Yankees sportscaster breaks the internet explaining Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s favorite anime

New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. has been wearing a pair of colorful customized cleats this season bearing the characters from his favorite anime show. Yankees play-by-play announcer Michael Kay gave a memorable moment when he attempted to explain the plot of the anime series to his partner Paul O'Neill on air.

The New York Yankees hosted the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second clash of their three-game series in the Bronx on Wednesday evening. Jazz Chisholm Jr. stepped up to the plate for his first at-bat of the game during the second inning. At the moment, the television broadcast zoomed in on the intricately designed pair of cleats that he was wearing.

In that instant, Paul O'Neill asked Michael Kay to educate him about the meaning behind the artwork on the cleats of Jazz Chisholm Jr. Needless to say, this produced some hilarious moments on live television. MLB uploaded a clip of the conversation on X (formerly Twitter), which has already drawn more than 416,600 views.

"He wears a lot of things from an anime series called One Piece. And on one piece you see Monkey D. Luffy, also known as Straw Hat Luffy. He's the captain and founder of the Straw Hat Pirates and the protagonist of the anime and manga series One Piece," Kay replied.

"I know you were asking about this, Paul," he continued. "Monkey D. Luffy has the properties of rubber after accidentally eating one of the Devil Fruits."

Fans posted their reactions to the conversation on X.

"Baseball and anime crossover we never knew we needed," said one fan.

"Didn't expect baseball announcers diving into anime lore," another fan posted.

"Michael Kay kind of knows one piece. I’ll give him props for that," posted another fan.

However, not everyone was amused by the deviation away from the on-field action.

"Useless. Talk about the game. This is why I have turned to other sources for my game needs," one fan posted.

"It’s an embarrassing moment, but we’re in the captain paw patrol/manager milk ‘n cookies era," wrote another fan.

"Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Berra, Ford all rolling in their graves," another fan added.

YES Network reporter Meredith Markovits stated that Jazz Chisholm Jr. also wears a chain based upon the One Piece series and has the same design printed on his teeth.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. blasts the critics of torpedo bats

Jazz Chisholm Jr. has made a strong start to the season using the torpedo bats (Image Source: IMAGN)

Jazz Chisholm Jr. is one of the New York Yankees sluggers that are enjoying a lot of success using the torpedo bats this season. The Yankees infielder recently lashed out at the people who have criticized the revolutionary design of the bats.

"For the idiots who say the label has been changed, they are idiots!" Chisholm said on X. "Nobody tries to be bothered, you just have to change the wood from the parts that are not used to those that are!"

Chisholm Jr. and the Yankees have offensively made a red-hot start to the 2025 campaign since switching to the torpedo bats. He has batted 6-20 through his first five games of the season with three home runs, six RBIs, and an OPS of 1.114.