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https://theathletic.com/3619646/2022/09/26/zack-greinke-royals-stories-2022/

Zack Greinke’s 2022 Royals teammates share stories: ‘There are so many good
ones

The Athletic has written (at least) three oral histories on Zack Greinke, a
likely Hall of Fame pitcher and one of baseball’s great characters.

This might seem like overkill to some. Not to Royals pitcher Brady Singer.

“I’ve read The Athletic ones a hundred times,” Singer said. “Freaking so
good. I love it. I wish they were longer. I mean, they’re already long as s
—, but I wish there were even more because it’s so much fun.”

前言：本報已經寫了（至少）三則和Zack Greinke這位極可能是未來名人堂成員以及
棒球界最棒人格之一的投手相關的口述史。

這對有些人來說可能已經太多，但皇家投手Brady Singer可不這麼認為。



Well, Brady, here you go: The best stories from Greinke’s reunion with the
Royals this season.

拿去好好享用吧，Brady。以下是本季Greinke重返皇家後所發生過最棒的故事。

==

Michael Massey, second baseman: There are so many good ones.

Nicky Lopez, infielder: He’s the best.

Collin Snyder, pitcher: We’re in Texas and a couple of guys were playing
cards before the game. They were talking about guys collecting stuff. (Dylan)
Coleman asked if Greinke collects anything cool. And he was just like: “Got
a bunch of houses.”

Jake Brentz, pitcher: He’s hilarious and he doesn’t even try.

Lopez: I was on the bench with him and we were facing someone who really
liked cats. I was like: “You can’t trust anyone who likes cats.” He goes:
“Yeah, man, you really can’t.” I go: “I like dogs. You got any, Zack?”
He goes: “Nah, I would never get dogs. I’ve got a cat, though.”

Bobby Witt, infielder: Just Zack being Zack. He’s awesome.

J.J. Picollo, general manager: When I first came here, he was in Double A. I’
d never met him before. We were in the old Tulsa stadium and I was standing
in the dugout. He walked up and introduced himself and he started asking me
about my background. A trash truck drove by on the road beyond the outfield.
He goes: “That’s an admirable job and they should get paid a lot more money.
” I didn’t know what he was talking about. He goes: “The guys who collect
trash. What would we do if we didn’t have people to collect the trash?” And
then he just walked away.

Merrifield: In Houston, they have this golf simulator in the hotel lobby.
There were like 10 of us down there, messing around. Zack was down there,
then his family showed up and he abruptly got up and said, “I gotta go.
Family is here.” Forty-five minutes later, he comes strolling back down…We’
re like, “Zack! Didn’t expect to see you back.” He’s like, “Yeah. I saw
the kids, figured I’d rather come hit golf balls.” Just barefoot. Walking
through the lobby of the Four Seasons. Like it’s his kitchen.

Vinnie Pasquantino, first baseman: He beats to his own drum, but in a good
way.

Massey: He’s an unbelievable teammate.

Brentz: I don’t think there’s one guy in the clubhouse that doesn’t love
him.

Scott Barlow, pitcher: He’s the man. I love that guy.

Michael Massey，二壘手：「有太多精采的故事了」

Nicky Lopez，內野手：「他是最棒的」

Collin Snyder，投手：「我們當時在德州然後幾個人賽前在打牌，他們在討論些收藏
品。Dylan Coleman問Greinke有沒有啥很酷的收藏品，他只回答『一堆房子。』」
（譯者按：不確定這裡的house有沒雙關撲克牌術語，有請高人補充）

Jake Brentz，投手：「他真的很好笑，而且他甚至不用裝。」

Lopez：「我有次跟他一起坐板凳然後我們當時對上一個很愛貓的傢伙。我說『你不能
相信那些喜歡貓的人。』他說『對啊，老兄，真的不行。』我說『我喜歡狗，你有養嗎，
Zack？』他說『喔不，我絕對不會養狗的。我倒是有養貓。』」

Bobby Witt，內野手：「這就是Zack本色，他真的超棒。」


（譯者按：非常有道理）

Merrifield：「我們有次去休士頓，他旅館大廳有個高爾夫球模擬器。我們當時有十個

穿梭在四季旅館的大廳。」

Vinnie Pasquantino，一壘手：「他我行我素，但是是往好的方向。」

Massey：「他是個不可思議的隊友。」

Brentz：「我不認為休息室裡有哪個人不愛他的。」

Scott Barlow，投手：「他太了不起了，我愛他。」

==

Jonathan Heasley, pitcher: The first time we all felt comfortable was in
spring training. He invited all the starters to his house one night, and we
all grabbed dinner and hung out over there. That was when we kinda broke the
ice.

Brady Singer, pitcher: That was unbelievable.

Heasley: When we first got there, at his house, we were hitting some chip
shots. He’s got a little green in his backyard. We’re hitting some balls
back there.

Merrifield: When we fly, he has three irons and a putter that he brings with
him. I guess in his room he’ll put a mattress up against the wall and just
hit golf balls into the mattress.

Singer: He goes: “Do any of you guys golf?” We’d just met him, haven’t
really talked to him. We’re like: “Yeah, yeah, we all golf.” He’s like, “
What are you?” I’m like, “Oh, a 12 (handicap), somewhere around there.”
He goes, “Yeah, you’ll never play with me.”

Lynch: Basically, like, “You guys can’t play with me because you’re not
good enough.”

Singer: We were sitting there at his house and he walks out with a brown
paper bag. He’s sitting there and just starts eating out of it. He was just
eating a whole entire bag of fried chicken.

Heasley: He asked us if we were hungry. We’re like, “Yeah, a little.” It
was pretty early. He’s like, “Well, I just ordered some chicken, but that’
s for me. So if you guys want to order something later, we can figure
something out.” We’re all just looking around like, “Alright! Sounds good!
”

Singer: I said I’d Uber Eats something. He goes, “No, no, no. I’ve got a
guy.” So he texted the guy and here comes all this food. I think he said he
had received an order from Uber Eats and he liked the guy and he said: “Hey,
can I hire you to just be my Uber Eats driver?” So he has his own Uber Eats
driver. He has his own food guy.

Heasley: And it was awesome. Hung out. Sat around and talked baseball, life.

Jonathan Heasley，投手：「我們第一次對彼此感到自在是春訓的時候。他有一晚邀請
全隊先發投手去他家吃晚餐並共度時光。這就是我們大夥破冰的時候。」

Brady Singer，投手：「那真的是不可思議。」

Heasley：「我們剛到那的時候，我們就拿著桿子打滾地球。他家後院有片草地，我們
就在那打球進洞。」

Merrifield：「他帶了三隻鐵桿和一隻推桿。我猜他房間牆上大概掛著一張床墊，然後
他沒事會把球高爾夫球打進床墊裡。」



Lynch：「基本上他說的就是『以你們的程度想跟我打球還早勒。』」

Singer：「我們就在他家坐著，然後他拿著一個紙袋走出來。他就坐後就開始吃了。他
就這樣吃了一整袋的炸雞。」





Heasley：「那真的超棒的。大夥一起度過時光、聊棒球、聊生活。」

==

Singer: The cool thing is how addicted he is to the game. He watches, studies
all day long.

Mike Matheny, manager: And he loves it.

Lynch: Sometimes he’ll be like, “I looked at your metrics. Remember how you
thought you were being unlucky? No, they’re actually crushing you on that
pitch.” Or, “Keep throwing that because you’re getting unlucky.”

Brad Keller, pitcher: I was like, “I’m not getting righties out as well as
I want to. I feel like I’ve been getting lefties out more.” That night, he
went home and I get a text message at like 2 a.m. He’s sending me all the
data points. He’s like, “This is what I saw. These are the things I gather.
” Out of the blue.

Salvador Perez, catcher: One of the smartest pitchers I’ve ever met in my
life.

Barlow: When I’m done pitching, he’ll come up to me and be like: “You
threw a fastball with two strikes. That was interesting. You never do that.”

Perez: Even if he’s not pitching, he always pays attention and comes up to
me like: “Hey, that was a good pitch right there.” Or: “That guy hits
changeups; why did you call a changeup?”

Kyle Isbel, outfielder: He has a unique outlook on stuff.

Lynch: I was basically like, “I sucked today.” And he’s like, “You
sucked, yeah. But they didn’t hit you at all and you only gave up three runs
in almost five innings and we won the game. So, if that’s you sucking then
that’s a good thing.”

Isbel: In spring training, he went up to O’Hearn and Ryan introduced
himself. Zack was like: “Oh, you’re Ryan O’Hearn. Left-handed. Plays first
base.” He goes: “You got a hit off me 3-0 count, fastball, you beat the
shift the other way.”

Ryan O’Hearn, first baseman: He was spot on.

Perez: He’s one of the best I’ve ever seen at preparing himself to pitch.

Massey: When I was younger, I would watch him on TV. I’m like, “This guy is
incredible, future Hall of Famer, I wonder what he does to get ready before a
start.” Flash forward. Now I’m his teammate and I’m warming up in the
weight room. He comes in with his big, baggy shirt on. He sits down on the
ground, pretzel style. Literally crisscross applesauce. He’s just sitting
there for a minute. He pulls a banana out of his pocket and starts eating a
banana crisscross applesauce on the weight room floor. He drops the banana
peel, stands up with a baseball, walks over to the wall and starts slowly
throwing a ball off the wall and catching it. I walked out and was like: “So
that’s what a Hall of Fame pitcher does before he starts, huh?”

Picollo: He’s just repeating his delivery pitch after pitch after pitch. And
you wonder why this guy has been able to pitch 18 years? That’s why.

Lynch: He loves the game. It’s been his thing forever. And it will remain
his thing.

Singer：「最酷的事是他是如此沉醉於棒球比賽。他無時不刻在觀察、研究棒球。」

Mike Matheny，總仔：「而且他愛死了。」

Lynch：「有時候他會說『我研究了你的數據。你記得你曾自以為自己多倒霉嗎？不，其
實是他們專挑你那球種攻擊』或者『因為你越來越倒霉，你就繼續丟那球種吧。』」



Salvador Perez，捕手：「他是我這輩子遇過最聰明的投手之一。」

Barlow：「當我投完球後他會來跟我說『你在兩好球後塞快速球。真有趣，你以前從不
這麼做。』」

Perez：「甚至不是他的投球日時他也會保持專注然後來跟我說『嘿，剛剛那球不錯喔』
或是『那傢伙專打變速球，你剛為何還叫投手投變速球？』」

Kyle Isbel，外野手：「他對事情總有獨到見解。」





Ryan O'Hearn：「他說的精準無誤。」

Perez：「對於賽前投球準備，他是我看過準備最完善的人。」



Picollo：「他就只是一球又一球地重複那一樣的投球動作。你若曾好奇他為何可以在這
賽場投18年？這就是為什麼了。」

Lynch：「他就是如此熱愛這比賽，這一直都是他的最愛，未來也還會是他的最愛。」

==

Lopez: They’re doing the fantasy football draft. He ends up drafting two or
three quarterbacks.

Witt: He had (Justin) Herbert and (Josh) Allen back to back.

Lopez: I’m like: “Zack, you know you can only play one at a time and you
just wasted picks in the fourth and sixth rounds.” He’s like: “Yeah, I
really like Josh Allen, but looking back it probably wasn’t my best move.”

Witt: He drafted two of the top quarterbacks back to back just to try to make
some trades.

O’Hearn: He doesn’t offer fair trades on fantasy football. That’s a fact.

Cam Gallagher, catcher: I’ve got Russell Wilson at quarterback, but he
offered me a quarterback, his fourth-best receiver and fifth-best running
back for my first or second receiver. I go: “What are you doing?” He goes:
“What? The quarterback will score more points.” I’m like: “Yeah, but you
can only start one a week.”

Witt: I think I’ve gotten about 10 trades from Zack.

Gallagher: I’ve gotten three today alone.

Witt: He’ll text me and be like: “Hey, I just sent you a trade.” About 10
minutes later, he’ll go: “Actually, I’m going to reject the trade, I don’
t like it.”

Gallagher: He sends out so many trades a day, and I don’t think he’s made a
single trade yet.

Lopez: Someone texted him about the trade that he had sent and they sent him
back another trade proposal. All he texted back was: “Wow, I’ve never
thought about that. Give me some time to reflect on this.”

Gallagher: It’s just constant entertainment.

Jose Cuas, pitcher: I don’t really know about fantasy football; this is the
first time I’ve done it. The first thing he told me when I walked in was: “
Hey, your team sucks.”

Gallagher: He always wears this three- or four-XL Travis Mathew t-shirt that’
s waaaay too big for him. The sleeves come down to his elbows.

Merrifield: I asked him about it. He said, “I don’t know, it used to not be
this big.”

Gallagher: He tried to propose a trade to me, and I gave him a smart remark.
The next day he said, “Good luck to everyone, except for Cam.” As a joke in
the group chat, I said, “When we face off against each other, if I beat you,
you’ve got to sign that four XL t-shirt and send it to me.” He goes: “
Deal. But if I win, you’ve got to sign a used jockstrap and send it to me.”

Lopez：「他在夢幻足球的選秀裡選了兩個還三個四分衛。」

Witt：「他一連選了Justin Herbert和Josh Allen。」



Witt：「他一連選了兩個最頂尖的四分衛就只為了和別人進行交易。」

O'Hearn：「事實是，他不會提出任何公平的交易。」


啊。』他回『蛤？四分衛會拿比較多的分數。』我說『對啊，但你一週只能擺一個。』」


Witt：「我想我大概收到十筆來自Zack的交易要求。」

Gallagher：「他光是今天就跟我提了三筆交易。」

Witt：「他會傳簡訊來說『欸，我剛跟你提了交易。』十分鐘後就會改口『我想了一下，
我不喜歡這筆交易，我要把它取消掉。』」

Lopez：「有人對他提的交易討價還價。他的回應就只是『哇，這我還沒想過勒，給我點
時間思考一下。』」

Gallagher：「這就是我們的娛樂來源。」

Jose Cuas，投手：「我對夢幻足球一無所知，這是我第一次玩。我記得我開始玩後他對
我說的第一件事是『欸，你的隊伍爛爆了。』」

Gallagher：「他總是穿著他那件對他來說太大的XXXL還是XXXXL的Travis Mathew球衣，
袖子都蓋到他手肘了。」

Merrifield：「我有次問他，他說『窩不知道，它以前沒這麼大件啊。』」



==

Singer: He’s just so freaking honest.

Witt: Sometimes when I make a good play, I’ll talk to him in the dugout and
he’ll be like: “I really didn’t think you were going to make that play.”

Barlow: We were playing catch. I threw him a couple curveballs, a couple
sliders, and he was like: “Were those sliders towards the end?” I was like,
“Yeah.” And he goes, “Yeah, they weren’t very good.”

Merrifield: I was sitting behind him and Salvy. They were talking about the
lineup in St. Louis and how to pitch guys and who was aggressive early in the
count. It was early in the year still. He turned around and goes: “You like
to swing at the first pitch, right?” I said, “Yeah, sometimes. If it’s
there. I’m not interested in letting a good pitch go by.” And he said, “
Yeah, the staff in Houston told me you like to swing at the first pitch, but
then I thought, you know, I’d just throw a fastball away. What’s the worst
that could happen? You’d hit a flare to right?”

Cal Eldred, pitching coach: Yeah, he’s pretty blunt.

Matheny: I played catch with him today. I said, “I can say I caught Zack
Greinke.” He goes, “You caught me in between innings, don’t you remember?
” I’m like, “Oh yeah. But then you went and got somebody else.” He goes,
“Yeah, because I gave up runs. You were bad luck.” I was like, “That’s
such crap.” Then he said something (about me), like, “Get somebody else
because these guys need to be able to come in and throw their good stuff.”…
Like, “You’re not good to catch everybody’s good stuff.” He said that out
loud!

Witt: That’s who Greinke is. He just tells you everything straight up.

Merrifield: Talking to Brad (Keller) around the trade deadline. I was like, “
Brad, if I get traded or you get traded and I face you, any time I get to a
3-2 pitch, I’m going to sit slider.” Zack said, “And then what are you
going to do with it? Flip it to right?” That day, I hit a homer off a
(Michael) Kopech slider and came in the dugout and started yelling at Zack.
He liked that. He cracks this little side-mouth smirk.

Lopez: We were all sitting around and it was a bunch of young guys who just
got called up and Zack. I go: “I’ll give $100 to whoever guesses where Zack
was committed to.”

Massey: We’re all guessing, and he’s like: “No, no.”

Lopez: Someone said Creighton or another university and he looked at them and
goes: “I was the four-time Gatorade player of the year. Do you think I would
ever go there?”

Massey: I was on the ground.

Eldred: The first time he waved me out (out of the dugout), I was like: “
This guy is waving me out to the mound?”

Picollo: Nobody really knew what to do.

Eldred: He waves me out and goes: “I don’t really need anything. I just
need a break.”

Picollo: All the sudden you see the entire infield start laughing.

Merrifield: He’s just different.

Daniel Lynch, pitcher: My wife homeschools his kids for right now. My wife
and his are friends now. And he came up to me in the dugout and was like, “
Oh, just the guy I wanted to see.” I was like, “Oh goodness, what’s this?
” He had his phone out and said, “Do you think Millie would want to teach
at my baseball school in Hawaii?” I was like, “What?” He’s like, “Yeah,
I want to buy 3,000 acres in Hawaii and build a baseball school there.” …
He was being 100 percent serious. He sent me the land and everything.

Massey: It was the Toronto series when we all got called up with the Covid
stuff going on. We get on a plane and had no idea what we were doing on a big
league charter, had no idea how any of it works. Everyone gets on with a suit
and tie, looking really nice. Zack gets on in a suit and tie. He’s sitting a
couple of rows in front of me, and I see him stand up just as everyone is
getting seated. He starts unbuttoning his shirt and I’m like: “Alright, what
’s he doing?” He unbuttons his pants, pulls everything off and he’s in
like a Royals jumpsuit, grabs the pillows, lays down and takes a nap. He
literally had a Royals jumpsuit on underneath his suit and tie.

Gallagher: He’s one of a kind.

Lynch: From the stuff he says, I can tell he keeps up with certain guys. I
hope I’ll be one of them. I still think it’s cool any time he texts me. It’
s like, Zack Greinke pops up on my phone.

Merrifield: I really loved being his teammate.

Lopez: To be honest, it’s an honor to share a clubhouse with him.

Heasley: It’s just a privilege to share a locker room with him.

Keller: He’s the man.

Singer：「他就是他Ｘ的超誠實的。」

Witt：「有時當我完成一個play的時候，我回休息區會跟他小聊，他會說『我真的不
覺得你有辦法完成那個play欸。』」

Barlow：「我們有次玩傳接球。我丟給他幾顆曲球、幾顆滑球。然後他說『剛剛最後那
幾顆是滑球嗎？』我說『對啊。』他回『嗯，那幾顆滑球不怎麼樣欸。』」



Cal Eldred，投手教練：「對啊，他就是這麼直接。」



Witt：「這就是Greinke，他直接一針見血地告訴你所有事情。」



Lopez：「我們有次坐在一起，在場有Zack還有一群剛被叫上來的少年仔。我說『誰猜
得到當年Zack曾經要去的大學我就給他100元。』」

Massey：「我們就各種瞎猜然後Zack就各種『不、不』」

Lopze：「有人猜是Creighton還哪所大學吧，他看著他們說『我當年可是四度年度開特
力球員獎，你怎麼以為我會去那種學校？』」

--

Eldred：「他第一次往休息區對我揮手的時候，我想『他是要叫我上投手丘嗎？』」

Picollo：「那時大家都不知道要怎麼辦。」

Eldred：「他把我叫來投手丘然後說『沒啦，我只是要休息一下。』」

Picollo：「語畢，整個內野哄堂大笑。」

Merrifield：「他就是這麼與眾不同。」

--

Daniel Lynch，投手「我的太太目前幫他的小孩在家自學，所以我們倆太太是朋友。有
次他跑來休息區說『這不就是我在找的人嗎？』我說『我的老天，怎麼了？』他拿出手
機給我看，並說『你覺得Millie會想在我在夏威夷的棒球學校任教嗎？』我驚問『蛤？』
他說『對啊，我想在夏威夷買塊佔地三千英畝的地然後蓋一座棒球學校。』他百分之百
是認真的。他把地啊啥的都給我看了。」

--

Massey：「那時是作客多倫多，因為疫情（疫苗）的關係我們被拉上大聯盟。我們搭上
球隊包機然後不知道上了包機後該做些什麼。大家都西裝筆挺，看起來真氣派。Zack也
穿著西裝打著領帶登機。他就坐在我前面幾排的位置。然後正當大家開始就座的時候Zack
站了起來。他開始解開上衣釦子，然後我心想『他在幹嘛？』接著他解開褲子鈕扣、把
外層衣物脫了後發現他裡面還穿了套皇家隊連身衣。接著他拿了顆枕頭，就躺下來開始
睡午覺。他老兄真的在全套西裝裡面穿了套皇家隊連身衣。」

Gallagher：「他真的是獨一無二。」

Lynch：「從他所說的話，你看的出來他是有和人保持聯絡的。我希望我也會是這些人之
一。我依舊認為他任何時候傳簡訊給我都會是件很酷的事。你想想，你的手機上跳出了
Zack Greinke的名字。」

Merrifield：「我真的很愛當他的隊友。」

Lopez：「老實說，跟他共享一間休息室真的是莫大的榮幸。」

Heasley：「跟他共用更衣間根本是項殊榮。」

Keller：「他實在太了不起了。」

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