Todd Frazier says it’s called pie, not pizza

I never thought I could lose so much respect for a man so fast. Especially Todd Frazier? I mean this was the guy who had me riveted to the 1998 Little League World Series. He was one of the Beasts From The East, the Toms River team that went on to win it all. This was the kid that made one of the most heads-up plays I've seen when he stopped a Toms River teammate from making the mistake of grabbing the ball when it was about to roll foul. He was a star at 12 years old who went on to play baseball for Rutgers and in 2007 had a .377 batting average, a .502 on-base percentage and .757 slugging percentage. Of course he'd go on to the MLB.

He played for the Reds, the White Sox, the Yankees, the Mets, the Rangers and most recently is with the Pirates. And it's a Pittsburgh teammate that brings us to this bitter day of disappointment.

Utility player Cole Tucker was being interviewed on MLB Network Radio and was asked a question about Todd Frazier's clubhouse influence. His answer?

"He's always talking about pizza. He's like, 'Man no one makes pizza like we do in Jersey, man!"

Then, THIS happened:

Yes, I learned this day that Todd Frazier calls it pie. Not only does he call it pie, he's calling out those normal among us who call it pizza.

Look, Todd, I grew up here too. Union County born and raised. We know pizza too. And that's what we call it. Pizza. Because that's what it is. And because we're normal. Now yes your Ocean County has my Union County on percentage of Italian-Americans, 25% to 10%, I'll give you that. But we're closer to Staten Island, and being closer to NYC I think we can say we're no stranger to great pizza. In fact one of the four New Jersey pizza shops that made The Daily Meal's 101 best pizza places in the nation is right in Union County. That would be Santillo's in Elizabeth. How many from Ocean County? Zero. Zip. Nada.

Todd, you're 35 years old. Not only should you be calling it pizza and not "pie" like some old geezer, I'm surprised a Millennial like you hasn't moved on to "za" by now. My dad once in a while called it "pie" as in (lips smacking) "mmm, that's good pie." I found it weird then and weirder now. I don't hear Jersey calling it pie. Certainly not more often than they're calling it pizza.

Let me help you out further.

Here's the definition of pie.

pie noun

a baked dish of fruit, or meat and vegetables, typically with a top and base of pastry.

Here's the definition of pizza.

pizza noun
a dish of Italian origin consisting of a flat, round base of dough baked with a topping of tomato sauce and cheese, typically with added meat or vegetables.

I thought you were the quintessential Jersey bro. But pie? "Hey, you wanna order a pie?" At least stick pizza in front of it even though saying pizza pie is superfluous and even though you'll sound like someone's great uncle. But for God's sake, it's pizza. Just eat pizza. Let's get a pizza. Hey they have good pizza. You're a great ball player Todd Frazier, but it's pizza.

Hell, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. What do YOU call it? Take our poll below.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski. Any opinions expressed are Jeff Deminski's own.