Greinke Climbs List of Pitching Surprises

As wonderfully dramatic as Zack Greinke has been for the Kansas City Royals as baseball's latest Pitcher Out Of Nowhere, it's not as if he is Wayne Simpson or somebody.

Come to think of it, Greinke isn't Fernando Valenzuela, either.

Mark Fidrych? Nah.

You also have to push Greinke behind Dwight Gooden's rush to prominence, when only his fastball was more overwhelming than his charisma.

So Greinke ranks fifth on my Pitcher Out of Nowhere chart. Your chart might be different, but this is my column. Plus, I'm ignoring everything prior to the first half of the 1970 season. Did I mention this is my column? Not only that, I was an obsessed Big Red Machine fan, and that's the year Simpson was a 21-year old rookie for the Cincinnati Reds en route to a Hall of Fame career -- you know, through June.

Anyway, back to Greinke. Three years ago, he feared large gatherings, which is sort of a problem if you're a major leaguer with thousands studying your every breath. He was clinically depressed with social anxiety. Now, when it comes to his world, you still can mention variations of the words "depressed" and "anxiety," but those words mostly apply to hitters after they see his pitches.

Greinke is 6-1 with a 0.51 ERA, and he's unhittable. He's also unbelievable. Before each of his starts in Kansas City, walk-up sales soar. Fans wish to see the 25-year-old whiz kid who has four complete games, two shutouts and allowed opposing hitters a .184 batting average. He has struck out 59 and walked just eight in 53 innings.

Not bad, but not the magic of the other four on my chart. Greinke is in his sixth major league season, and the others jumped from the shadows as rookies.

And consider this ...

No. 4 Wayne Simpson: This hurts me to place what was a Bob Gibson clone in progress this low on my list. I still bleed baseball Pennzoil from that Big Red Machine, and since 1970, no pitcher has surpassed Simpson's brilliant start. He threw a two-hit, complete-game shutout during his debut in the majors against a sensational Dodgers team. He later threw a one-hitter and a three-hitter.

In fact, Simpson won 13 of his first 14 decisions. Only a couple of errors late in a game by his Machine mates kept him from going 14-for-14.

Those are Simpson's career highlights, by the way. He blew out his shoulder that July, and he vanished into obscurity after that. If Greinke stays healthy and vibrant during the second half, he might at least become Simpson.

No. 3 Mark Fidrych: Yes, he ended 1976 as the American League Rookie of the Year. Yes, he had baseball's lowest ERA at 2.34 that season. Yes, he had more complete games than anybody in the league on the way to a 19-9 record. It's just that Fidrych did a bunch of other things to become more special than Greinke (and a bunch of other pitchers, for that matter). Those things ranged from Fidrych manicuring the mound to chitchatting with the ball and himself.

By comparison, Greinke just winds up, pitches and dominates.

Boring.



No. 2 Dwight Gooden: There was no way somebody that young (19) was supposed to be that composed and sling that hard in 1984 or ever. He was a lanky right-hander who threw 100 mph and whose curveballs made hitters weep even more. So it wasn't surprising that he ignored his status as the youngest All-Star ever to fan Lance Parrish, Chet Lemon and Alvin Davis in a row that July.

Gooden was destined for instant glory no matter what. Still, what drove his legacy beyond extraordinary was that he played for the Mets in New York, where good players are considered great, and great ones are considered immortal.

Greinke pitches in Kansas City, where the only thing that earns national and international fame in a flash is barbecue.

No. 1 Fernando Valenzuela: I covered a lot of baseball during more than 30 years working for major newspapers, and I never experienced anything close to Fernandomania. He finished 1981 as the only guy ever to win Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards during the same season. But here's the big thing: When it came to producing electricity in a stadium before, during and after games that he pitched, Valenzuela was Simpson, Fidrych, Gooden and Greinke combined.

The fancy windup.

The look toward the sky at the top of it all.

The screwball that made hitters look silly.

You also had the added mystique of Valenzuela with his pot belly, sly smile and inability to speak English -- or so he claimed.

Greinke hasn't a pot belly or a sly smile. He speaks English, too, which means he just has to keep pitching out of his mind this season to reach the top of my list.

Terence Moore is a national columnist and commentator for FanHouse. He is a frequent panelist on "Rome Is Burning," an ESPN show hosted by Jim Rome, that is seen Monday through Friday at 4:30 PM ET. Moore spent more than three decades working for major newspapers, including 26 years as an award-winning sports columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He resides in Atlanta.