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CLEARWATER, Fla. — BayCare Ballpark is a long way from Williamsport, but on Wednesday it served as a family reunion of sorts for Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Russell McGee.
Last August, the Yankees infielder befriended McGee, who was at the Little League World Series playing for a team from Henderson, Nev.
They met on the Yankees’ shuttle from the airport and by the end of the day, Chisholm had a new “little brother” with whom he exchanged numbers and followed each other on Instagram.
The two have met up six or seven times since, according to Chisholm, with the latest coming Wednesday before the Yankees met the Phillies in a Grapefruit League exhibition.
McGee, who was in the state visiting family, told Chisholm he was interested in coming to a game, so Chisholm got him, his sister and mom pregame passes onto the field.
“We’ve been keeping in contact, we play video games together, we talk all the time, we FaceTime,” Chisholm said. “He’s just like my little brother for real.”
During batting practice, Chisholm had McGee come over to hang out by the cage and chat up the likes of Cody Bellinger, Anthony Volpe, manager Aaron Boone and hitting coach James Rowson.
“I think it means a lot,” Chisholm said. “It means a lot to me, having a kid that really looks up to me in that way, be a brother to me. He watches all the games. He even calls me and is like, ‘Yeah, bro, that fastball was a little bit off yesterday.’ Just stuff like that. He keeps me motivated. Just giving it to the new generation is all I want to do, so it’s cool.”