On Monday, pitcher Barry Zito called it a career after 14 Major League Baseball seasons. Zito played with only two teams, the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics. How should MLB fans remember Barry Zito?
In 2000 Barry Zito started 14 games for the Oakland Athletics. He went 7-4 with a 2.72 ERA. 2001 was his first full season as a pitcher with an impressive record of 17-8 and a 3.49 ERA. Zito struck out 205 batters that year, the most in his career. In 2002 he won a career high of 23 games and only lost 5, earning the Cy Young Award. He would pitch in Oakland four more years.
Barry Zito left Oakland and went across the Bay for the 2007 season. On December 28, 2006, he signed a 7-year $126 million contract with the Giants. At the time, that was the largest contract in Major League Baseball history. Zito spent seven years in San Francisco. The numbers weren’t the same. His best year for the Giants was in 2012 when he won 15 games and lost 8. 2011 was disappointing for him with a career low of 3 wins appearing in 13 games. Zito only had 32 strikeouts.
This past season Zito decided to try and play after sitting out 2014. He was hoping to make a Major League comeback and pitched three games for Oakland. After the season he decided it was time to leave the game.
According to ESPN.com, Zito said, “Beyond all of the achievements, the single thing that fulfills me today is the acceptance of myself as a worthy and valuable person, regardless of what my stature or position in the world was on a given day of my career.” He also added, “My baseball career has been a mirror to my life off the field, full of euphoric highs and devastating lows. I’ve been at the top of a rotation and the 25th man on a roster. I’ve started Game 1 of a World Series in one year, and I’ve been left off of a postseason roster in another.”
Zito leaves the game with a record of 165-143, 4.04 lifetime ERA, and striking out 1,885 batters. There was nothing left for him to prove. Zito won a CY Young Award, a World Series, and was voted into the All-Star game three times. His career stats show how adequate a pitcher he was. Zito may not make it to the Hall of Fame but will be remembered as a pitcher who batters didn’t want to face because of his ability to strike them out.
How should Barry Zito be remembered?
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