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 [hide]

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

[edit]

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.


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 and 2003. 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.

Zito is entering the last year of his current contract in 2006 and Billy Beane, the general manager of the Athletics, has stated that the organization will not be able to afford to re-sign Zito. He is expected to be one of the most sought-after pitchers on the free agent market, barring an injury or a significant dropoff in performance. [edit]

Pitching style

A left hander, Zito throws an 89-90 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. [edit]

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. [edit]

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.
   * Entering the 2006 season, Zito had only recorded one hit and 13 strikeouts in 26 career at-bats in interleague play.

[edit]

External links

   * Barry Zito's career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
   * ESPN.com: Barry Zito
   * Strikeouts For Troops


Preceded by: Roger Clemens American League Cy Young Award 2002 Succeeded by: Roy Halladay Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Zito"

Categories: 1978 births | Living people | All-Star Futures Game players | 2002 American League All-Stars | 2003 American League All-Stars | Irish-Americans | Italian-Americans | Las Vegans | Major league pitchers | Major league players from Nevada | Oakland Athletics players | Southern Cal Trojans baseball players | San Diegans Views

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