I am writing this prior to any official announcement that Zack Grienke has or has not been named the 2009 American League Cy Young Award Winner.
I’m doing so because I think it fitting to pay tribute to someone who captivated our newsroom and kept fans on the edge of their seats during yet another season of Royals baseball that failed to live up to expectation.
On days when we might have been interviewing fans about how poorly the team was performing, or how fantastically improbable it is that no one who carried a bat to the plate seemed to know how to bunt, we were instead talking about Zack.
Those thousands of fans who packed the new Kauffman Stadium night after night were there in part because of the renovations that may well have landed us the All-Star game in 2012. But I’d venture to guess that a good majority of them were there to catch a glimpse of the best arm the organization has seen since I don’t know when. Zack Grienke is good for Kansas City. And Zack Grienke is good for baseball.
In an era when so many fans are still scarred by the cheating ways of oversized sluggers who stole history from the ghosts of the past, it is refreshing to see the fans get excited about scoreless innings streaks, nasty breaking balls and the art of upsetting the timing of a big league hitter.
From the streets of Kansas City with a microphone in my hand, to my own neighborhood where Mr. Kevin Fox and his three boys caught a case of Zack Fever that lasted well into late September, I saw the impact this young phenom had on a city that loves its sports and loves its heroes.
Zack Grienke deserves the Cy Young award not just for being the best pitcher in the league. For there is no doubt about that. But he deserves the award for being the most valuable player on his team, and possibly in his city. And he deserves the award because baseball desperately needs players like Zack Grienke to help bring it back to what it was long before the hidden needles began turning up in proverbial locker rooms all across America’s pastime.