Blue Jays’ prospect Conner Greene calls Charlie Sheen ‘a friend’
There’s no doubt Charlie Sheen is one of the biggest baseball fans out there.
From his iconic role as Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn in The Stew’s official favorite baseball flick “Major League” to his massive collection of memorabilia, Sheen’s love for baseball runs deep.
Just when you thought Sheen couldn’t be more in tune with the happenings on the field, we find out he’s got a good grasp on the future of the game, too.
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20-year-old right-hander Conner Greene, ranked as the top pitching prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays’ system by MLB.com, counts Sheen as a friend.
Greene’s former coach at Santa Monica High School, Tony Todd, is a lifelong friend of Sheen’s. And Greene said that when he first started at the school, he was forever hounding his coach for an introduction.
“He finally said to me, ‘Look, I’ll make you a deal. If you get drafted, you can meet Charlie.’”
A couple of months later, Greene was picked by the Blue Jays.
“The next day, I’m up at Charlie’s house playing catch with him,” Greene said.
The meeting evolved into a friendship that Greene said continues to this day.
“He’s been nothing but a great person to me and a great friend,” Greene said. “I don’t care about what’s been written about him or reported. I just know what he’s done for me and how sweet he’s been to me and that’s all I care about. He’s just an amazing person.”
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The friendship has even led to a few acting gigs for Greene, appearing as an extra in three episodes of Sheen’s new show “Anger Management” despite no prior experience in front of the camera.
“I was really nervous, way more nervous than I ever am in baseball,” Greene said. “I was just an extra. I didn’t even have any lines. I was just standing in the background pretending to talk to a pretty young lady.”
That bodes well for when Greene, who is expected to start the 2016 season in Double-A, makes his big-league debut down the road. He’s already learned how to manage his nerves in an unfamiliar situation, and with the possibility that his good buddy Sheen is in the crowd for that one as well, we’re very much looking forward to that day coming soon.
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Israel Fehr is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr
