ST. LOUIS • Sometime after Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox told him he had made the opening day roster, the club approached Jason Heyward about changing out of his No. 71 jersey and into something … smaller. It was time to do away with the lineman's number and stitch digits on the back of his jersey that were a little more fitting for the Braves' starting right fielder.

Heyward picked a number that was not his own.

He picked it for its weight.

It's why he'll wear No. 22 for the Cardinals as well.

“This is for (Tammie Ruston) and her son,” Heyward told MLB.com on the eve of his major-league debut in 2010. “He was one of my teammates and one of my good friends. This is not something I'm saying, 'Hey, look at me, and this is why I'm doing it.' It means something to me, and I knew it would mean something to her and it always will.”