Barry Zito

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Barry William Zito (born May 13, 1978, Las Vegas, Nevada) is a pitcher with the Oakland Athletics baseball club.

Contents

1 Career history
2 Pitching style
3 Personal life
4 Statistics
5 External links

Career history

Barry attended University of San Diego High School in San Diego, a Catholic school, where he began surfing. He would go on to attend the University of California at Santa Barbara and, subsequently, become the 1998 NCAA baseball champion at USC.

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In 2002, he won the Cy Young Award for outstanding pitcher in the American League, narrowly defeating Pedro Martínez in the voting. He was named to the American League All-Star Team in 2002, 2003 and 2006. He is a durable pitcher, starting 34 or more games in each of his five full major league seasons, leading the league in games started three times.

Due to his unique name, whenever Barry strikes out a batter, he receives a "Z" instead of the usual "K".

In July 2006, Zito replaced his agent Arn Tellem with Scott Boras in anticipation of his impending free agency at the end of the season. Zito is expected to leave Oakland and sign a contract worth upwards of $70 million. MLB rules prohibit other teams from negotiating with players until after the season, but early speculation lists at least three front-runners: the Los Angeles Dodgers (since Zito likes the West Coast), the New York Mets (Zito has a strong relationship with pitching coach Rick Peterson), and the New York Yankees (who are almost always a factor in any free agent signing).

Pitching style

A left hander, Zito throws an 86-90 mph four-seam fastball, a changeup and an excellent "12-6" curveball (whose nicknames include "Captain Hook", "Rip-Curl", and "Bert") that has drawn comparisons to those of Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax. In mid-2004, Zito started throwing a two-seam fastball, and in 2005, he added a strong slider, or "slurve," to his pitch arsenal.

Personal life

Zito — whose hobbies include yoga, rock guitar and surfing — is known for his idiosyncrasies. His personality has made him a media favorite. He once made it a practice to buy his own autographed baseball cards on eBay; when asked why he bought them at auction for high prices rather than acquiring unsigned cards and signing them himself, Zito replied, "Because they're authenticated." In addition, Zito carries satin pillows on the road, collects stuffed animals, and burns incense to relax. Many Oakland fans first became aware of Zito when, early in his career, he dyed his hair blue. He has since earned the nickname "Planet Zito."

Zito created the charity Strikeouts for Troops, to which he donates $100 for every strikeout he throws. The charity benefits hospitals for soldiers wounded in military operations.

Zito is the nephew of television actor Patrick Duffy. He once made an appearance in a JAG episode. In 2004, he dated Alyssa Milano.

Zito is a big fan of musician Ben Folds. He wore a Ben Folds t-shirt at his Cy Young press conference and met Ben after a show in Milwaukee (http://www.onmilwaukee.com/music/articles/benfoldsreview.html). They both share an interest in songwriting and photography.

In a 2005 interview, Zito told a reporter that he had done uncredited voice-over work for Cartoon Network's show The Venture Bros. [link]

Zito is known for his very simplistic lifestyle, living in a small apartment with no TV or real furniture (he sits on the lawn chairs that were left on the balcony).

Statistics

When Zito won the Cy Young in 2002, he went 23-5 with a 2.75 ERA, and 182 strikeouts.
In 2005, Zito had a streak of 14 consecutive starts and 20 out of 21 in which he gave up fewer hits than innings pitched.
Member of the 2006 American League All-Star Team.
Pitched in the 2006 All-Star game in the bottom of the 5th letting no runners on.

External links

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