KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -A carnival of excitement has descended on Kauffman Stadium this season thanks to an unassuming pitcher who once said his head and arm don’t always agree on what to throw.
The Royals are winning, Kauffman Stadium is hopping and the nation is taking notice – all because of Zack Greinke.
The quirky right-hander with the nearly unhittable stuff has created a stir in Cowtown that’s drawing comparisons to Fernandomania in Los Angeles during the 1980s.
Zack-mania, Zack-tacular, Gettin’ Greinke Wit It – whatever you want to call it – has helped make baseball fun in Kansas City for the first time since George Brett chased .400 and put too much pine tar on his bat.
“I’m not trying to jinx him, but what he’s doing is historic in nature,” Royals right-hander Brian Bannister said. “The level he’s pitching at, it kind of makes you want to sit back and grab some popcorn because it’s impressive what he’s doing.”
ong. That’s one winning season the past 14 years, no playoff appearances since beating cross-Missouri rival St. Louis in the 1985 World Series.
Losing wasn’t just expected, it became accepted, transforming the franchise’s image from being small-town scrappers to win-padding fodder for baseball’s elite teams.
That’s changed this year.
The Royals had a winning record in April (12-10) for the first time since 2003 and were atop the division after the season’s first month for just the second time in their 40-year history. May has done nothing to stop them; Kansas City went six games above .500 for the first time since Sept. 2006 after beating Seattle on Wednesday and entered the weekend still leading the AL Central.
Now, baseball fans and the national media are paying attention to the Royals for something other than their ineptitude. Locals and the sports radio gang are actually talking about the Royals, not the Chiefs’ sixth-round draft pick. OK, maybe they still are, but at least the Royals are now barging in on the conversation.
Kauffman Stadium, tricked out after a $250 million renovation, is juiced again – and not because of the carousel and putt-putt course in the outfield. The Royals averaged more than 19,000 fans at the new K the season’s first month and sold 11,000 same-day tickets, including more than 6,500 walk-ups for Greinke’s last start, Monday against the White Sox.
ading a little joy right now,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said. “People are excited about it. It’s very nice, makes it nice to come to work.”
The motor powering this gear of glee is Greinke.
The 25-year-old with the check-his-ID dimples and a nasty array of pitches has made dominating look easy.
He leads the majors with six wins, two shutouts, three complete games and 54 strikeouts. His 0.40 ERA is nearly a run lower than anyone else in baseball and he hasn’t allowed a run in 15 road innings. Greinke is the third pitcher to win his first six starts with an ERA under 0.50, joining Walter Johnson in 1913 and Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.
So what if he has a vampire-like aversion to the spotlight and his sentences occasionally trail off to somewhere deep in his mind.
“He’s the best in the league right now,” Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said after Greinke shut out the White Sox with a six-hitter on Monday.
That Greinke’s run is being compared to Fernandomania is perhaps a bit unfair.
rd.
For Greinke’s start to reach Fernandomania proportions, he’d have to at least show a passing interest in the limelight. Yeah, right.
The guy hates attention. Would rather pitch in a closet than with even 10 people watching. Still gets uncomfortable talking about himself after five seasons in the majors.
Zack-mania? Not if he has anything to do with it.
“There won’t be,” said Greinke, who’s next scheduled start is Saturday against the Angels. “I guarantee it.”
It might be something he can’t control.
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