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Gregory Owen "Gregg" Zaun (pronounced /zɑːn/; born April 14, 1971 in Glendale, California) is a Major League Baseball catcher for the Baltimore Orioles. He is the nephew of former MLB catcher Rick Dempsey. Zaun was a high school teammate of Mark Loretta of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Zaun and Loretta attended Saint Francis High School in La Cañada, California and graduated in 1989.
Drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 13th round of the 1989 Major League Baseball Draft, Zaun reached the majors with the Orioles in June of 1995. Used primarily as a back-up early in his career, he was traded to the Florida Marlins in 1996. After winning a World Series with the Marlins in 1997, he moved to the Texas Rangers prior to the 1999 season. He has also played with the Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, and Colorado Rockies. He signed as a free agent with the Blue Jays prior to the 2004 season. In 2004, the Blue Jays were the first team to make Zaun, at 33, a starting catcher. Valuable in the line-up as a switch-hitter, he set a career high in 2005 with 133 games, which helped him earn his nickname "Big Jeezy". Zaun has also been linked to MLB's Mitchell Report.
Prior to the 2006 season, the Blue Jays signed Bengie Molina as the everyday catcher, making Zaun once again the backup. Zaun started 2006 on on the disabled list, with Jason Phillips serving as Molina's backup during the first week of the year. Zaun hit a game-winning two-run homer off the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' Jason Childers in his return on April 8. Molina's struggles against right-handed pitchers caused John Gibbons to platoon the two, with Molina generally starting against left-handed pitchers and Zaun playing against righties. On September 13, 2006, he hit home runs from both sides of the plate in the same game. He was only the 4th Blue Jay in history to do this.