Jason Heyward Lends Name to Baseball Academy in Huge Youth Sports Complex on Chicago’s West Side

Jason Alias Heyward will never be able to escape the weight of expectation created by the big contract he signed to join the Cubs prior to the 2016 season, but focusing on his production is missing the point entirely. Heyward has been an active philanthropist in his new home and is universally lauded as a fantastic clubhouse leader. He’s the first player to welcome new additions to the team and now he’s lending his name to a new addition to Chicago’s West Side.

The Jason Heyward Baseball Academy is part of a new 150,000 square foot youth sports complex that just broke ground on Wednesday. The whole thing looks pretty amazing and I’m sure we’ll hear more about it on Marquee Sports Network since Elise Menaker was at the event to interview Heyward.

https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/1425474563106824200?s=20

Regardless of how you feel about Heyward as a baseball player and whether he will or should be part of the rebuild, his work in the community should be celebrated. Helping to build a facility like this for a bunch of kids who might not otherwise have access to such things is far more important than what the right fielder does against the Brewers.