Wednesday Night Barry Zito will start Game 1 of the World Series for the San Francisco Giants. He's taken an unusual path to the grand stage he will occupy.
Barry Zito, ten years removed from his A.L. Cy Young award will start Game 1 of the 2012 World Series for the San Francisco Giants. At one time, Barry Zito starting Game 1 of the World Series seemed like the most logical thing in the world.
That "one time" was 10 years ago, but he'll take the mound for the San Francisco Giants when they open MLB's final postseason series on Wednesday, continuing an odd career arc that has featured many peaks and valleys.
As a member of the Oakland A's, Barry Zito was the 2002 American League Cy Young Award winner. He recorded a 2.75 ERA and, with a 23-5 record, led the league in wins that year. Zito was 24 years old and appeared in the early stages of a near-certain Hall of Fame career.
That's not how it turned out.
Zito was unable to replicate the success he had in 2002. In December of 2006 he left the A's as a free agent and signed a seven-year, $126 million contract to play with the San Francisco Giants.
Would a new team ina new league provide Zito with a fresh start?
No. Zito, who had struggled to replicate his 2002 success while in Oakland, found even moderate success hard to attain in when he crossed the bay.
In 2008 Zito led the National League in losses with a 10-17 record and 5.15 ERA. In 180 innings, he allowed 185 hits and 102 walks.
Zito's time in San Francisco has never even come close to approaching his success in Oakland.
Not once since joining the Giants has he posted an ERA under 4.00. When the Giants won the 2010 World Series, Zito was left off the team's postseason roster for the entire run. But this year, he's been markedly better.
In 2012 Zito had his best season in a Giants uniform, a 15-8 record and a 4.15 ERA.
He has pitched in impressive fashion this postseason, with a 1.74 ERA through two postseason starts, including an impressive start in a do-or-die NLCS Game 5 in St. Louis.
With his team backed into a 3-1 corner, it was Zito who took the mound on the road and won the game to get the Giants back to their home field in San Francisco.
He pitched 7.2 innings, allowed only six hits and walked just one batter to win the first of San Francisco's three straight against the defending World Series Champions.
Zito is going to face off against Justin Verlander. There are a lot more pitchers like Zito in baseball than like Verlander.
Verlander is a rare breed. A complete pitcher who has a combination of physical gifts, pitching ability, and mental makeup that arrives in the majors maybe once or twice a generation.
Far more commonplace are the Zito's of baseball, players who experience ups and downs. Pitching is a test of one's ability to reconcile the ability to succeed with an understanding of inevitable failure.
Jon Lester and the Giants' Tim Lincecum have dealt with that dynamic in 2012. Zito has been dealing with it since 2007.
The Zito who takes the mound Wednesday night is not the same pitcher who won 23 games in 2002, but he's also not the same pitcher on the sidelines for the Giants' 2010 World Series run.
From Cy Young winner, to sideline sitter, to Game 1 starter, Zito's has taken a unique journey to baseball's grandest stage.