three-run home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

New York Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. wears a T-shirt referring to Yankee Stadium's right-field wall that sits a mere 314 feet from home plate, before his home debut for the Yankees in a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ron Blum)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Thursday that leader Kim Jong Un supervised successful tests of two types of missiles — one designed to carry a “super-large conventional warhead” and the other likely for a nuclear warhead, as he ordered officials to bolster up his country’s military capabilities to repel United States-led threats.

The tests appear to be the same as the multiple missile launches that neighboring countries said North Korea performed Wednesday, extending its run of weapons displays as confrontations with the U.S. and South Korea escalate.

The official Korean Central News Agency said that Kim oversaw the launch of the country’s newly built Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5 ballistic missile tipped with a dummy “4.5-ton super-large conventional warhead.” It said the test-firing was meant to verify an ability to accurately hit a 320 kilometer (200 mile) -range target, suggesting it’s a weapon aimed at striking sites in South Korea.

KCNA said Kim also guided the launch of an improved “strategic” cruise missile, a word implying the weapon was developed to carry a nuclear warhead.

After the tests, Kim stressed the need to continue to “bolster up the nuclear force” and acquire “overwhelming offensive capability in the field of conventional weapons, too," according to KCNA. It cited the Kim as saying that North Korea can thwart its enemies' intentions to invade only when it has strong military power.

KCNA released photos of a missile hitting a ground target. South Korea's military said later Thursday it assessed that both ballistic and cruise missiles fired by North Korea the previous day landed in the North's mountainous northeastern region.

North Korea typically test-launches missiles off its east coast, and it's highly unusual for the country to fire missiles at land targets likely because of concerns about potential damages on the ground if the weapons land in unintended areas.

Jung Chang Wook, head of the Korea Defense Study Forum think tank in Seoul, said North Korea likely aims to show it's confident about the the accuracy of its new ballistic missile with a high-powered warhead meant to attack ground targets. But Jung said North Korea hasn't acquired weapons that can penetrate deep into the earth and destroy underground structures.

The Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5 ballistic missile's first known test occurred in early July. North Korea said the July test was successful as well, but South Korea's military disputed the claim saying one of the two missiles fired by North Korea travelled abnormally during the initial stage of its flight before falling at an uninhabited area near Pyongyang, the capital. North Korea hasn't released photos on the July launches.

North Korea has been pushing to introduce a variety of sophisticated weapons systems designed to attack both South Korea and the mainland U.S. to deal with what it calls its rivals’ intensifying security threats. Many foreign experts say North Korea would ultimately want to use its enlarged arsenal as leverage to win greater concessions in future dealings with the U.S.

Worries about North Korea deepened last week as it disclosed photos of a secretive facility built to enrich uranium for nuclear bombs. Since late May, North Korea has also floated thousands of trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea, prompting the South to resume anti-North loudspeaker broadcasts at border areas.

Follow AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missiles launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missiles launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says a launch of an improved strategic cruise missile at an undisclosed place in North Korea Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, oversees a launch of, what it says, the country’s newly built Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5 ballistic missile at an undisclosed place in North Korea Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)