On the 7th (Korean time), Hanwha’s spring camp was held at Bell Bank Park in Mesa, Arizona, USA. The camp was agitated by the surprise appearance of major league superstars.
Shortly after 12:00 noon, the pitchers and hitters who had finished training moved to the cafeteria in the indoor gym for lunch. A few players who were scheduled for extra training (batting) stayed and digested the schedule.
At this time, major leaguer Jack Greinke (40, Kansas City) appeared next to the baseball field used by Hanwha players. Greinke, dressed in a Kansas City team color blue tracksuit and gray shorts, got on the mound and prepared for pitching practice.
Hitters wearing Oakland, LA Dodgers and LA Angels helmets gathered around home plate to watch Greinke. Greinke pitched on the mound and even talked to the guy behind the mound checking his equipment.
Not only Greinke, but also Dallas Keuchel and Minnesota’s Pilseungjo Griffin Jax trained together. Jax and Keuchel pitched live with hitters at bat.
Just in time for the extra training, Hanwha players, employees, and on-site staff flocked to see Greinke practice pitching. Noh Si-hwan admired, saying, “Greinke is the first to see a foreign major leaguer pitching in front of his eyes.”
Several players even filmed Greinke pitching on their cell phones. After completing all of his training, Greinke kindly responded with a smile to fans’ requests for photos in the parking lot.
Why did Greinke and other former big leaguers show up at Bell Bank Park, the Hanwha campsite? Hanwha coach Subero said, “I have no friendship with Greinke. Although he was never seen when he played for Arizona. I know that I came here today because I rented this place from the drive line as a training place.”
Bellbank Park has several sides to the ballpark. At the ballpark right next to the three fields used by the Hanwha Eagles, Greinke did individual training ahead of the major league spring camp.
Greinke recently agreed to a one-year contract with Kansas City, and will continue to wear the uniform of his parent team following last year.
Selected by Kansas City with the 1st round, 6th overall pick in the 2002 draft, Greinke made his major league debut in 2004 and won the 2009 American League Cy Young Award. After that, he also played with Ryu Hyun-jin for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and won the World Series runner-up twice with Houston. Until last year, he recorded 223 wins, 141 losses, an average ERA of 3.42 and 2882 strikeouts in 556 games (3247 innings) in 19 seasons. 안전놀이터