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By RONALD BLUM
AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK — Zack Greinke fidgeted a bit and spoke softly.

Winning the Cy Young Award brought up a whole lot of unwanted
attention.

“A lot of stuff going on today when I usually just like doing
nothing,” he said. “But just part of life.”

The Kansas City Royals ace easily beat out Felix Hernandez for
the honor Tuesday after a spectacular season short on wins but
long on domination. Winning left the extremely shy Greinke with
mixed emotions as he spoke from a studio in Florida during a
series of conference calls and a video link.

“Back in Orlando, I haven’t really got a whole lot of attention
from people, which has been nice,” he said. “So I hope it
doesn’t get that way, where everyone is like, `Oh, hey, Zack,
hi.”’

He’d prefer to remain anonymous when he’s not on the mound. He’s
not looking forward to being introduced at banquets as “Cy Young
Award winner Zack Greinke” for the rest of his life.

“In that way, it’s kind of like a negative for me,” he said.

It’s been quite a turnaround for Greinke, who led the AL in
losses in 2005 and quit baseball for six weeks the following
year after being diagnosed with a social anxiety disorder.

Greinke went 16-8 with a major league-low 2.16 ERA this season
and received 25 of 28 first-place votes and three seconds for
134 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of
America.

Hernandez, 19-5 with a 2.49 ERA for the Seattle Mariners, drew
two firsts, 23 seconds and one third for 80 points.

“I didn’t expect this outcome that heavily favored Greinke.
Nonetheless, I feel good because I know that I had a good
season,” Hernandez said in Maracaibo, Venezuela. “There are many
good pitchers. I don’t think I’m the best, but I’m one of the
best.”

Detroit’s Justin Verlander was third with the remaining
first-place vote and 14 points, followed by the Yankees’ CC
Sabathia (13) and Toronto’s Roy Halladay (11).

The NL winner will be announced Thursday.

Even before winning, this was sure to be a big week for Greinke.
He is getting married on Saturday to high school girlfriend
Emily Kuchar, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, and then is
heading to Hawaii for a three-week honeymoon.

The 26-year-old right-hander was the sixth overall pick in the
2002 amateur draft. He made his major league debut in 2004 and
got hit hard the next year. After leaving spring training in
February 2006 to combat his anxiety, he worked his way back to
the majors by late September.

Greinke was 7-7 the following year and 13-10 in 2008 before his
breakout season. His ERA was the lowest in the AL since Pedro
Martinez’s 1.74 ERA in 2000, and his 242 strikeouts were second
in the league behind Verlander.

Steve Carlton was the only Cy Young Award winner who pitched for
a club that was worse. The Hall of Fame lefty was 27-10 with a
1.97 ERA for the 1972 Philadelphia Phillies, who went 59-97.

Kansas City, which tied for last place in the AL Central at
65-97, scored just 13 runs in Greinke’s eight losses and 21 runs
in his nine no-decisions. He failed to get a victory in six
starts in which he allowed one run or none.

Despite what he’s overcome, Greinke doesn’t view himself as a
role model.

“I really don’t like having a bunch of attention, so even if I
did see myself in that light, I don’t do anything about it,” he
said. “I’m real uncomfortable doing stuff like that, to be
around people and doing stuff like that,” he said.