Toms River’s hometown hero, Major League Baseball player Todd Frazier has gone to war. The veteran third baseman was designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates ahead of the team’s series against Frazier’s former team, the Cincinnati Reds.
Frazier has had an ongoing back and forth with Pittsburgh area sports talk show host Mark Madden. Madden, whose career includes six world series rings, ten all-star appearances, and 4 Major League MVP awards took a shot at Frazier on his way out of Pittsburgh.
Actually, Madden has none of those things. In fact, it’s not certain if Madden ever played baseball at any level and according to Frazier, he’s a “Fat slob” who needs to “look in the mirror”.
On Monday, to make room for Ben Gamel, who was claimed off waivers from the Cleveland Indians, the Pirates designated Todd Frazier for assignment.
Madden ‘bat shamed’ Frazier who was struggling at the plate, batting just .086 in 35 at-bats this season with the Pirates. Madden has a history of provoking professional athletes and trolling them for a response to reaffirm his own relevance.
Upon hearing the news of the Pirates latest transaction, Madden tweeted, “Hey, @FlavaFraz21 …happy ***king trails, you scrub. DFA’d. Now GFY.”
Frazier responded.
“Funny that this slob, I mean absolute slob is talking shit. Go grab another hot dog. Please look yourself in the mirror my goodness. You wouldn’t dare say this to my face FLOUNDER. love your nickname btw. This picture tells it all and to think people take you serious.”
Then things got out of hand as a full blown Twitter salvo was fired by the portly radio host.
Frazier and Madden fans alike blasted the host, who operates in one of America’s smallest professional sports markets.
“Why did you go down this road? Did Frazier ever do anything to hurt you to the point that you had to be so graceless? Even if it’s over for him he’s done things that you and I could only dream about. His work deserves more respect than you’ve given. But don’t count him out yet,” one fan said.
“Must be nice to have zero athletic ability while being able criticize those that do behind a desk. You should be grateful for these athletes since they gave you a voice. Talking about hits when your brain and pen hasn’t had one in over a decade. You sir are a clown,” another said.
“Hopefully, Todd Frazier has a lot more days in the bigs. But in the aftermath of the PIT decision to designate him for assignment, it should be said: He has been tremendous for MLB, as a player, as a reliable source of fun, intensity, as a connection for fans who love the sport,” another said.
Frazier leaves Pittsburgh with some impressive achievements under his belt. He was the Rookie of the Year in 2012 Player’s Choice voting, often seen as being a more valuable honor than the official sportswriter Rookie of the Year award. He has 212 career home runs over his ten-year career and is a two-time MLB all-star. Frazier won the Home Run Derby at the 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
During his career Frazier got to wear some of the sport’s legendary uniforms including the Reds and Yankees.
Before playing for the Pirates, Frazier played with the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, New York Mets, and Texas Rangers.
Before trolling Frazier, Madden hosted a podcast where he sometimes talked about those Major League Baseball teams. Before becoming a talk show host for iHeart radio, Madden did color commentary for WCW wrestling, the imaginary sport where men grab each other in a ring in scripted engagements. Madden himself participated in the imaginary sport of man grabbing, not in the ring, but as a writer for a fanzine style blog, “Pro Wrestling Torch”.
Madden was eventually promoted to operate the WCW’s 900 telephone hotline. Over his career, Madden’s relevance depended mostly upon his ability to start feuds with professional athletes. He was eventually fired from the WCW for running his mouth about his former employee. He later worked for ESPN radio, but he was fired from that job too.
For 15 years, Madden covered high school sports for a local Pittsburgh Newspaper before making it big at the local talk radio station. Although Madden covers Pittsburgh sports teams for the city, he is known most for dumping on teams year after year.
Madden was raised by his mother in Reserve Township after his father abandoned them. In 2006, Madden was hospitalized after suffering from a heart attack during a dek-hockey tournament in Pennsylvania. A search of professional wrestling, baseball, and hockey databases yielded no results for Mark Madden.
After being cut, Frazier returned to Toms River where he visited his former High School Baseball team, the Toms River High School South Indians to show support for his former team.
The Pirates now have 7 days to either trade Frazier, place him on waivers, return him to the Pirates roster or release him. The struggling Pirates are 15-20, one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball this season.