J-Hey delivers amid immense expectations
Whether or not Jason Heyward lives up to his billing as “The Next Great Ballplayer” is irrelevant at this point--let’s just bask in his premature greatness, shall we?
New Braves outfielder Jason Heyward is just like any other 20-year-old kid.
There’s just one exception: EVERYTHING.
A 6’4” 220-pound kid, Heyward stands out from the crowd based on his physical stature alone – not to mention the fact that he’s one helluva a baseball player.
Deemed Major League Baseball’s top prospect in late January, the Braves right fielder quickly became the wet dream of unemployed 30-somethings across the state. Thousands of these Braves groupies emerged from their parents’ basement yesterday to see for themselves what they’d been dreaming and hearing about for months.
Although some athletes might crumble under the pressure of stepping into the batters box for the first time with 53,081 sets of eyes focused directly on them, the kid who can’t even legally buy a beer lived up to all the hype.
On a 2-0 pitch from Chicago Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano, Heyward set off an eruption that hasn’t been heard inside Turner Field--or any other Atlanta sports venue for that matter – in decades.
Heywardchanneling his inner-Babe Ruthbelted a line drive home run into the Braves bullpen and the resulting orgasmic energy that flowed throughout the stands was almost biblical (I hope using the words “orgasmic” and “biblical” in the same sentence doesn’t ruffle anyone’s feathers).
Expectations such as the ones that accompany Heyward usually breed disappointment(cough) Jeff Francouerbut what happens when these great expectations are met--nay, exceeded?