Dodgers History: Zack Greinke vs Carlos Quentin – LA Fights the Padres
On this day (Saturday) in Dodger history, Los Angeles was down in San Diego playing the Padres in an early season NL West showdown. The year was 2013. The Dodgers were up 2-1 in the 6th inning when former LA ace Zack Greinke was on the mound at Petco Park facing outfielder Carlos Quentin…
Greinke’s 3-2 fastball rode in and clipped Quentin on the left arm. Then all hell broke loose.
Let’s give Vin Scully the call.
What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? Zack Greinke gets his collarbone broken. The 6-2, 200 pound Dodger pitcher stood his ground as the 6-1, 235 Quentin charged the mound.
Greinke was in his first season with Los Angeles and in the middle of only his second start when it happened. If you wonder why the hell Quentin charged the mound, well, the two had history. Zack — a former KC Royal — and Quentin — a former Chicago White Sock — faced one another in the AL Central from 2008-2010. In that time, Greinke hit Quentin with a pitch twice.
Here’s a telling quote from the day of the incident.
But it seems Quentin has particular contempt for Greinke. After the benches cleared, Oney Guillen — son of Quentin’s former manager, Ozzie Guillen — tweeted: “greinke has hit carlos many many times. look it up. told me long long time ago. if he does it again im going for him. that was like 09” — Fox Sports, 2013
In the melee, Quentin and Greinke along with Jerry Hairston Jr and Matt Kemp were ejected. The firey Kemp was particularly fun to watch in the video — especially with Vinny on the call.
Greinke missed a month with the injury and went on to have an exceptional first season in Dodger blue. Quentin was out of baseball by the next season.
It was a wild moment in a weird season… and boy was it fun.
NEXT: Top 20 Moments in Franchise History – Part I
