Free-agent outfielder Jason Heyward reportedly has become a Chicago Cub, just as Ben Zobrist and John Lackey have, just as Jon Lester had a year ago. It’ll be called a culture change, which it surely is, that rising from the momentum of a plan that is working, from the new man on the top step, and from the notion that anybody can have an off century.
There was a Wednesday night not too long ago when 25 Cubs stood in front of their dugout at Wrigley Field and waved their caps at a whipped up and grateful fan base. That the Cubs had lost that night, hadn’t in fact won even a single game in the National League championship series, seemed only a minor annoyance. To the people of Chicago, of Wrigley, of the sticky-sour bars in their neighborhoods, of the sticky-sour souls in their famous bleachers, this is what relevance looked like. What hardball could be, given half a chance, half a thought and a whole breath.
The Cubs won 97 regular-season games in 2015. They won four more after that. And this is where the culture (and a couple hundred million dollars) runs off and returns with more. With better.
Heyward is a 6-foot-5, 26-year-old, left handed-hitting, base-stealing, outfield-covering … Cub. He was a St. Louis Cardinal for a year. The Cardinals asked that he return. He didn’t. That’s not insignificant. Maybe it was the money. Probably it was. The Cubs reportedly signed Heyward to an eight-year, $184 million contract. But don’t completely dismiss the idea that the place to be in the game isn’t Los Angeles or New York or Boston or St. Louis, but Chicago, the north side, amidst the ballpark remodels and the organizational glow and the promise that some day 25 men will stand out in front of that same dugout having put that whole damn century to rest.
Why not them?
Just a couple days ago, Zobrist, a bright guy only a few weeks removed from his last World Series title, said, “In the end, our heart wanted to be in Chicago as a family. Wanted to play for this team. Wanted to play for Joe Maddon again. And I want to win a championship as a Chicago Cub. That’s my one goal the next four years, is we’ve got to win a championship and bring a World Series trophy back to Chicago.
“I’m just thrilled for the opportunity. I can’t wait to get to know my teammates more and work together and do what had not been done for a long time. It’s overdue. So I’m excited to be a part of this.”
You know how many young men have said almost precisely those words over how many decades? How many have held new contracts in their hands and said this is the team and now is the time and see you in October?
Well, plenty. But none that would play alongside Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Addison Russell, Jorge Soler and now Heyward, a roster built for today and tomorrow. None that would go Jake Arrieta, Lester and Lackey three-deep in the rotation, with the good chance for even more.
Wonderful things could come. The expectation is that they will. Heyward – who batted .293 last season, had an on-base percentage of .359 and stole 23 bases; who hit 13 home runs but once hit 27; who was swiped from the Cardinals – would seem to be a big ol’ part of that. Same for Zobrist, swiped in free agency from the New York Mets, who happened to be dancing in the other clubhouse that Wednesday night in October when the Cubs honored those who remained at Wrigley. Same for Lackey, who had provided 218 innings and 13 wins for the Cardinals.
None of it guarantees the Cubs will win, but it guarantees them a chance to try. It’s good enough for December.
- Sports & Recreation
- Baseball
- Jason Heyward
- Chicago Cub
- John Lackey
- Ben Zobrist
