River Cats player Zach Green warms up at Raley Field on Monday, April 1, 2019 in West Sacramento. Paul Kitagaki Jr. pkitagaki@sacbee.com
There is an old adage that one cannot play baseball without a smile.
Zach Green agrees, but the Sacramento River Cats corner infielder has also endured myriad emotions, aches, pains and misery from this game.
He has lived the American boyhood dream, wielding a big bat and reaching stardom as a Little League player in the region, then at Jesuit High School. Green was overjoyed at being a third-round draft pick in 2012 with the Philadelphia Phillies, and then signing a contract to play a kid’s game.