SAN DIEGO (AP) - San Diego Padres president and CEO Tom Garfinkel apologized to the Los Angeles Dodgers for comments he made about Zack Greinke the day after the pitcher's left collarbone was broken in a brawl, including referencing the right-hander's social-anxiety disorder.
Padres spokeswoman Sarah Farnsworth said Garfinkel spoke with his Dodgers counterpart Stan Kasten on Wednesday night after learning a recording of his talk to a group of season-ticket holders had been forwarded to Yahoo!
Farnsworth said Garfinkel offered to speak with Greinke as well, but Kasten relayed the apology.
Garfinkel told the season-ticket holders Greinke intentionally threw at Carlos Quentin on April 11 and he should not have lowered his shoulder when the Padres slugger charged the mound. Greinke's left collarbone was broken and he'll be out for two months.
Garfinkel said Greinke, who was signed as a free agent to a $147-million contract in the offseason, doesn't miss his spots.
"He threw at him on purpose, OK?" Garfinkel told an estimated crowd of 40 or 50 at Petco Park on Friday, a day after the fight. "So 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. Anybody see "Rain Man?' He's a very smart guy. He has social-anxiety disorder. He doesn't interact well with his team. He doesn't eat meals with his teammates. He spends his life studying how to get hitters out.
"He knows that if he pitches away to Carlos Quentin he can get him out, but not unless he establishes inside. He pitched away to him last night. Carlos put a good swing on it and hit it foul. (It's) 3-and-2, he figures, "Hey, I'm either going to walk him, he's going to hit a double or home run, I don't have (Chase) Headley or (Yasmani) Grandal coming up behind him right now, I'll just put him on first base.'"
"This is my opinion, and I can't say it publicly, although I guess this is public, so please don't tweet it out," Garfinkel told the crowd. "We're in the trust tree here, in the nest. He hit him on purpose. That's what I believe."
Greinke hit Quentin with pitches in 2008 and 2009 when they played in the AL. Garfinkel said Greinke threw pitches at Quentin's head "about five other times that didn't hit him."