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.
