Catch A Ride On The Greinke Train

Look, we're all friends here. You've got certain feelings inside you and you're not sure how to deal with them, but it's okay to talk about it—you kinda want to hump Zack Greinke, don't you?

Why wouldn't you? Six wins, three complete games, two shutouts. Two earned runs? And he's sick in the head! Adversity, overcome. He's like Jim Abbott, Josh Hamilton and Christy Mathewson all rolled into one! Oh ... he's also a Kansas City Royal, which is like being handicapped in its own way.

There is absolutely nothing you can't like about this guy. Even his name is cool: Zaaaaack Greinke. The sounds like the alter ego of a comic book hero. Oh, man. I'm getting lightheaded just thinking about his curveball. I need some help here, Joe P.:

It was startling to watch. But there was something even more remarkable than Greinke's brilliance. The night was alive. Monday night baseball games in Kansas City's springtime have been dead affairs for many years. It only figures. Monday is a school night. Spring evenings in the heartland can be chilly. The Royals have routinely gotten off to sluggish starts (which have, traditionally, transitioned into sluggish middles and then sluggish finishes).

But Monday night felt like a bit of Kansas City past, going back to the 1970s and 1980s, when the Royals always seemed to win. A crowd of 21,843 may not make people across America gasp, but this was a Monday night in Kansas City, and there were probably 10,000 more people in Kauffman Stadium just because Zack Greinke was pitching. And it was a different kind of crowd, too....

[Cue "Battle Hymn Of The Republic"]

At the time he was uncertain if he would ever return. He was found to be suffering from social anxiety disorder and depression. He started to take some medication. After a few weeks away, he gingerly returned to baseball.

Now here it is, three years later, and he's pitching about as well as it is possible to pitch. Every time he comes out, it is an event, a happening. That's what it was on Monday. A happening.

He makes me proud to be an American, is what he does. Damn proud.

6-0…Zackkkkkkkkkk Greinke! [Ladies ...] The Secret to Greinke's Success [Why's My Head Growing?] Rumors and Rants » Blog Archive » Zack and AP Make A Porno [Rumors and Rants] Zack Greinke's Quest for the Cy Young [Simon On Sports] Greinke is magic on the mound [KC Star]