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Gregg Zaun

Gregg Zaun Marquee

b. April 14, 1971 · Baltimore Orioles 1995–1996, 2009, Florida Marlins 1996–1998, Texas Rangers 1999, Kansas City Royals 2000–2001, Houston Astros 2002–2003, Colorado Rockies 2003, Toronto Blue Jays 2004–2008, Tampa Bay Rays 2009, Milwaukee Brewers 2010

He hit .251 with 11 home runs for Toronto in 2005, at thirty-four, and stayed the club's regular catcher for five years after that — the busiest and most productive stretch of a career that had bounced between eight other organizations before it. He was traded, released or signed as a free agent more than a dozen times.

Sixteen seasons gave him 878 hits, 194 doubles, 479 walks and a .252 average across 1,067 games behind the plate. He caught for Florida's 1997 World Series winner as a backup, then spent most of his career as a backup or a short-term regular before Toronto gave him the job at an age when most catchers are losing theirs.

He captained Canada's team in the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classics and became a television and radio analyst after retiring in 2010. He is not on a Hall of Fame ballot.

Batting, season by season

YearTeam GABR H2B3B HRRBIBB SOSBAVG
1995 BAL 401041827 503 1416141 .260
1996 BAL/FLA 601392034 912 1514201 .245
1997 FLA 581432143 1022 2026181 .301
1998 FLA 1062981956 1225 2935525 .188
1999 TEX 43931223 211 121071 .247
2000 KCR 832343664 1107 3343347 .274
2001 KCR 391251540 906 1812161 .320
2002 HOU 761851841 713 2412361 .222
2003 COL/HOU 741661538 804 2119211 .229
2004 TOR 1073384691 2406 3647610 .269
2005 TOR 13343461109 18111 6173702 .251
2006 TOR 992903979 19012 4041420 .272
2007 TOR 1103314380 24110 5251550 .242
2008 TOR 862452958 1206 3038382 .237
2009 BAL/TBR 902623468 1708 2731480 .260
2010 MIL 281021127 702 1411120 .265
Career 12323489437878 194988 44647954423 .252

On this day & linked events

1971

Born April 14, 1971

Glendale, CA, USA

1995

Major-league debut: Gregg Zaun

Gregg Zaun made a major-league debut on June 24, 1995.

2010

Final major-league game: Gregg Zaun

Gregg Zaun played a final major-league game on May 20, 2010.

Image: Wigstruck on Flickr, CC BY 2.0