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PERSONAL:
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- Heyward comes from a great family. He is respectful, works hard and receives instruction with meekness. Both parents went to Dartmouth.
He is just a terrific young man—articulate and well-mannered. He is the real deal on the field and off the field.
"I was brought up by parents who taught me to treat everyone with respect, to treat them the way I want to be treated. It's a simple way to go about life, but my parents taught me that from an early age," Jason said. - Jason was born in Bridgewood, New Jersey. The family moved to the Atlanta suburb of McDonough, Georgia in November 1991, just weeks after the Braves' "Worst to First" season ended against the Twins in the World Series.
By the age of 10, Jason was telling his parents he wanted to play professional baseball.
"A lot of kids say that," said his mother, Laura, a quality control analyst. "By the time they're 12, they want to do something different. It never changed with him."
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It is all about Jason's parents, Eugene and Laura. It was in Hanover, N.H., that Laura, a French major who spent her junior year in Paris, met Eugene, an engineering major who was also on the Dartmouth basketball team. Eugene's coach, Gary Walters, was on the 1964-65 Princeton team with Bill Bradley that finished third in the country. One of Eugene's best friends in college was Jimmie Lee Solomon, MLB's vice president of baseball operations. Laura was raised in Queens, N.Y. Eugene was born into a military family in Beaufort, S.C., and when his parents divorced, they sent him to Los Angeles to live with his uncle and attend a private school. That uncle was Kenny Washington, who was the sixth man on the 1963-64 and 1964-65 UCLA national championship basketball teams, John Wooden's first two championship teams.
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"I was able to spend a lot of free time at Pauley Pavilion, working out, playing with Kareem and Marquis Johnson and guys like that," the elder Heyward said. "It was fantastic. Dartmouth recruited me, and I was really excited, and was able to go back East so I could visit my father." Heyward helped lead his McDonough (Georgia) Dodgers to an AABC Roberto Clemente World Series championship when he was just 8 years old, back in 1988.Jason spent the summers of 2005 and 2006 playing on the highly regarded East Cobb travel team. Teammates included later-to-be first round draft choices Josh Smoker (Nats, 2007) and Cody Johnson (Braves, 2006).
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Every year until his son signed with Atlanta in 2007, Eugene would ask, "Do you still love playing?" Jason always said yes, and Eugene would remind his son, the future star, to ask himself every day: "Am I who I want to be?" In 2007, Heyward's senior year at Henry County High School in McDonough, Georgia, he committed to a scholarship to UCLA. But he ended up being drafted by his hometown Braves.
"Getting drafted and having the chance to play for my hometown team is a dream come true,” said the five-tool outfielder from McDonough, Ga., which is less than 30 minutes south of Turner Field. “When I heard them call my name, I was in awe. It was unbelievable.”
In 2006, Jason led his team to a Georgia Class 4-A baseball championship. In his four years at Henry County High, Heyward never missed a single game. In 2007, he hit .520 with eight home runs and 32 RBIs as a senior.
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August 2007: Heyward signed with the Braves for a bonus of $1.7 million. Al Goetz is the scout who signed him.During the spring of 2008, the Baseball America Prospect Handbook rated Heyward as 2nd-best prospect in the Braves' organization, behind only OF Jordan Schafer. The book had Jason at #2 in the Braves' farm system again in the winter before 2009 spring training, behind RHP Tommy Hanson.
And in the winter before 2010 spring training, the Baseball America Prospect Handbook rated Heyward as #1 prospect in the Braves' organization.In 2008, Heyward finished third in the South Atlantic League in batting average (.323), fourth in on-base percentage (.388) and fifth in runs scored (88). And he accomplished most of this before turning 19 in August
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- Jason has really good baseball instincts. And he has tremendous athleticism.
- Heyward comes from an athletic family. His father played basketball at Dartmouth and his uncle took the hardwoods at UCLA under head coach John Wooden.
Both his mom, Laura,and his Dad, Eugene, graduated from Dartmouth. - Jason is a real professional, both on and off the field. He sets goals and doesn't let anything stop him from achieving them. He has a real good head on his shoulders.
He is quiet, going about his business the same way every day. Nothing upsets him. He likes to work at the game and is very professional in the way he goes about it. Even in batting practice, Heyward isn't out there trying to impress anybody. He's working on using his hands and driving the ball to the opposite field.
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September 11, 2009: Heyward was named by Baseball America the 2009 Minor League Player of the Year (and also the #1 prospect in both the Carolina League and the Southern League).
Heyward became the first Braves prospect to earn this honor since Andruw Jones in 1995 and 1996.
On April 2, 2010, as Heyward began his first Major League season, he selected uniform No. 22 to honor the memory of his former high school teammate, Andrew Wilmot. Jason and Andrew played on the 2005 Georgia high school state baseball championship winning team. The following year Wilmot, while attending college in Tennessee, was killed in a car accident.
"This is for Andrew," Heyward said. "He was one of my teammates and one of my good friends."
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Jason has huge, massive hands. If you shake hands with him, your hand will disappear.
He has broad shoulders, thick arms and a thin waist.
May 4, 2010: Jason was named National League Rookie of the Month for April.
June 30, 2010: Jason became the second-youngest Major Leaguer to ever be elected to start an All-Star Game.
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BATTING:
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- Heyward is the ultimate tools guy; plus, he also has a very solid feel for the game—which is a rarity to have both superb qualities.
- Jason is a fine lefthanded hitter, providing a solid batting average and real good power. He gets real good extension. He has power to all parts of the ballpark, from real good bat speed. And he is willing to use the entire field.
- Heyward has very good instincts for all aspects of the game. He works pitchers into a hitter's count, showing an incredible amount of patience—it is amazing how much patience Jason exhibits. He takes great pride in his pitch recognition and plate discipline. His strike zone judgment is uncanny, really.
Jason has a plan every time he steps into the batter's box. He makes adjustments between at-bats.
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- He has a smooth, short lefthanded stroke and solid hitting mechanics. Comparisons to Willie McCovey and Fred McGriff have been mentioned when talking about Heyward. So has Dave Parker.
Jason has lightning-quick bat speed. His short stroke is a bit unorthodox, but it works real well. - Heyward will max out his ability to hit home runs when he learns to use his hands more efficiently and better recognizes the pitches he can pound.
During instructional league before 2009 spring training, Jason worked with Braves minor league hitting coordinator Leon Roberts.
"He helped Heyward understand how to get some balls elevated,” Braves G.M. Frank Wren said. “Jason really hit a lot of hard line drives (in 2008) and how he could get a little more into it, a little more elevation in some of his swings. And I’m not talking about an uppercut, I’m talking about a little more elevation that would allow his power to start showing.
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Jason sees the ball real well out of the pitcher's hand. He can fight any pitch off until he gets one he wants. His discipline is quite impressive.His home runs are to all parts of the park. In 2009, for example, about half of his dingers went to the opposite field.
April 5, 2010: In his first Major League game with his first at bat, first swing, first hit, a 414-foot home run. Jason entered the big leagues with a big fly in the Braves' 16-5 win over the Cubs. Heyward became only the fifth Atlanta player to hit a homer in his first at bat.
"I felt my legs, but I couldn't hear myself think," Heyward said. "It was so loud. You just hear 'rahhhh' and that was cool."
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August 9, 2010: Jason became the fourth player in Major League history to hit a home run on his 21st birthday. The other three? Alex Rodriguez, Frank Robinson and Ted Williams.
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