San Diego Padres president and CEO Tom Garfinkel made startling comments to Padres' season ticket holders regarding the April 11th brawl between Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin and Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, that he has since apologized for.
Yahoo! Sports! obtained video of Garfinkel's talk in which he said, "He threw at him on purpose, OK? That's what happened. They can say 3-and-2 count, 2-1 game, no one does that. Zack Greinke is a different kind of guy. Anyone seen 'Rain Man'? He's a very smart guy."
Later in the conversation, Garfinkel noted Greinke's past issues with an anxiety disorder and insinuated that the game situation, 3-2 count, no runners on base and a one-run game in the sixth inning, doesn't absolve Greinke because he doesn't think like most pitchers.
Garfinkel apologized for bringing up Greinke's anxiety trouble yesterday saying, "I was emotional the day after the game and regrettably, while defending our player, I said some things I shouldn't have, especially as it relates to Zack Greinke. I was out of line and I apologize."
Garfinkel is not saying sorry for believing Greinke intentionally plunked Quentin, however. He said that he saw a heat map that showed Greinke had not thrown a pitch inside on a 3-2 count in the last three years; Greinke hasn't faced Quentin since 2009.
He also told the Padres ticket holders that Greinke knew what was coming to him if he threw at Quentin again, having hit him twice previously. "When Zack Greinke threw at his head a couple times, [Quentin] let it be known through teammates and intermediaries and others that if he does that again, he's going to have a problem. This was a couple years ago. So Zack was very aware of that and Zack never apologized and never told him, 'Hey, I didn't mean to throw at you. It got away from me.' Whatever. This was a couple years ago. He knew darn well that was going [to happen]."
Nobody knows the real intent, and PITCHf/x data shows that the heat map Garfinkel referenced is incorrect. According to Dan Brooks and Harry Pavlidis of Baseball Prospectus, 81 of Greinke's 3-2 pitches were inside.
The debate rages on and Quentin will surely face retribution the next time the Dodgers and Padres meet. Quentin began serving his eight-game suspension Monday, which opened a three-game series with Los Angeles in their home park. Greinke is still nursing a broken collarbone from the incident and could miss up to two months.
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