Lollipop-gate has descended upon the Yankees. It’s been said that when you watch a baseball game, chances are you’re going to see something you’ve never seen before. Well, that was certainly the case during the Tigers’ 5–3 win over the Yankees at Comerica Park, during which Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. took the field for the bottom half of the fifth inning with a green lollipop, specifically what appeared to be a Blow Pop—a hard lollipop with a soft chewing gum center—in his mouth.
Okay, before we get into the optics of this, let’s get one thing out of the way. It sounds utterly ridiculous but this was actually a dangerous decision by Chisholm, who is being paid $10.2 million this year to play baseball for the Yankees, to risk running in the field and potentially jamming the lollipop against the roof of his mouth, or worse, choking on the sweet snack while diving to make a potential play in the field. Not to sound like an overbearing parent, but Chisholm is honestly lucky that he didn’t suffer an injury.
