Barry William Zito (born May 13, 1978 in Las Vegas,
Nevada) is a left handed starting pitcher for the
San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. He
previously played seven seasons with the Oakland
Athletics where he won the 2002 American League Cy
Young Award and made three All-Star game rosters.
Zito has never missed a scheduled start in his
career, 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. In Zito's first season with the Giants, he set
a career high in earned run average and he recorded
his lowest number of strikeouts and winning
percentage in any full major league season in his
career.
Zito features a high leg kick with a straight
over-the-top delivery and throws an 84-87 mph
(135-140 km/h) four-seam fastball, one of the
slowest in the game. His best pitch, the "12-6"
curveball, has been voted the best curveball in
baseball. Zito played collegiately at UC Santa
Barbara, Los Angeles Pierce College, and the
University of Southern California. He was drafted by
the Oakland Athletics with the ninth pick of the
first round, 1999 draft. Zito is known for his
idiosyncrasies, and his offbeat personality has made
him a media favorite. He created the charity
Strikeouts for Troops which provides money to
hospitals for soldiers wounded in military
operations.
Zito is known for his idiosyncrasies, and his
offbeat personality has made him a media favorite.
He has earned the nicknames "Planet Zito" and
"Captain Quirk". 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." Despite batting and throwing
left-handed, Zito signs autographs for fans at the
ballpark right-handed.
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. 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. 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 composed and arranged music for Nat King
Cole in the early 1960s (ca.1961-64), and arranged
for the Buffalo Symphony. Zito's mother is a
classically trained musician who also sang with Nat
King Cole's band, in a choral group known as The
Merry Young Souls.
