On Planet Zack, Chipotle can be eaten every day, wine is consumed straight from the bottle and girlfriends have good mouths. Confused? So is the rest of the clubhouse. On Planet Zack, the art of pitching is also a little too easy. So when Royals starter Zack Greinke finally committed to the game of baseball this spring, it was only a matter of time before he won a spot back in the Royals rotation. Of course, not before cutting up the rest of his teammates with a plethora of Zack-isms (and making the Deans List at the wildly popular Deadspin.com).
When Grienke left Royals camp last spring to cope with mental issues, no one in the organization doubted he still had his stuff. His fastball still zipped, his curveball still dropped and the arm which made him a teenage phenom was still in perfect shape. It was his concentration, his passion for the game which waned.
Six months away from the game helped Grienke immensely, allowing him the time and distance to understand and deal with his bout with depression. When he returned to Double-A Wichita late last season, he began regaining his touch. Pitching with the Wranglers in the Texas League Playoffs helped Greinke appreciate what he enjoyed about baseball in the first place. He bonded with a bunch of kids whose dreams of playing in the bigs were only enhanced by piddling per diems and overnight bus rides to metropolises Tulsa and Corpus Christie.
But as Greinke took the mound this spring in Surprise, even the most optimistic team officials could not have predicted what would happen. Zack lit up the Cactus League, pinpointing his pitches and mixing his array of speeds to throw major league hitters completely for a loop. He began the spring with a devastating 11-1 strikeouts to walk ratio and continued pitching well through camp.
Greinke has been so dominant, he skyrocketed from battling for the fifth and final spot in the rotation to earning the third slot and starting against Red Sox rookie sensation Daisuke Matsuzaka in the opening homestand of the season.
So sitting down with Zack last week in the Royals clubhouse was both ordinary and extraordinary. After his battles with mental illness were publicly hashed and rehashed, one might assume Greinke to be shell-shocked, embarrassed and closed off to the media.
Exactly the opposite.
Zack is the same pitching savant that Kansas City has grown to chuckle at and then love. Zack has the innate ability to riff on just about anything, the love child of Bill Spaceman Lee and John Matuszak. Not a bad bone in his body, he is equally comfortable dissecting burrito beans and opposing hitters. For those that might think our conversation was a misplaced snicker at his expense, the idea could not be farther from the truth.
Zack has been spieling in his dead-pan delivery on Hollywood gossip since he came up three seasons ago. The beauty is, after his battle with depression, he did not shut down. He is still as approachable as ever and when listening to the interview, you may hear some laughter and screeching in the background.
That would be Esteban German, Justin Huber and the rest of the Royals with lockers near Zack, overhearing our conversation and giggling in delight at another Planet Zack moment.
The greatest part of Zacks comeback has nothing to do with throwing a baseball. The greatest part is that he never stopped being Zack. And we only have one of those.
(Our third annual spring training conversation with Zack Grienke is available for download to the right of this column)
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2007 One NIT NIT Moment.
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tape. 6-6-06:
The Crypt Keeper's Holiday Crazy
Ray displays his talent for singing. Could he make a run at the next American
Idol? Oklahoma
takes it on the chin with this famous call from R.B. Missed
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edition of The One NIT NIT Moment. We
couldn't leave Alex the Intern out of the mix, check out the drunk dial message
Alex left for D.A. The
D.A. Show tribute to Alan Thicke.
Is
Crazy Ray really crazy? Take a listen to find out.
A
D.A. Show Investigation reveals color commentators handing out the pink slip
to local college coaches.
Quinner's
feeling a bit down. We ask, what's wrong with Quinn Snyder? Herm Edwards gave us quotable material right from jump street. He gets a montage based on his introduction presser. A
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On Planet Zack, Chipotle can be eaten every day, wine is consumed straight from the bottle and girlfriends have good mouths. Confused? So is the rest of the clubhouse. On Planet Zack, the art of pitching is also a little too easy. So when Royals starter Zack Greinke finally committed to the game of baseball this spring, it was only a matter of time before he won a spot back in the Royals rotation. Of course, not before cutting up the rest of his teammates with a plethora of Zack-isms (and making the Deans List at the wildly popular Deadspin.com). 
