Barry Zito

Barry Zito (born May 13, 1978) is an Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. He previously played seven seasons with the Oakland Athletics, where he won the 2002 American League Cy Young Award and made three All-Star teams.

Zito never missed a scheduled start in his career until 2008, and led the American League in starts four times. After the 2006 season, Zito signed the most expensive contract in history for a pitcher at the time. Zito is well known for the drastic difference between his pre- and post- All Star Game pitching performance, and has been one of the greatest second half pitchers in MLB history throughout his career. He has also proven to be one of the greatest front running pitchers in recent memory, holding a record of 111-6 when getting at least 4 runs of support.

Zito played collegiately at UC Santa Barbara, Los Angeles Pierce College, and the University of Southern California. In the 1999 draft, he was drafted by the Oakland Athletics with the ninth pick of the first round. Zito is known for his idiosyncrasies, and his offbeat personality. He created the charity Strikeouts for Troops which provides money to hospitals for soldiers wounded in military operations.

Barry Zito

Barry Zito

Professional career

Zito was taken by the Seattle Mariners in the 59th round (1,586th overall) of the MLB Draft, and in the third round (83rd overall) by the Texas Rangers in 1998, but did not sign with either team. In the 1999 draft, he was selected by the Oakland Athletics with the ninth pick of the first round, and signed for a $1.59 million bonus.

Barry Zito

Barry Zito

Pitching style

Zito's fastball has hovered between 85–90 mph. He augments it with a circle changeup and a traditional "12-to-6" curveball that he uses as a strikeout pitch. His curveball was voted the best in the Major Leagues in a player poll conducted by ESPN The Magazine. Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees once stated that he had never seen anything like Zito's curveball, commenting: "It's such a high one, and it drops three to four feet. You might as well not even look for it because you're not going to hit it."

Since mid-2004, Zito has added a two-seam fastball and a slider to his arsenal. In the 2009 season, his slider became a prominent part of his repertoire, being used more frequently than his changeup. Zito's diminished velocity at the start of the 2007 season (his fastball velocity slowed to 83–85 mph) and loss of command are the key reasons for his recent struggles, as he more often got behind in the count and had to rely more on his fastball. Most recently however, his pitching performance has rebounded due to the increased velocity on his fastball and regaining control on his curveball. During the 2009 season, Zito made changes to his delivery, lowering his arm slot from an over the top angle to a three quarters delivery. This change helped his fastball velocity go back up to the 86–89 mph range as well as sharpening the break of his curveball.

Barry Zito

Barry Zito

Personal life

Zito is known for his idiosyncrasies and his offbeat personality. He has earned the nicknames "Planet Zito" and "Captain Quirk".

At his introductory press conference with the Giants, Zito said he liked the way his uniform number 75 looked, because the 7 and the 5 are like a "shelf" to hold the name "Zito" up. He carries pink satin pillows on the road, collects stuffed animals (such as a good luck teddy bear, with which he used to travel), and burns incense to relax.[29] Early in his career, Zito dyed his hair blue. He plays guitar, surfs, practices yoga, and follows Zen. He has done yoga poses in the outfield, and meditates before games.[30] In 2001, Zito espoused a universal life force that he credited with his midseason turnaround. His mother Roberta named him after her brother Barry, a beatnik “freethinker” and acolyte of Zen who mysteriously vanished in 1964 at the age of 22 near Big Sur, California.

He created the charity Strikeouts for Troops, to which he donates $400 for every strikeout he throws. The charity benefits hospitals for soldiers wounded in military operations.

His father Joe Zito composed and arranged music for Nat King Cole in the early 1960s (ca.1961–64), and arranged for the Buffalo Symphony. Zito's late mother Roberta was a classically trained musician who also sang with Nat King Cole's band, in a choral group known as The Merry Young Souls.

His uncle is television actor Patrick Duffy. In 2003, Zito portrayed a United States Navy petty officer in an episode of JAG on CBS. Zito's character, a pitcher, faced assault charges after hitting a Marine with a ball during the annual Navy-Marine all-star baseball game.

Barry Zito

Barry Zito

Awards

1999 – Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year
1999 – First-Team College All-American
1999 – Pac-10 Conference All-Star
2000 – AAA All-Star
2002 – Baseball America First-Team Major League All-Star
2002 – Cy Young Award (AL)
2002 – All-Star (AL)
2003 – All-Star (AL)
2006 – All-Star (AL)