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Jason Alias Heyward (born August 9, 1989), nicknamed "The J-Hey Kid" and "J-Hey", is an American professional baseball right fielder who is a free agent. Originally the Atlanta Braves' first-round selection in the 2007 MLB Draft from Henry County High School in Georgia, he began his minor league career at age 17. Heyward soon became one of the top-rated prospects in all of baseball for batting, speed, and defense, and debuted in Major League Baseball (MLB) as Atlanta's starting right fielder on Opening Day 2010. There, he played until being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals after the 2014 season. Standing tall and weighing , he throws and bats left-handed. He has worn uniform #22 throughout his major league career in honor of a high school friend and teammate who died in a traffic collision. A three-time minor league All-Star game selection, ''Baseball America'' selected Heyward as the Braves' top overall prospect in 2007〔(【引用サイトリンク】date=November 5, 2007 )〕 and the organization's best power hitter; it cited Heyward as having the best strike zone discipline and excelling at multiple other skills. In 2009, he won a Minor League Player of the Year Award from both ''Baseball America'' and ''USA Today.'' That year, he batted .323 with 17 home runs (HR), 63 runs batted in (RBI) a .408 on-base percentage and .555 slugging percentage over 99 games. A consensus number-one MLB prospect entering the 2010 season, ''Baseball America'', Keith Law of ESPN.com and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com all listed Heyward as baseball's top prospect. After making his MLB debut for Atlanta in 2010, Heyward was named to the National League (NL) All-Star team and finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year Award. ''Baseball America'' named him their MLB Rookie of the Year. Injuries limited his playing time in 2011 and 2013. With a breakout season in 2012, he hit 27 home runs with 82 RBI and 21 stolen bases while finishing tenth in the NL in runs scored with 93. Also recognized for his defense including coverage in the deepest parts of right field, he won both the Fielding Bible and NL Gold Glove Awards for right fielders in 2012, 2014, and 2015, and Wilson's MLB Defensive Player of the Year in 2014. ==Early life and amateur career== The son of Dartmouth graduates, Jason Heyward was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey. His father, Eugene, is from South Carolina, and mother, Laura, is from New York City; they met at Dartmouth. Eugene played basketball and majored in engineering and Laura studied French. Eugene's uncle, Kenny Washington, played basketball for two John Wooden-led NCAA championship UCLA teams in 1964 and 1965. Jason has one younger brother, Jacob, who attends the University of Miami and plans to major within the school of communication and also plays baseball for the Hurricanes.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Jacob Heyward bio )〕 The Heywards moved to the Atlanta metropolitan area in Georgia soon after he was born. Jason played and showed marked ability in baseball from an early age. Before he turned 10, he played for a national championship. In fact, Eugene helped fuel both of his sons' passion for baseball. He dedicated himself to driving them to every tournament and competition possible in the family Chevrolet Suburban, which saw hundreds of thousands of miles between the events and his 90-minute work commute to and from Robins Air Force Base to the south in Houston County. While his father emphasized that working hard and approaching the game with discipline were important, it was to be – above all – fun. Heyward maintained this same approach throughout his youth and professional career. One tournament in which he played was the renowned East Cobb Baseball program, where was a standout, and has produced other major league players.〔 Heyward attended Henry County High School in McDonough near Atlanta. Heyward briefly played basketball in his youth, but concentrated exclusively on baseball in high school after his father's urging. In February 2010, an Associated Press reporter learned from a varsity coach that Heyward's early batting practice exploits proved fatal to an oak tree in deep center field at the high school playing field.〔 Facing off against future Major League Baseball (MLB) catcher Buster Posey of Lee County High in the Georgia Class AAAA baseball championship during Heyward's sophomore year, Henry County won two of the best-of-three series. Posey was actually the starting pitcher in the first game as Henry Country prevailed, 2–1. Heyward hit a game-tying home run in Game 2 to cap an eight-run comeback, but Lee County prevailed 14–10. The next game, Heyward's three-run single proved the game and series winner in a 16–14 outcome. During his junior season, he again helped lead the Henry County High Warhawks to the state championship. As a senior, he batted .520 with eight home runs (HR) and 29 runs batted in (RBI). One of Heyward's close friends and teammates from the 2005 AAAA Georgia state championship team, Andrew Wilmot, died in a traffic collision while attending college. Wilmot was a catcher who wore the uniform number 22, the number Heyward would later wear in his major league career to honor him. Wilmot's mother, Tammie Ruston, was Heyward's high school literature teacher in his senior year. Numerous colleges showed interest and recruited Heyward, including UCLA, which offered a full-ride scholarship due in part to the family connection.〔 Heyward was also especially interested in Clemson and Georgia Tech. Concurrently, the hometown Atlanta Braves had followed and scouted him for years, while attempting to conceal their excitement.〔 They made him the 14th overall selection in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft. Despite signing a National Letter of Intent with UCLA,〔 Heyward chose professional baseball over college and signed a contract with them worth $1.7 million – $170,000 more than MLB's slot recommendation of $1.53 million on the following August 12. It was the same as the 2006 14th-slot amount that the Toronto Blue Jays gave Travis Snider.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】date=August 12, 2007 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jason Heyward」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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