Remember Gregg Zaun? The journeyman catcher served 10 stints for nine MLB teams in 16 MLB seasons. He finished his career with 88 home runs, 446 RBI and a 1997 World Series ring with the Marlins.
Now, he goes to bat for the Blue Jays, Canada's team and the current darlings of Major League Baseball. After the weekend series between the Blue Jays and Royals, Kansas City pitcher Yordano Ventura sent controversial tweets about Toronto slugger Jose Bautista, calling the two-time MLB home run champion a "nobody," among other things.
Ventura later deleted the tweets. But the backtracking did not calm a fuming Zaun, now a Sportsnet (Canada) analyst, who took offense to his local star getting called out.
"Stop writing checks with your mouth that your skinny ass can't cash," Zaun said.
He also challenged Ventura to knock on the Blue Jays' locker room door like a man. He called Ventura out for throwing 100 mph fastballs and then not hitting as an American League pitcher.
"Grab a bat and man up, otherwise shut up," Zaun challenged.
In the grand finale, Zaun makes sure to give Ventura his exact location at the Rogers Centre, the Blue Jays' home stadium.
Somehow, a Friends reference makes it in here. In "The One With Ross's Sandwich," Ross Geller's rage earns him the nickname "Mental Geller."
However, Geller lost his job in that episode.
Now, Zaun is the toast of Canada. Here is curling Olympic gold medalist John Morris' thoughts:
Loved the @GreggZaun pregame rant backing up his Jays! Thanks for being uncensored @Sportsnet fun to watch Canada's team again #Jaysnation
— John Morris (@johnnymocurler) August 3, 2015
The Blue Jays are coming off a July that may have been the club's greatest month in the past two decades. While they did not set any records in actual wins, general manager Alex Anthopoulos decided to roll the dice and trade for superstar shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and former Cy Young Award winner David Price.
The Blue Jays, who hold the longest playoff drought in the MLB, dating back to 1993, are going all in. The team is currently tied for the second Wild Card berth in the American League with 57 games left to play.
-- Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband.
