Beginning Friday, former Mississippi State Bulldog Travis Chapman will coach on the game’s biggest stage.
Chapman has the ear of giants, tasked with giving in-game instruction to some of baseball’s biggest stars like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Juan Soto as the New York Yankees first base coach. He was promoted to the club’s major league staff in 2021, also serving as the director of infield, after a long coaching stint in New York’s farm system.
“It’s humbling,” Chapman told Jacksonville’s 1010XL in May. “You go out there with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, DJ Lemahieu and Anthony Rizzo. It’s a lot of great players. My job here is to help these great players get better every day.”
A World Series appearance is another sparkling piece to a golden baseball pedigree for Chapman. The former Mississippi State infielder helped lead the Bulldogs to back-to-back College World Series appearances in 1997, under Ron Polk, and 1998, under Pat McMahon.
Chapman now gets a daily chance to help players live the same dream he did – albeit briefly. After a long stint in the minor leagues, he was called up to the Bigs for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2003 where he got one at-bat. But a move back down to the minors, where he played until his retirement in 2006, turned out to be a forward step back to the highest level of baseball.
Come first pitch at Dodger Stadium on Friday, Chapman will be in his usual spot down the first base line with the Yankees first world title in 15 years on his mind.
“There’s nothing like being a New York Yankee,” Chapman said. “When you put on these pinstripes, it’s quite the honor. Our job is to win more ball games and to win world championships. We haven’t done that in a while.”
