KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City-area native Austin Johnston goes by @RealBirdLawyer on Twitter and is a huge Zack Greinke fan.
In 2019, in response to a picture of Greinke, he said “It seems hard to believe after two pennants, a World Series, and Patrick Mahomes, but ten years ago, Zack Greinke winning the Cy Young was the biggest moment in my life as a Kansas City sports fan."
I miss this guy. It seems hard to believe after two pennants, a World Series, and Patrick Mahomes, but ten years ago, Zack Greinke winning the Cy Young was THE biggest moment in my life as a Kansas City sports fan https://t.co/8KO1tVjlBh
— Bird Law Expert 🇺🇦 (@RealBirdLawyer) March 7, 2019
Johnston, who lives in Colorado now, retweeted the 2019 tweet in early March of this year when Greinke re-signed with the Royals.
"I was so excited to see that he was coming back,” Johnston told KSHB 41 in a Zoom interview. “I obviously knew he was still pitching. I didn't know he was still interested in doing another season in 2022, and I didn't realize he was on the Royals' radar at all, or that the Royals were on his radar."
"It really is a wonderful sort of storybook ending to this whole two-decade story of Kansas City Royals history, I think," Johnston said. “I already have tickets to see the Royals when they come to Colorado to play the Rockies, so I'm hoping the schedule will work out that he will be pitching in that series.”
Johnston also talked about the impact Greinke made in terms of trade value. When Greinke was sent to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2010, the Royals' return included Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar, two players who were big pieces in the Royals' back-to-back World Series runs in 2014 and 2015.
"I think his 2009 season was probably the greatest season by a Royals pitcher ever in franchise history,” Johnston said. “And for him to do what he did in that era, and to win the Cy Young Award was incredible, and was such an accomplishment for a franchise that had not done anything since the early 90s. It just like gave me this wave of nostalgia and excitement that I haven't felt for the Royals in a few years."
Johnston said that the ultimate goal would be to see Greinke start a playoff game for the Royals, which never happened during his first stint with the team.
Greinke is also famously quirky, known for sometimes offering odd answers to questions, and even some odd behavior on the field, like tipping his own pitches.
He left the Royals for much of the 2006 season because of struggles with mental health, one of the first players to publicly express the need to take a break.
"When you have an athlete that you're a fan of, and a team that you're a fan of, it's devastating to hear that you know that this person is struggling, and stepping away from the game,” Johnston said. “For athletes, that was not on the radar at all. I think that was one of the first major national athletes to do that. I think the Royals really set the stage for how teams do deal with those situations moving forward.”
Johnston said he also hopes to make it back home to Kansas City this season, just so he can see Greinke pitch in front of Royals fans.
