It was a shocking line.
No hits, four at-bats, and two runners left on.
Those in the locker room after Atlanta's 2-0 loss to Chicago in the Braves' third game of the season again saw that Jason Heyward only has hair on his chest, no big red S.
And - holy Sidd Finch, Batman - Heyward's numbers have been worse by a bit than those of the last Great Braves Hope from metro Atlanta, Jeff Francoeur.
Y'all remember Frenchy, he who entered with huge hype, battled inconsistency and eventually was traded.
After their first seven games: average - Francoeur .409, Heyward .269; homers - 3 for both; RBI - 7 for Francoeur, 9 for Heyward; K-AB - Francoeur 6 in 25, Heyward 10 in 26.
After their first 11 games: average - Francoeur .433, Heyward .300; homers - 3 for both; RBI - 10 for Francoeur, 12 for Heyward; K-AB - 7 in 31 at-bats for Franceour (22.6 pct.), 15 in 40 for Heyward (37.5 pct.).
And after their first 20 games: average - Francoeur .406, Heyward .224; homers - 7 for Francoeur, 4 for Heyward; RBI - 19 for Francoeur, 16 for Heyward; K-AB - 14 in 69 at-bats for Francoeur (20.3 pct.), 25 in 67 for Heyward (37.3 pct.).
Neither had a stolen base. Francoeur, through 20 games, went hitless in only five games. Heyward? In 10.
The Braves were no-hit by a pitcher within the first two weeks, um, before pitchers actually get loose and warm. Frenchy - a very comparable hype victim - was never part of a no-hitter with Atlanta, and here the Braves and TSC - The Second Coming - get the major white-out around Tax Day.
(The funny thing? I started this after, well, seven games, and updated around 11 games. And by golly, it kept getting worse and I kept getting more right. But the whole point was: IT'S APRIL. NOBODY GETS A RING OR AWARD FOR APRIL, SO EVERYBODY TAKE A BREATH AND VALIUM. And what’s happened? Three straight wins and Heyward’s numbers slowly improve, but everything written here is still like a week or so old.)
I'm just sayin'.
Hype?
There are those who never fathomed that Heyward could stumble so much. Slump? Sure, most expected that. But the groveling over Heyward never allowed for this, for an average that would EVER pass his weight in the downward direction.
No, there are people who never thought that would happen. Premature adulation in the extreme.
So perhaps the canonizations can calm a little bit, the Kool-Aid can be put back in the fridge for awhile.
Let the kid breathe a little bit.
Heyward must worry about all the normal "ifs", so he's done nothing until then. Immense potential, as do scores of players on other teams, but fans don't pay attention to other teams.
It's nice to think about "what if" but not to the point of examining how he walks out of the dugout, which shoe he taps first to get rid of caked-on dirt.
He does have to stay healthy. He does have to stay focused when pitchers remind him he's human. He still has to prove himself. One leadoff homer - no matter how sweet the swing - doesn't prove anything.
Every team has a "next star" on the roster or coming up, and "on paper" is just that, "on paper". And the TVcompoops have often been quite wrong in breathlessly proclaiming anybody "can't miss" or "sure thing" or "the next ____."
Don't call somebody the next whoever until they've actually competed on that level. Don't call Heyward the next Pujols before his first big-league at-bat and expect to be taken seriously.
And there are a couple of those every year, if not every other year: Stephen Strasburg has had more non-Major League action hyped and covered than anybody in the last five years, certainly more than Heyward.
Didn't Jeff Francouer - who, in fact, as a rookie never had his average drop below after his first two games - make the Sports Illustrated cover after less than two months? Yes. And I was told that no, Francoeur didn't have the Heyward hype.
The SI cover called Francoeur " The Natural." No, that's not more hype than the guy who's made the cover of what yet?
Heyward did make SI, with this teaser: "At only 20, Jason Heyward is the most intimidating slugging prospect in years."
After less than a week. Yeah, that's kinda silly.
The last five pre-Heyward Baseball America minor league players of the year - Matt Wieters, Darryl Brinkley, Jay Bruce, Alex Gordon, Delmon Young and Jeff Francis - all had their share of hype and comparison as "the next" and had scouts and media raving.
And I recall when Ben McDonald of LSU was called something along the lines of the greatest college baseball prospect ever. Aaaaand went 78-70 over nine seasons.
Please, the sports world can't exist with "if" and "could" in every sentence.
Quiz: Who are the players in question, as per comments:
1. From G.M. and two teammates: ""You don't ever expect a 19-year-old to do this. What he's done is spectacular and special."; "It was probably one of the most awesome performances I've ever witnessed. But it doesn't surprise you if you know (player). He stays relaxed, he's focused and he's got a ton of talent."; Braves outfielder David Justice, whose shoulder injury sidelined him in May and helped accelerate Jones' ascent to the majors, was equally impressed."; "It shows how special the kid is."
2. Manager: "I hate to put comparisons on young players, but (he) has very sound mechanics. "He will have an identity of his own. You won't have to compare him with anybody else."; Newspaper story: "Although (he) has yet to throw a pitch in the big leagues, has made only nine minor-league starts and is set to begin his major-league career with a team languishing in fifth place in the (division), the young right-hander already leads the league in one category: hype. The fever is fueled not only by the rookie's potential - Baseball America called him the greatest college pitcher ever ..." Chicago Tribune: "(He) is blessed with Kevin Brown's arm, Greg Maddux's consistent delivery and Jamie Moyer's intellect. It looks like the $10.5 million to sign him was the best money the Cubs have spent since Bill Veeck planted the ivy on the outfield wall."
3. AP story: "Labeled a can't-miss prospect since filling up the record books at the University of (somewhere), (Player) has breezed through (Team's) system with the same kind of ease he unfurls fastballs from his lanky, 6-foot-5 frame." Minor League player of the year for Baseball America and USA Today, only the fourth player to be so honored.
4. USA Today: "Stardom was predicted from the beginning. From the moment the (team) made (him) the first overall selection in the (year) draft, he has been something of a golden child. (He) could this. (He) could do that."; San Diego Tribune: Headline: Can't-miss label doesn't faze (player). In story: "... skimming along the fast track to widely predicted stardom." Chicago Tribune: "Just six weeks into the season, (player) already is the nearly unanimous pick for National League Rookie of the Year. ... '"I saw everything I had heard about him," said (opposing manager). 'Everybody says he's a can't-miss guy, that he's going to be a heck of a player. I believe it."
Then there's this, from ESPN.com all of 10 months ago: "This is my 36th draft. I've never seen anything like this."
About young Mr. Strasburg.
We can venture to other sports and how Tony Mandarich and Todd Marinovich and Michael Vick and Ryan Leaf and how many people were involved in the Ricky Williams trade?
The to-be-ignored suggestion toward reality aside, indeed, one certainly pulls for a kid who is humble, hard-working, fundamentally sound - so far, after only three more major-league games (now weeks) than the rest of us.
But teams can be premature in promoting young, young kids, and 20 is young in professional anything. And others have been sold as the next second coming of whomever only for to be quietly wrong.
Baseball is a humbling game, and people have short memories when praising or ripping. If Heyward struggles "under pressure of the hype," the hypemasters won't be able to find a mirror.
Many an athlete has struggled under the suffocation of wishful thinking, which can turn on the athlete.
Let's check in with Washington Nationals G.M. Mike Rizzo, Strasburg's boss, in a USA Today story last summer:
"Everything you're hearing about Strasburg now," says Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo, "you heard about McDonald back then. He was the best college pitcher ever. He can go right into everybody's starting rotation. He's going to be a perennial 20-game winner.
"Well, you know what, McDonald proved anything can happen. He had unbelievable stuff, too, just like Strasburg, but he got hurt all of the time. He had a very lackluster career. … There's nothing guaranteed in this game."
If anybody deserves to avoid all that, Heyward sure looks like it. But he's nowhere near there yet. Nowhere near there. He has 78 more major-league at-bats than the rest of us, and even with this warm streak is only hitting 16 points over his listed weight – and 176 points lower than Francoeur after the same number of games - and has more strikeouts than RBIs.
Let him get there before carrying him off the field - figuratively and literally and making every positive act sound precocious, brilliant, heroic and Hall-of-Fameish.
Baseball "minds" have been wrong before, albeit nowhere near as often as fans. Both were breathless at the start of the season and then were hyperventilating with worry, all forgetting two simple words for the team and the player:
It's April.
OMG!
The golf world is still basking in the glow three weeks later of the Super Bowl ratings for the Mast, what? The world's rotation didn't slow? TVs didn't automatically rebel and go straight to the voice of Jim Nantz? It didn't make M*A*S*H*s final episode look more like "Inside the Actors Studio" ratings-wise?
Not even close. More like the Gator Bowl.
From Associated Press:
"Sunday's final round on CBS earned a 12.0 overnight rating and 25 share, up 36 percent from last year's 8.8/21 for Angel Cabrera's win in a two-hole playoff. But it didn't come close to matching the 15.8/32 for Woods' first Masters victory in 1997." The first round on ESPN increased 43 percent. Not 430 percent.
Methinks some folks were marbles-free when making pre-tournament ratings guesses.
"CAN'T-MISS" ANSWERS
1. Andruw Jones: Has had a quality career, but clearly never lived up to all those multiple-tool expectations. Overrated as an outfielder - that's not to say he wasn't good, just not as good as daily national TV broadcasts and Braves' buddies can make a player. - and so-so as a hitter.
2. Mark Prior: We're still waiting. An example of how injuries can derail a career loaded down with hype.
3. Jeff Francis: Entered the season at 51-44. And the other three players to be named the top minor leaguer by both publications? Andruw Jones, Rick Ankiel, and Josh Beckett. Cooperstown isn't making any room for 'em.
4. Chipper Jones: Just threw him in because there are so many Chipper haters, which is astounding for a guy who's a career .306 hitter, has 427 homers, has played a few positions, and is in the top 100 all-time in doubles, triples, homers, RBI, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs, total bases.
And nobody's yet given me comparable stats for games played each season for players of Jones' age. For age 35, 36 and 37, he's averaged 135 games.
The Braves aren't the Braves without Chipper, who didn't hype himself. And his Hooters chicks were sure better lookin' than Tiger's Tails.
LOUGHDMOUTHINGS
It's been a schizophrenic few weeks for Atlanta fans, those of the Braves and Hawks. People who stress about both can resume sleeping a little better.
The Hawks advanced in the NBA playoffs, albeit in anything but comforting fashion. They were the last team to advance and now get to face Orlando.
Atlanta inspired little confidence with the up-and-down series, leading 2-0 and losing three straight and then closing it with wins of 14 and 21 points.
Nobody knows who the Hawks are any more than they do. Well, we know this: Al Horford is a beast.
And, well, we know about the Braves. We know there's nothing to know because clearly there are cracks, and we'll see them again. ...
It's fitting that the Georgia-Vanderbilt series over the weekend ended prematurely because of rain and flooding in Nashville. The Bulldogs have been taking on water all season. ...
And a ba-zing from Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel:
"Hard to believe the Dallas Mavericks lost 4-1 to the Spurs. The way the Mavs traditionally fold up their tent, wave their white flag and retreat during the postseason, owner Mark Cuban should change his name to Mark French."
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