Sounds like an old story, but Heyward said comments not about age

SHARE Sounds like an old story, but Heyward said comments not about age
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Jason Heyward robs former teammate Matt Holliday of a hit in the first inning Monday night.

ST. LOUIS – Cubs right-fielder Jason Heyward has a strong opinion about – if not a message for – all those Cardinals fans booing him Monday night in his return to Busch Stadium.

“People are going to do what they want to do. Everybody is entitled to their opinion,” said Heyward, who turned down a 10-year, $200 million deal from the Cardinals to take the Cubs’ eight-year, $184 million free agent offer last winter.

“If somebody boos me here that means they were not happy to see me leave. So I kind of like that people weren’t happy to see me leave something. That’s a good thing.”

Sort of. Judging by Twitter comments and the relentlessness of the vitriol Monday night, it seemed to have more to do with some of the perceived shots Heyward took at his one-time Cards teammates on the way to Chicago.

“You’ve got to look at age; you’ve got to look at how fast the team’s changing and how soon those changes may come about,” he said during his introductory media conference in December after signing. “I feel you’ve got Yadi [Molina] who’s going to be done in two years maybe; you’ve got Matt Holliday who’s probably going to be done soon. There’s already been moves with Jon Jay gone and Tony Cruz. [Adam] Wainwright is probably going to be done in three or four years. I think that’s when his contract is up.

“I felt if I were to look up in three years and see a completely different team, that would kind of be difficult for me.”

Cards manager Mike Matheny and players subsequently bristled publicly at the comments.

Heyward, who robbed Old Man Holliday of a hit with a sliding catch in the first inning, said the words were taken out of context and he didn’t mean to say the Cards were old as much as contract statuses would come into play.

“We’re still friends,” said Heyward, who spoke glowingly Monday of his season in St. Louis. “Everybody’s still cool. There was nobody that supported me more than those guys when it came down to me having to make a decision.

“The only disappointing thing about the whole situation is a lot of things got taken out of context. And that’s OK. I know me. They know me. People that know me know that I’m not ever going to take a hit at anybody or ever try to disrespect the game. I’m not bigger than the game. That’s not me.”

Note: Kyle Schwarber, who tore two ligaments in his knee during an outfielder collision April 7, is to have surgery this week.


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