Despite being on the injured list, Jason Heyward ensured he was present for the Dodgers’ trip to Chicago. It is still where he calls home from his time playing with the Cubs. It is also a city where he makes his biggest impact off the field.
Over the years, Jason has always been passionate about giving back to the community. From childhood, he knew it was his passion project if he ever got the opportunity.
As he began to build roots in Chicago, Heyward wanted to open a place for kids to practice the game. In 2021, he opened the Jason Heyward Baseball Academy in the Austin neighbourhood on the West side of Chicago.
Since its opening, Heyward has constantly tried to make it a place for everyone. After the LA Dodgers game at Wrigley Field, he and his teammates visited the kids.
The Dodgers, led by Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Chris Taylor, and Heyward, surprised local kids during a baseball scrimmage. As you would expect, the kids were joyous.
“The kids that are going to be there to get that surprise of seeing a Major League Baseball player, I think is cool,” Heyward said before the event. “As a young kid, anytime I had a chance to get remotely close to a player, it left a lasting impact on me. Getting to go to baseball games, and any interaction just brought me closer to hope of becoming one. With that, I got the incentive to get into college, get into UCLA and keep shooting past that and see how far I can go.”
Heyward has accomplished a lot in his career, which includes a World Series title with the Cubs in 2016.
“How much it meant to have this space there and now that I’m one of the main partners at the By The Hand Club, having the Jason Heyward Baseball Academy, having this turf field, it’s special,” Heyward said. “For me to be able to do this now, coming back and bringing teammates through and allowing guys to work out there during the offseason and then so on. This is a space people from the Midwest or coming from all over the country will use.”
Last year, Heyward and his teammates visited the Academy to check out the facilities. In return, he took his teammates to a dinner in the city the past two years. But for Heyward and the Dodgers players, seeing the joy on the kids’ faces when they walked in on Friday was sufficient compensation.
“The kids are going to be a little older this year and doing a baseball scrimmage as well,” Heyward said. “They’ll know their way around the game even more. It’s great having teammates’ support. I can’t take that for granted.”
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