Mets Atlanta

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Atlanta Braves Tickets - Don't Anoint Jason Heyward Just Yet

In a sport that is a marathon and not a sprint, baseball fans certainly do get overzealous on opening day, though it's hard to blame them. When highly touted rookie outfielder Jason Heyward hit a three-run blast in his very first swing in the big leagues, many began chomping at the bit to say that he is the real deal. Some were even comparing him to A-Rod. But at 20 years old, Heyward, who is certainly an unbelievable talent, still has a long season ahead of him to prove that he's worthy of the enormous expectations, which he helped bring with just one mighty swing of his bat against the Chicago Cubs on opening day.

This isn't to say that Heyward won't be the next superstar in the league, as all signs certainly point to a very bright future. Every now and then, however, baseball reminds us how truly unpredictable it can be. In his first career at bat, infielder Kaz Matsui hit a towering homerun that had Mets fans jumping for joy – and then hit just six more all season long. Since, Matsui has been a marginal starter that has been shuffled around to various teams. Pitcher Bud Smith tallied a no-hitter as a rookie in 2001, though he only played one more season in the majors. Then there was Rick Ankiel, who wowed St. Louis Cardinals fans as a 20-year-old phenom and was the talk of the town due to a wicked slider and a blazing fastball. Currently, he plays outfield for the Kansas City Royals.

There is, of course, no reason to think that Heyward will follow the paths of any of those guys, but we won't know much about his long-term potential in this league until he faces the daily grind of 162 regular season games. What we do know about Heyward is that he has a wealth of talent, not to mention a maturity level that is well beyond players his age, which will certainly help sell <a href="http://www.stubhub.com/atlanta-braves-tickets/">Atlanta Braves tickets</a>. In fact, he's probably more level-headed and mature than half the players in the league at the ripe age of 20, at least as long as guys like Milton Bradley and Miguel Cabrera are still strolling around big league dugouts.

How can one be so certain about his maturity, one might ask? For that outlook, you can thank Bobby Cox, who made Heyward his opening day starter in his last season as the Braves' manager. While Cox certainly would have rather gone with a veteran with more experience, as he often has done in his tenure with the Braves, it was quite clear to Cox early on that he wasn't dealing with a young prospect with an equal measure of talent and sense of entitlement. Backed by two dedicated parents who were both Dartmouth grads, Heyward is anything but your average 20-year-old who in another life could be attending frat parties and snoozing through early morning college courses. So cool-headed and mature was Heyward during the Braves' spring training that Cox plugged him into the starting lineup and didn't think twice about it.

Though plenty of minor league prospects have power, few have the mental makeup of Heyward, which is something that has already separated him from the other highly touted prospects his age and should continue to do the same on the big league level. While it's easy to be awed by his power and raw talent, there is plenty else to be impressed by with Heyward, though he will have to continue to perform up to lofty expectations throughout the grueling 2010 season to remain in the good graces of baseball fans. The truth is, we won't know how good Heyward is until he faces his first major slump and reactionary fans begin saying that he's overrated. It's in the valleys of his rookie season that will ultimately show us the most about his character and outlook as a major league player. With his mental pedigree and mature outlook, however, no one understands that better than Jason Heyward.

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The preceding article was written by David James and sponsored by one of the most popular places to get sold out tickets, <a href="http://www.stubhub.com/">StubHub</a>. If you are looking for <a href="http://www.stubhub.com/atlanta-braves-tickets/">Atlanta Braves tickets</a>, or sports tickets like baseball tickets, basketball tickets, football tickets, soccer tickets, college sports tickets, or even concert tickets and theater tickets, Stubhub.com is your best bet.

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