Former Brewers pitcher Zack Greinke wishes he had not made critical comments about St. Louis pitcher Chris Carpenter before the 2011 NLCS.
Zack Greinke has been a lot less relevant to the St. Louis Cardinals since he left the Milwaukee Brewers via trade last July. Before departing, the right-hander known for his social anxiety issues almost as much as his considerable pitching prowess, fired off a shot at Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter.
Prior to game 1 of the 2011 National League Championship Series, Grienke expressed teammates’ supposed concerns about Carpenter’s habit of interacting with batters from the mound.
“They think his presence, his attitude out there sometimes is like a phony attitude,” Greinke said. “And then he yells at people. He just stares people down and stuff. And most pitchers just don’t do that. And when guys do, I guess some hitters get mad. Some hitters do it to pitchers. But when you do that some people will get mad.
“There’s other pitchers in the league that do it, but, I don’t know,” Greinke said, “a lot of guys on our team don’t like Carpenter.”
The Brewers went on to lose the NLCS to St. Louis in six games. Greinke left the Angels as a free agent following the 2012 season.
In his second appearance as a Los Angeles Dodger after signing a six-year, $147 million deal in the off-season, the pitcher suffered a broken collarbone in a fight with San Diego outfielder Carlos Quentin.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, an apparently wiser Greinke chose not to comment about what was behind the Quentin confrontation. In the process, he referred back to his 2011 Carpenter remarks.
“I made a mistake one time talking about [Chris] Carpenter and I felt bad about that afterwards,” Greinke said. “It’s just not anyone else’s business, really.”
Greinke is expected to be out for eight weeks or more.
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