Dodgers: Former Los Angeles Catchers Tell Their Favorite Zack Greinke Stories
Zack Greinke’s time with the Dodgers was quite memorable. Not only did he string together 3 of the better years that we’ve ever seen pitched in Los Angeles, but we also got Greinke’s personality. You never knew what you were going to get out of the guy when you had an interaction, and there are plenty of players who have stories.
Now 37 years old, Greinke has made his way through some big league catchers in his time. A few of those guys were obviously Dodgers catchers. And the ones that got to catch him told The Athletic about their favorite interactions with Zack.
Here are some of our favorite highlights from the article, which I highly recommend you read.
So we’re in a team meeting, and it was a real serious meeting getting ready for the playoffs. Like, “Let’s get ready, everyone get locked in, we’ve got about a week left.” And then at the end, Don (Mattingly) was like, “All right, anybody got anything?” Zack raised his hand, and we’re ready to listen to him. And he goes, “Yeah, after you guys are done using the bathroom, just make sure you wash your hands. –Tim Federowicz
We appreciate the concern for hygiene from Zack, especially after the year we all had.
He said, “Well, A.J., it’s pretty simple. I stand on the mound; you go 60 feet away. You squat down and I throw you the baseball. It’s pretty easy.” He kept that smirk, he didn’t break his face at all, and I just walked away, head down, kicking rocks. -AJ Ellis
Zack Greinke makes baseball look as easy as anyone, so maybe I get why this is how he sees it. And who dares questin the guy that went toe-to-toe with Carlos Quentin in a Dodgers brawl?
I was struggling hitting at the time. I was like, “Man, I really don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m such an easy out.” And his response was like, “Yeah, you are. If I was facing you, I would just throw you all sliders and you’d have no chance.” –Tim Federowicz
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No matter how savage his bluntness may be, every guy in that article came to the same conclusion about Zack. That he is a great guy, and a great ballplayer. That was certainly true when he was with the Dodgers, even if it took us all a while to learn and understand him.
And even though he’s an Astro, we wish him all of the best. Always.
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We never had the chance to understand and appreciate him because of that tv blackout thanks to our wonderful greedy owners. Only in the last 3 years have people started to share stories of Greinke online
The greedy owners had little to do with the cable company asking astronomical prices of other carriers such as DirecTV. and because of the cable deal, we have a MLB league leading organization top to bottom, from minor leagues to Majors, domestic and international. Not to mention how many straight NL West titles, 3 NLCS championships and one World Series championship as the result of their leadership.
The washing your hands story I remember a little differently, but maybe its a different situation. I remember hearing something about former Dodger #66 not flushing the toilet, and Zack taking exception! Lol
Here’s a Greinke story that a friend swore is true: After a loss to the Cubs in Chicago one night, the team was waiting in the bus outside Wrigley for Puig to come out of the locker room. They had a plane flight ahead of them & they were tired & annoyed by the loss & having to wait for Puig yet again.
He finally came out, but instead of throwing his bag into the luggage hold of the bus, he just stood there looking into his bag trying to decide what he wanted to carry with him on the plane flight. Several minutes passed & tensions grew inside the bus. Nobody spoke, but everyone was getting upset.
Suddenly Greinke jumped out of his seat, ran off the bus & grabbed Puig’s bag & threw it out into the middle of Addison Street. The team cheered him when he came back on board & told the driver, “Let’s go.”
Puig ran out & retrieved his bag, threw it into the hold & was on the bus within ten seconds… Apparently he never kept the team waiting after that… Don’t know if the story is urban myth, but it sounds like Greinke.