Larry Brown Sports

Zack Greinke has a history of hitting Carlos Quentin. Whether he has done so intentionally or not, it is that history that sparked a bench-clearing brawl between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres last week.

Quentin was hit by more pitches than any player in the league last season, but that hasn’t affected Padres president and CEO Tom Garfinkel’s opinion on what went down last Thursday. Garfinkel believes Greinke hit Quentin on purpose, and he took a shot at Greinke for his social anxiety disorder when discussing it on Friday night.

“He threw at him on purpose, OK?” Garfinkel told fans at a Petco Park event, via Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports. “That’s what happened. They can say 3-and-2 count, 2-1 game, no one does that. Zack Greinke is a different kind of guy. Anyone seen ‘Rain Man’? He’s a very smart guy.”

On Wednesday, Garfinkel told Yahoo! Sports that he regretted making the “Rain Man” comment and apologized to both Dodgers CEO Stan Kasten and Greinke. The Dodgers ace suffered a broken collarbone by standing up to Quentin when the slugger charged the mound.

“I was emotional the day after the game and regrettably, while defending our player, I said some things I shouldn’t have, especially as it relates to Zack Greinke,” Garfinkel said. “I was out of line and I apologize.

“Obviously, I don’t condone fighting and I wish it wouldn’t have happened. You never want to see any player get hurt.”

Garfinkel also told the season ticket holders on Friday that one thing he would not do is lower his shoulder if someone of Quentin’s stature was charging at him. He did not reiterate that stance to Yahoo! Sports on Wednesday, but he did make sure to mention that Greinke never apologized after hitting Quentin for the third time in his career and that he still feels it was intentional.

“We don’t know what he said,” said Garfinkel. “I asked Carlos. He doesn’t know what he said. I do know that, I mean, everybody saw the tape. Everybody saw what happened. He didn’t say, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you.’ He threw his glove down, stuck his chest out.

“This is my opinion, and I can’t say it publicly, but I guess this is public, so please don’t tweet it out. We’re in the trust tree here, in the nest. He hit him on purpose. That’s what I believe.”

Consider it tweeted.

Zack Greinke paid a severe price for standing up to Carlos Quentin on Thursday.

The Dodgers revealed after their 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres that Greinke suffered a broken left collarbone during his fight with Quentin that led to a bench-clearing brawl.

Greinke hit Quentin with a pitch in the sixth inning and the Padres outfielder charged the mound. Greinke dipped his shoulder down to brace for contact, which might have been when he got injured. The two ended up on the ground and a pile formed on top of them.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly was fuming about the situation after the game and thinks just punishment would be for Quentin to be kept out until Greinke returns.

“I don’t understand it either,” said Mattingly. “We’re in a 2-1 game, and a 3-2 pitch, a guy that set a record for the Padres for getting hit, a guy that basically dives into the plate. In a 2-1 game we’re trying to hit him 3-2? It’s just stupid is what it is.

“He should not play a game until Greinke can pitch,” Mattingly said. “If he plays a game before Greinke pitches, something’s wrong.”

Mattingly continued to blame Quentin for the incident.

“He caused the whole thing,” the Dodgers manager said. “Nothing happens if he goes to first base like baseball you know you do. Because you know he’s not throwing at you 3-2 in a 2-1 game. That’s zero understanding of the game of baseball. He shouldn’t play a game until Greinke can pitch.”

Greinke said after the game he did not hit Quentin on purpose.

“He always seems to think that I’m hitting him on purpose, but that’s really not the case.”

Greinke sure looked macho dipping his shoulder on Quentin, but I was thinking at the time that as badass of a move as that was, it was probably dangerous because it could result in an injury. Sure enough, it likely did.

As for Mattingly’s assertion that Quentin shouldn’t play until Greinke can, I disagree with that. I do think Greinke played a role in the brawl by saying something to Quentin after the outfielder took a step toward the mound, and I think his tough guy display backfired on him.

Carlos Quentin charged the mound after being hit by a pitch from Zack Greinke, inciting a bench-clearing brawl between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres on Thursday night.

Greinke had a full count on Quentin with the bases empty and the Dodgers leading 2-1 in the sixth when he plunked the Padres outfielder in the left arm. Quentin stared out at Greinke, took a few steps towards the mound, and then decided to charge. Greinke dropped his glove, braced for the contact, and dropped his left shoulder into the charging outfielder. Catcher A.J. Ellis rushed out and tackled Quentin to the ground, and then it was “every man for himself” after that, as announcer Vin Scully said.

Greinke was replaced by pitcher Chris Capuano after suffering an injury, which was later revealed to be a broken collarbone. Center fielder Matt Kemp was ejected for going crazy during the brawl, and he was replaced by Skip Schumaker.

Kemp was likely fuming because he felt the Padres had thrown at him earlier in the game:

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More often than not, professional athletes who sign lucrative contracts try to convince us that their decision was not strictly about money. That can be true in some situations, but money is usually the driving force. Dollars and cents were what motivated Zack Greinke to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the right-hander isn’t afraid to admit it.

“It’s obviously the No. 1 thing,” Greinke told Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. “I could play for the worst team if they paid the most. … If the last-place team offers $200 million and the first-place team offers $10, I’m going to go for the $200-million no matter what team it was.”

He also told Heyman that he wasn’t going to lie about it because he’s a bad liar and forgets the lies he told even if he tries. Greinke, who signed a six-year, $147 million deal with the Dodgers, said his decision came down to LA and the Texas Rangers. While the Rangers reportedly offered over $100 million as well, they weren’t willing to include an opt-out clause after three years. Ideally, that opt out clause will allow Greinke to earn even more money.

“The worst comment in the world has got to be when a guy who’s getting $100 million says he wants to ‘take care of my family,’” Greinke added.

His point was that people should be able to take care of their families just as well with a $50 million contract as they would with $100 million. They just want more money if they’re capable of earning it, but who doesn’t?

Does that mean Greinke doesn’t care about winning? Not exactly. It’s easy for him to look back and say he would have signed with a terrible team if they offered more money, because it’s all relative for the most part. Terrible teams tend to not have as much money, which is why they aren’t as good in the first place. LA and Texas are both places that offer the potential to win. Personally, I admire Greinke’s honesty. Whether it has to do with a contract or exploring pompous ways to get to the stadium, it’s nice to hear a professional athlete who is willing to be a straight shooter.

Fist pound to Big League Stew

Prior to 2012, Zack Greinke had never really pitched in a big city. Aside from some starts on the road, during which he took a team bus to the stadium, the 29-year-old has likely did not have to battle traffic all that often while pitching in places like Kansas City and Milwaukee. Now, $158 million has brought him to one of the most popular cities in America.

If all goes to plan, Greinke will have to attend 82 home games at Dodger Stadium with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season. That will likely mean sitting in a lot of traffic on the way to the ballpark, which is something the right-hander has been dreading so much that he looked into alternatives. Like, for example, helicopter travel.

“I did. I looked into it but I don’t think you can land at the stadium,” Greinke told Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. “It’s not as easy as it sounds.”

Greinke probably got a little taste of the California traffic while pitching with the Los Angeles Angels last season, but now he is stuck with it. If Magic Johnson and company really want to make their new ace comfortable, they might want to toss a helicopter pad somewhere near the stadium. They’ve spent enough money since taking over in an attempt to build a contender. What’s a few more bucks?

Then again, Greinke could always be like this NBA star and ride his bicycle to home games. That would help ease some of the traffic burden.

H/T Big League Stew

Zack Greinke pitched the first several innings of Sunday’s Angels-Rangers game with his last name misspelled on the back of his jersey.

As you can see in the screen shot above provided by Mock Session, Greinke’s last name was misspelled “Grienke.” After the mistake was pointed out, the Angels fixed things and Greinke returned with a jersey that had his last name spelled properly, but he still pitched for about an hour before that issue was solved prior to the bottom of the 5th inning.

The jersey may have brought him some bad luck. Greinke had his worst outing in five weeks, allowing four runs over the first three innings after going seven consecutive starts without allowing more than two runs. When it was pointed out that the Rangers scored all their runs off Greinke when his jersey had his name misspelled, he had a funny response.

“That’s right,” Greinke said according to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Reigster. “We’d have won much easier if it wasn’t for him.”

How did he end up wearing a jersey with his name misspelled?

“I didn’t notice. I didn’t care,” said Greinke, who admitted it probably his fault because he reached into his locker for his second jersey rather than wearing the one hanging in front for him, Plunkett reports.

It was that sort of mistake that resulted in Greinke having a wardrobe malfunction with the Brewers last year.

Believe it or not, this sort of mistake actually happens quite frequently.

The Angels are proving once again that they will do almost anything to build a World Series contender.

The team reportedly has agreed to a trade with the Brewers that sends Zack Greinke to Anaheim in exchange for Jean Segura, Ariel Pena, and Johnny Hellweg — three strong prospects in the Angels’ system (more on each player below). That’s a big price for the Angels to pay for someone who will be a free agent after the season.

Greinke, who won the 2009 AL Cy Young Award, is making $13.5 million this season and turned down an offer for over $100 million from the Brewers this month. CBS’ Jon Heyman reported that the Angels were high on Greinke’s list along with the Cardinals and Braves, so that bodes well for the Angels’ chances of re-signing him after the season.

The Rangers, Braves, and White Sox were also in the mix for Greinke, but the Angels won the deal. The other teams can still trade for Josh Johnson and James Shields who are also on the market.

The trade represents the failed pursuits by the Brewers. Two years ago they went all-in by trading for Zack Greinke and Shawn Marcum with the hopes of making one final run at a World Series before losing Prince Fielder to free agency. They gave it their best shot and made it to the NLCS last season before losing to the eventual champion Cardinals.

They gave up Brett Lawrie (to Toronto), Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odirizzi to get Greinke and Marcum. They have an NLCS appearance and three prospects in return to show for it.

The Angels are currently a wild card team in the American League and seemed a step below the Yankees and Rangers. With Greinke, they have the best playoff pitching rotation in the American League, and one that can help them shut down such powerful offenses. They already proved in the offseason they were committed to making a World Series run by signing Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson, so why not take an extra step to solidify the rotation like they did? I love the move for Anaheim, even if they are giving up some good players in return.

Let’s take a look at each prospect in detail:

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