With his father’s help, Riley Greene has slowly honed a sweet swing
LAKELAND, Fla. — Several years ago, Riley Greene’s grandmother bought him a set of golf clubs. There was only one problem: The clubs were right-handed, and Greene is left-handed.
If you want to know more about how Riley Greene became one of the best young hitting prospects in baseball, perhaps this is a perfect place to start. Because the family did not take those clubs back. Instead, Greene’s father smiled.
“I go, ‘No, Mom, perfect,’” Alan Greene said. “He’ll swing righty.”
Riley Greene was not even in high school yet, but he was already a budding baseball talent. Alan Greene is a professional hitting instructor, and he did not want anything messing up his son’s already special swing.
“My father is a little crazy when it comes to my swing,” Riley Greene said Wednesday, shrugging his shoulders.
Greene learned to play golf right-handed, so his muscle memory would be able to differentiate the golf swing from the baseball swing. He also bowls right-handed — his father didn’t want him to hurt his elbow.
Call Alan Greene crazy if you wish. Lord knows his neighbors once did. When Riley Greene was growing up, he practically demanded to go out and play catch or take groundballs every night. Alan would return from giving lessons after the sun had already set. The solution: Alan bought a set of construction lights, plugged them in and shined them on the front lawn.
“The neighbors would always way, ‘I’m gonna call somebody on you,’” Alan Greene said, laughing. “I was like, ‘Don’t call them on me. Call them on Riley. He always wanted to swing. He always wanted to take groundballs. He always wanted to catch.’”
So father and son spent every night at their Oviedo, Fla., home playing baseball and perfecting a craft.
In time, even the neighbors came to embrace it.
“They were like, ‘You know what?’ I hate the lights, but I would never change it,’” Alan said. “‘I see you guys out here working, and it’s pretty awesome.’”