CHICAGO – Over the next few days, the Cubs will not only be saying goodbye to their season but also to another member of the 2016 World Series championship team.
Jason Heyward will be officially released at season’s end after seven seasons with the club, with the first being the year in which the Cubs snapped their 108-yard title drought. That was one of the may things that were discussed with the outfielder as he spoke with the media one last time in Chicago on Thursday at Wrigley Field.
“A lot of history being broken,” said Heyward when asked generally to reflect on his time with the Cubs. “A lot of winning.”
That certainly goes without saying as the Cubs made the playoffs four times with Heyward, including three division titles, two appearances in the National League Championship series, and that 2016 World Series championship.
While his performance didn’t quite live up to his eight-year, $184 million contract he signed before that season, Heyward has been lauded for his leadership and defense. The former produced his most memorable moment overall with the team: The Game 7 rain delay speech at Progressive Field that fired the Cubs back up after they lost a three-run lead in the eighth inning to Cleveland.
That sparked the team to a pair of runs in the 10th inning and made the difference in an 8-7 curse-breaking victory.
Yet it’s important to remember the latter as well, especially since Heyward won Gold Gloves with the Cubs in 2016 and 2017. One could argue that his best overall play with the Cubs came two games earlier during that World Series at Wrigley Field.
On October 30, 2016 in Game 5, Heyward made a remarkable wall-climbing catch to grab a foul ball of the bat of Cleveland pitcher Trevor Bauer for a critical out in the third inning. It helped the Cubs get out of that inning down only one run and eventually the team would rally for a 3-2 elimination game victory.
We decided to showcase that moment on #WGNTBT on the Thursday as he spoke to the media for the last time, and you can watch segment from Larry Hawley in the video above.