Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
April 20, 2006
The Mind of Zack Greinke

Wright Thompson details what's been bothering Zack Greinke. While no one offers a diagnosis, his problems go much deeper than earlier reports indicated. It's actually quite sad. His problems started at an early age:

From an early age, Greinke didn’t know what to do with empty spaces. Even during Little League, he hated to arrive at the ballpark a half-hour before games. He never seemed to know what to do or say.

“I knew there was something wrong with me,” he says, “but I never thought about going to see anyone to talk about it.”

He gravitated toward solitary pursuits. Even today, he loves golf, fishing and mountain climbing. High above Phoenix, where he likes to trek, he can look down on everyone else, happy up near the clouds.

And it all came to a head this spring:

He had a successful 2004 season but faltered a bit in 2005. By the time he got to spring training earlier this year and couldn’t throw a bullpen session, he’d come to a crossroads. He couldn’t fake fitting in any longer. Things he’d once adored meant little.

“I really like when the sun is setting,” he says. “I was here in Arizona, and it was one of the prettiest days out and the sun was setting, and I was like, ‘I don’t care; I don’t even want to look at it right now. It doesn’t do anything for me.’ That was one moment where I was like: What’s wrong with me?”

He left camp, and as the plane took off for home, a weight lifted off his shoulders. He felt free, for the first time in ages. But soon, he realized that his problems existed inside himself, not in any clubhouse.

Now, two days into his comeback, sitting in a conference room in Surprise, he touches his pitching arm.

“I wouldn’t give up this thing for anything,” he says. “I love it. But also, the problem I have isn’t going to bother me just if I play baseball. It’s gonna bother me no matter what I’m doing. That’s one thing I realized when I left and started talking to some people. I realized that it’s not just at the baseball field that it’s like this.

“Whatever I do in life, it’s gonna bother me.”

Let's hope he continues to make progress.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:32 AM | Illnesses | TrackBack (0)
Comments

You have to hope for him to become content in life and it seems like he might be getting closer

Posted by: Rich at April 20, 2006 01:38 PM

You have to hope he can make it. It won't be an easy road. I hope the Royals organization will be understanding.

Posted by: Jeff A at April 20, 2006 03:38 PM

Frankly, the man sounds borderline suicidal. You want to be hopeful, but I have trouble imagining a guy with these kind of emotional issues pitching, say, a postseason game. Very sad.

Posted by: Crank at April 20, 2006 03:54 PM

Actually, it sounds like a textbook case of Aspeger's Syndrome, which rarely leads to suicide. Although it has some of the same symptoms of manic depression, which does tend to be a high risk factor for suicide. I don't think Greinke's gonna be pitching in any playoff games ever anyway....

Posted by: david at April 20, 2006 05:34 PM

The worst of it is the fact that he has to come back to a losing team. The Royals are stinking it up something fierce this year. Maybe that's part of what bummed the guy out in the first place.

Posted by: seth at April 27, 2006 03:24 PM

It does sound like Aspergers, which is an entirely treatable form of Autism. Many very successful people have it. Steven Spielberg. Bill Gates. Need I say more? People can go through a good portion of their lives and not know they have it as it is only recently, in the past 10 years that doctors have come to diagnose it in children. Hope Zach and the Royals make it. If not, then I hope the Mariners pick him up because he has talent.

Posted by: Mark at May 19, 2006 03:03 PM

I love zack, he is so hot

Posted by: michelle espinosa at April 3, 2007 03:15 PM
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