Blue Jays 2023 Media Guide: Best tidbits you did (and didn't) need to know about this team

To many baseball fans, collecting their home team's annual media guides can turn into something of a yearly hobby. Personally, I have a huge stack of them at home and occasionally flip through some of the older ones for trips down memory lane.

In each media guide, which is filled to the brim with information on all players, coaches, staff members and everything in between, are some brief personal biographies on all of the players on the team.

The 2023 Blue Jays media guide is no different, and features quite a few funny, strange and wacky tidbits on our favorite boys in blue. The Athletic recently published a piece on the wackiest things found in all 30 MLB teams' media guides, so I decided to take a closer look at the Blue Jays' one and see what comes of it.

Boy, am I glad I did. Sit back and relax and enjoy learning everything you could ever want to know about your 2023 Blue Jays.

The best of the best in the 2023 Toronto Blue Jays media guide.

The infielders:

• Addison Barger began his baseball career as a right-handed batter. He took up switch-hitting so he could bat like Ichiro from the left side. He eventually dropped right-handed hitting at 16-years-old.
• One of Brandon Belt's nicknames is "Bob".
• Otto Lopez speaks Spanish, French and English.
• Whit Merrifield once competed in a Japanese Game Show called the Sports Danshi Grand Prix.

The outfielders:

• Wynton Bernard appeared on Family Feud back in 2011.
• Kevin Kiermaier hauled in a 43-pound buffalo carp at 2:00 in the morning while bowfishing in Wisconsin back in 2019 (do with this what you will).
• Daulton Varsho is named after Darren Daulton, a former teammate of his father's. His middle name is John, after John Vukovich, a former bench coach of the Phillies.

The pitchers:

• José Berríos would be a teacher if he was not a professional baseball player.
• Adam Cimber's dad voices commercials that air during Seattle Mariners games.
• Julian Fernández accrued two years of big league service time without making his MLB debut.
• Paul Fry has the nickname "Papa Frita", which is "french fry" in Spanish.
• Chad Green is three minutes older than his twin brother, Chase.
• Jay Jackson was a high school basketball star prior to being drafted by the Cubs.
• Tim Mayza has a Masters Degree in Sport Administration from Ohio University.
• Matt Peacock once gave up baseball entirely for an extended period of time after he sustained an injury pre-MLB draft.
• One of Nate Pearson's hobbies is jet skiing.
• Zach Pop played baseball, golf, volleyball and hockey in high school.
• Jackson Rees is an avid beach volleyball player in his free time.
• Trevor Richards is the first graduate from Drury University to make the big leagues since all the way back in 1968.
• Jimmy Robbins was a two-sport athlete in high school, starring in both baseball and football.
• Hyun Jin Ryu is naturally right-handed, but he taught himself to be a lefty as a child.
• George Springer was a soccer star in high school.
• Trent Thornton is a "rock and folk virtuoso on the harmonica".