Stephen A. Smith Fires Latest Salvo In Feud With Jonathan Papelbon

Stephen A. Smith and former Big League pitcher Jonathan Papelbon have been taking shots at each other ever since Smith made some comments about Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout's injury issues.

Papelbon responded, and now, like a verbal tennis match, the ball is back in Stephen A.'s court.

While Trout's injury was the catalyst for Smith's initial comments, they took aim at the frequency of injuries in Major League Baseball and implied that it doesn't require the level of physical fitness that sports like football or combat sports do. 

That didn't sit well with Papelbon.

Ballplayers have to have each other's backs, y'know?

So he fired back during an appearance on Foul Territory.

"That’s not what the game needs," Papelbon said. "Everybody wants to tune into the media, I get it. But at the end of the day, you have to be responsible for the s–t that you say. And unless ESPN holds him accountable for the stupid s–t that he says, guess what? He’s going to keep doing it."

Papelbon also accused Smith of being "really shady" and alleged that the ESPN star had once been booted from an MLB clubhouse for snooping around the manager's office and training room.

The war of words between Stephen A Smith and Jonathan Papelbon is still going and showing no signs of stopping. (Getty Images)

Well, Smith responded to those allegations on the latest episode of his podcast The Stephen A. Smith Show.

"I didn’t even know you were a contributor to a podcast until this morning. But I can go tit for tat with you," Smith said, per Awful Announcing. "What I won’t do is disrespect you to the degree that you just disrespected me."

Smith wasn't having it and fired back that he'd seek legal action against Papelbon… but he doesn't have the time.

"That has never happened in any sport. I’ve never been thrown out of a locker room, I’ve never been thrown out of a clubhouse. I’ve never had any discipline action exacted against me," Smith said. "Because I have never been professionally unethical in my career. That is a lie. Now, I could sue your ass for telling such a lie like that. But I won’t waste my time."

Something tells me we haven't heard the end of this one, seeing as the ball is once again in Papelbon's court.