Blindsided By The Rhino? Why Masked Singer Fans Had This Baseball Player On The Brain All Along

Rhino had a great run on The Masked Singer this season, making our hearts swoon every time he sang a country ballad. Unfortunately, former pro-baseball player Barry Zito’s stint on the show came to an end when he was cut during the semi-finals episode and awarded the title of fourth place. 

Panelist Jenny McCarthy suggested Zito’s identity a couple of weeks before he was unmasked, but this week, Ken Jeong decided to steal her guess. He had his reasons, though. Last week, you may recall that Jeong went on a long and strange rant (as he usually does) explaining how the person hiding behind the Rhino mask was a cast member from the crime drama JAG. In an odd turn of events, Zito actually guest starred on JAG as a United States Navy petty officer in 2003, which led Jeong to support McCarthy’s theory. 

But not everyone is up on their Major League Baseball history, so if you didn't see this one coming, here's why it all makes sense. Let’s look back at some of Zito’s most telling clues, including this week's "big news."

In multiple clue packages, Zito shared that he has always had a love for music and has previously released music. (If you google him right now, “musician” pops up next to his name.) Now that he has been kicked off the show, it looks like he has been inspired to continue his budding music career as he just released a new single on May 8 called “The Greatest.” The country song seems to connect to his life as a pro athlete. The lyrics are about a young boy who wants to be a baseball player. 

The third season of The Masked Singer finished filming in early 2020. Since the show ended, Zito has been performing. He sang at the Sundance ASCAP Music Café in January and has recently rescheduled concert dates for October at The Sofia in Sacramento. 

He’ll have a few other songs to strum his guitar to besides “The Greatest.” He released his first EP in 2017 (currently available to stream) with six songs and he also wrote a song for the Eddie Murphy film A Thousand Words called “Butterflies.”

McCarthy and Jeong realized Zito’s identity toward the end season despite his clues being pretty easy. Some of his most significant clues were about his life as a family man. To be fair, Rhino only mentioned his children when six contestants were remaining, then baby rhinos were shown to represent Zito’s children. He now has three sons after his wife Amber Seyer gave birth to another boy in February.

Speaking of Seyer, there were multiple clues that connected to Zito’s wife, who he married in 2011. In fact, the clues linked to Seyer helped McCarthy figure out Zito was the Rhino because they were so obvious. There were images shown of Missouri on a map with a crown placed on the state. Seyer was crowned Miss Missouri in 2007. 

Of course some baseball clues had to be thrown into the mix. There weren’t too many because they would have been a clear hint that Rhino was known for playing baseball. The most important baseball clues were a close up of a glass pitcher earlier on. Zito was a pitcher for 15 seasons in MLB. There was also a sign with three quarters in one package which could have referenced a pitching technique called three-quarters. 

One quirky, fun clue that practically screamed Zito’s name arrived in episode 15. All of the contestants shared food items and Rhino presented a bowl of pasta with red sauce and cheese. A similar pasta dish is a little something called baked ziti, which is just one letter off from Zito. It was subtle, but it should have assured McCarthy that her thinking was correct. 

While it’s sad that Zito won’t get to perform any more heartwarming tracks on the show, now millions of people are aware of Zito’s singing talent. I’m sure this new career path will work out well for him.