Mother Nature Calls while Chapman is pitching, a breakdown
What Happened
In a 1-1 game in the bottom of the ninth, Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman was on the mound when he suddenly hustled off after inducing a pop-up, prompting Aaron Boone and the training staff to walk out thinking he'd injured himself. Chapman waved them off, covered his mouth with his glove, and clearly told them something that turned the mound visit into a group laugh. He stayed in, struck out a batter and finished the inning, then sprinted straight down the tunnel without his usual lingering stare-down. Boone's vague postgame answer ('he's fine, calls sometimes') basically confirmed the obvious: nature was calling.
Why This Matters
There's no rule drama or controversy here, which is exactly why it landed. Chapman's signature move is the long, icy stare at hitters after a strikeout, so watching him skip the theatrics and bolt for the tunnel was the tell. Boone's non-answer in the presser did the rest. This came during the 2020 pandemic-shortened season, when empty stadiums made every dugout reaction and mound conversation feel amplified and more readable on broadcast. Jomboy's whole brand is reading lips and body language on plays that go unexplained, and this is the format at its most relatable. No fines, no ejections, no injury scare. Just a closer gutting out three outs while desperate to get to the clubhouse, and a manager protecting his pitcher's dignity with five words.
At 1.8M views it ranks 125th of 1,583 breakdowns, putting it in the top 8% of everything Jomboy's posted.
Key Moments
Who / What Is Involved
Players: Aroldis Chapman.
Key Terms Mentioned
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentit's time for a little investigative
journalism or all this chapman's on the
mound for the Yankees in the ninth
inning of a tie game trying
to keep it exactly where it is 1-1 hand
it off to the bats
let them go do their thing the first
batter he gets to pop up
now you see him run off the mound kind
of gingerly kind of like uh
and boon and everyone sees that so they
walk out and they're like what's wrong
did you hurt yourself
because every yankee hurts himself all
the time he looks at them with his hand
up still and he says no
no i'm good and then he puts his glove
over his mouth and says something
Boone's like all right cool i don't care
about that at all i'm leaving
and then he tells gary and it's a big
old laugh big old joke just laughing
having a grand old time Boone was asked
about this in his post-game press
conference like hey what happened here's
what Boone had to say
he he's fine he's fine
calls sometimes
oh
okay so follow up
my boy brian hulk with the oh okay
no follow-up is great so either he
himself gambled on a fart
lost we've all been there or he has to
so bad how's the so bad has
the so bad
you can see him still he's like oh okay
let's just get this over with
3-1 pitch to stuart strike right down
the middle so he's still got his stuff
maybe his turtle ahead and maybe that
makes him pitch with more urgency
now he's got two outs he thinks that's a
pop-up he's like good get me just out of
this game going okay
i gotta hang out i gotta come back
finally gets another foul ball 99
then he freezes him with a slider in the
zone usually
chapman stares at the opposing batter
after he strikes them out that's a
signature thing
this game he did this and it's uh all
right i'm gonna go now
all right cool that was fun and all but
i'm gonna go
cause i almost my pants
you can even see him like a quick what's
up gary see ya
and then he just books it just
books it he's gone he doesn't hang out
he doesn't even say how to boon any of
the coaches they cut
they cut the camera so we don't get to
see it but he runs straight down the
tunnel
verdict is he did not shoot himself on
the pants he just had to so bad
had the so bad had the so bad
definitely
has to so bad