Barry Zito Announces Retirement
by Russell Preston, KHTK Sacramento
A Cy Young Award winner, an all-star, a 20-game winner and a World Series champion, Barry Zito has done it all in his 15-year baseball career. After playing his last few games with the Oakland A's, Zito announced Monday he is retiring from the game of baseball.
This is technically the second time he has retired. He took a year off in 2014, but at 37 years old, it looks like the final goodbye from the lefty. His career numbers aren't flashy, but they tell a story:
165 wins - 143 losses, 33.5 WAR
4.04 ERA, 2,576.1 innings pitched, 1,885 strikeouts, 1,116 walks
His best season was by far his second full season with the A's back in 2002. He was just 24 years old and coming off a 17-win season. He picked up 23 victories with a 2.75 ERA and 182 strikeouts in 229 innings. That season he earned the Cy Young award ahead of Pedro Martinez, a Hall of Fame talent.
That, unfortunately, was his peak in terms of individual statistics. He would go on to pitch a few more decent years in Oakland before hitting the free-agent market in 2006, but didn't travel far. He signed an unprecedented seven-year, $127 million contract with the Giants.
The Giants needed Zito. They were in their last year with Barry Bonds still on the roster and needed a veteran to bridge the gap into the Bonds-less era. And while Zito's pitching didn't work out the way they had planned for the first few seasons, he earned every penny of his big contract in 2012.
As a Giant, 2012 was a magical year for Zito. He posted a surprising 15-8 record with a 4.15 ERA -- an average year by any other pitchers' standards. But what he did in the post season is what really made his Giants legacy. After failing to make the postseason roster in 2010, Zito barely cracked the rotation when the playoffs came around in 2012.
Zito wouldn't even last past the third inning in his first outing of the playoffs. He didn't need to, as the elimination game would end up being an 8-3 victory for the Giants with the bullpen stepping in to hold it. The next round, however, was a different story: He pitched up against Lance Lynn and the St. Louis Cardinals, who was outstanding thus far, in game 5 of the NLCS. The Giants were on the brink of elimination (again) and needed a game on the road to send it back to San Francisco. Zito carved up the Cards in 7.2 innings, allowing six hits, two walks and six strikeouts. No runs.
The Giants won 5-0 and Zito was labeled the savior of the season from that point on. He would go on to pitch another solid game in the World Series against the Detroit Tigers, playing his part in the four-game sweep and the World Series parade thereafter.
After a farewell tour with Oakland this past season, Giants and A's fans -- heck, the entire Bay Area -- will have a special place in their heart for Zito. He may not have been the best, but he has been the epitome of a classy ballplayer.
His work off the field with Strikeouts for Troops, a veteran organization he started, has been one of the more successful charities created by a ballplayer. He has earned respect around the league through his charity, getting many other pitchers to get involved as well.
Whether he decides to get into coaching, broadcasting or decides to be a family man, he will always have a home in the Bay Area.