Barry Zito: one of the greatest front running pitcher in the history of baseball
Playing just four games with one win and one loss, getting nine strike-outs and allowing eleven runs on 20 innings, the San Francisco Giants’ Barry Zito made his eleventh season in the Major League Baseball after he was first drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the ninth pick of the first round of the 1999 draft.
The right-handed pitcher came into lime-light for first time, when he took 105 strikeouts in 85 games at Roman Catholic school, then he moved to UC Santa Barbara, followed by his jump to Los Angeles Pierce College, where he got his name announced in All-State and All-Conference teams. His consistence starts, swinging pitches and 154 strikeouts in 103 innings helped him to be the Pac-10 pitcher of the year.
Despite having such a strong record of accomplishments, Zito had some trouble to be acquainted with kind of game the Major League was expecting from him. At the same time, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers drafted him, but he never joined either of the team. However, Oakland Athletics picked him for a $1.59 million bonus and Zito dazzled in the minor league to remove all the hurdles on his way to Major League.
Zito felt the real heat of the MLB’s field on July 22 in 2000, when he made his debut against the Anaheim Angels, in which he allowed only one run over five innings. After this game, he kept on improving his performance with every single game he played. He won his first Major League honour as the player of the week from October 4 to nine in 2000. He also got his name in this list from the April 1 to five in 2003.
In 2001, when he was playing only his second season, he got the fourth position in most strikeouts with 205 in total. He carried his impetus to the next year and managed to win his first American League CY young award, making a remarkable 23-5 record and narrowly defeating the Pedro Martinez, who was then playing for Boston Red Sox.
His technique kept on improving until he gained an unsurpassed name in the MLB. In 2006, all eyes were on his trade, and there were rumours that the Mets would take him in exchange of their prospect Lastings Miledge, but the A’s General Manager, Billy Beane, decided to hold him for the rest of the season.
However, once his seventh season with the A’s ended, the San Francisco Giants offered him the most expensive contract in history for a pitcher at $126 million. It was also his third year, when he was making for the All-Star. Previously he had been in All-Star in 2002, 2003 and 2006. However, he made his position strong in the Giants’ bullpen with his swinging and sudden change-up pitching style.
On August 15 in 2007, he made his first ever relief appearance against the San Diego Padres and tossed a scoreless seventh. As he has never been on a relief position throughout his seven-year career in Oakland Athletics, experts argue that he could be a devastating reliever.
Until now, Zito had never made even a single RBI, but two days after he made his first relief appearance, he blistered his first ever RBI single against the Washington Nationals.
A relatively new pitcher in the Giants’ bullpen, Zito, became the oldest player in the club’s rotation in 2008 season. However, Zito, who has never missed a scheduled start in his career until 2008, went 0-6 with a 7.53 ERA to be the third pitcher in last 52 years. A pitcher, who was famous for his radical distinction between pre- and post-All-Star fixture pitching show, had a catastrophic 2008 year, as he became the first player to record 10 losses in MLB.
He struggled too in 2009, when he maintained his record to 10-13. His best game this year was against the Florida Marlins on July 7, when he allowed just one run on four hits and walked only one in eight and 1/3 innings.
Despite starting 2010 season with a shutout win over the Houston Astros, the 33-year-old hurler could not keep his momentum going and ended his season with 9-14 record with a 4.15 ERA. Despite losing his consistency after joining the Giants, Zito still managed to become one of the greatest front running pitchers, making 111-6, when getting at least 4 runs of support.
In this season, Zito made just four starts due to his foot injury that he received on April 16.
Zito have done some remarkable things not only at the field but also off the field. He has made a first ever fund for those American Troops who were injured performing their duties at different location in the World. “Strikeouts for Troops” is the name he has given to his charity.
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