Around here, among Royals fans in Kansas City, there’s been a persistent buzz about whether Zack Greinke would win the Cy Young Award as the American League’s best pitcher.Out there, in Zack Greinke’s offseason in Orlando, not so much.“Not really,” he says. “I’ve been playing this ‘World of Warcraft’ game.”The quote is classic Greinke — honest, surprising, funny — and probably as good a way as any for him to mark a day on a national stage. Greinke took 25 of the 28 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America, a blowout win over runner-up Felix Hernandez that was the AL award’s biggest margin since Johan Santana’s unanimous selection in 2006.The award triggers a $100,000 bonus that, if nothing else, becomes a nice gift as he prepares to be married on Saturday.Greinke’s story is well-documented here, of course, about how he debuted as a 20-year-old in 2004 and won the Royals’ pitcher of the year award, but led the league in losses the next year and walked away from baseball in 2006, when he was diagnosed with social anxiety and depression.Greinke returned at the end of that season, and pitched mostly out of the bullpen in 2007 before a full season as a starter in 2008. Then came this year’s breakout: 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts and just 51 walks in 229 1/3 innings.That ERA was more than a third of a run better than any other AL starter, and the lowest in the league since Pedro Martinez in 2000. Advanced metrics loved Greinke just as much, with FanGraphs.com rating both his fastball and slider as the best among any starter in the league.The award makes Greinke perhaps the highest-profile athlete to overcome social anxiety and depression, in some ways turning him from feel-good story to role model for an untold number of athletes who suffer from similar illnesses.“I think what doesn’t get talked about enough, whether he went back and pitched in the big leagues again or not, is how he dealt with these issues as a young man,” Red Sox assistant Allard Baird, the former Royals general manager who drafted Greinke, told the Boston Herald.“He had to go through this private matter publicly, he had to open himself up. Just in life, in everyday living, to take some very private and personal issues that he had at a young age and work through it in the public eye is all to his credit.”Not that Greinke is interested much in being a symbol.“The problem is I really don’t like having a bunch of attention,” he says. “So even if I did see myself in that light, I don’t do anything about it to help out and make people aware and stuff. Even if I was looked at that way, and knew I was being looked at that way, I don’t do anything about it, because I’m real uncomfortable being around people and doing stuff like that.”Greinke’s award, though, and the phenomenal season it recognizes, changes how he’s viewed — by others and himself.• • •Greinke is famously honest in his self-analysis. After a bad start in Toronto, for instance, he said he watched the Blue Jays struggle and didn’t take them seriously. And so when the questions about what keyed his breakout poured in after Tuesday’s announcement, it’s interesting that he never settled on a consistent answer.He talked about an improved curveball, teammates who supported him, a comfort with catcher Miguel Olivo, confidence from a historically dominant April, and a pitch-to-pitch focus that rarely wavered.

Posted on Tue, Nov. 17, 2009 11:09 PM

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Greinke proves he’s the best in the league

By SAM MELLINGER

The Kansas City Star

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Around here, among Royals fans in Kansas City, there’s been a persistent buzz about whether Zack Greinke would win the Cy Young Award as the American League’s best pitcher.

Out there, in Zack Greinke’s offseason in Orlando, not so much.

“Not really,” he says. “I’ve been playing this ‘World of Warcraft’ game.”

The quote is classic Greinke — honest, surprising, funny — and probably as good a way as any for him to mark a day on a national stage. Greinke took 25 of the 28 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America, a blowout win over runner-up Felix Hernandez that was the AL award’s biggest margin since Johan Santana’s unanimous selection in 2006.

The award triggers a $100,000 bonus that, if nothing else, becomes a nice gift as he prepares to be married on Saturday.

Greinke’s story is well-documented here, of course, about how he debuted as a 20-year-old in 2004 and won the Royals’ pitcher of the year award, but led the league in losses the next year and walked away from baseball in 2006, when he was diagnosed with social anxiety and depression.

Greinke returned at the end of that season, and pitched mostly out of the bullpen in 2007 before a full season as a starter in 2008. Then came this year’s breakout: 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts and just 51 walks in 229 1/3 innings.

That ERA was more than a third of a run better than any other AL starter, and the lowest in the league since Pedro Martinez in 2000. Advanced metrics loved Greinke just as much, with FanGraphs.com rating both his fastball and slider as the best among any starter in the league.

The award makes Greinke perhaps the highest-profile athlete to overcome social anxiety and depression, in some ways turning him from feel-good story to role model for an untold number of athletes who suffer from similar illnesses.

“I think what doesn’t get talked about enough, whether he went back and pitched in the big leagues again or not, is how he dealt with these issues as a young man,” Red Sox assistant Allard Baird, the former Royals general manager who drafted Greinke, told the Boston Herald.

“He had to go through this private matter publicly, he had to open himself up. Just in life, in everyday living, to take some very private and personal issues that he had at a young age and work through it in the public eye is all to his credit.”

Not that Greinke is interested much in being a symbol.

“The problem is I really don’t like having a bunch of attention,” he says. “So even if I did see myself in that light, I don’t do anything about it to help out and make people aware and stuff. Even if I was looked at that way, and knew I was being looked at that way, I don’t do anything about it, because I’m real uncomfortable being around people and doing stuff like that.”

Greinke’s award, though, and the phenomenal season it recognizes, changes how he’s viewed — by others and himself.

• • •

Greinke is famously honest in his self-analysis. After a bad start in Toronto, for instance, he said he watched the Blue Jays struggle and didn’t take them seriously. And so when the questions about what keyed his breakout poured in after Tuesday’s announcement, it’s interesting that he never settled on a consistent answer.

He talked about an improved curveball, teammates who supported him, a comfort with catcher Miguel Olivo, confidence from a historically dominant April, and a pitch-to-pitch focus that rarely wavered.

To reach Sam Mellinger, call 816-234-4365, send e-mail to smellinger@kcstar.com or follow him at twitter.com/mellinger

Posted on Tue, Nov. 17, 2009 11:09 PM

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