From Zito Fangirl to Zito Hater

When Barry Zito burst onto the scene several years ago, I instantly became a fan. It didn’t matter to me that he was a member of the Oakland Athletics, and that I was a hardcore San Francisco Giants fan. He was hot and possessed an even hotter curveball.

My fangirl feelings had substantially decreased by the time he signed with the Giants. I was very surprised at the size of the contract. Did I think it was too much money? Well, not really, considering mediocre pitchers were getting ridiculous contracts that off-season. I was pretty skeptical about the length, though. Giving a pitcher seven years is very risky.

I happen to be a pessimist, but I tried to remain optimistic about this deal. Zito did not have a good first season with the Giants. He’s prone to slow starts, but his second-half performance didn’t help too much. His final line: 11-13, 4.53 ERA. Those are not stats that you want to see out of your overpaid “ace” of the staff.

Some people gave him the benefit of the doubt, saying that last year was one of adjusting to a new league on a bad team with no offense. That excuse became invalid with this year’s atrocious play. He had an awful spring- before his final spring start, he was 1-3 with an ERA of almost 15. I know spring stats aren’t supposed to count, but you can’t ignore numbers like that. As for the current season, he’s currently 0-4 with a 4.5 ERA. He got booed when he was introduced at the home opener. Granted, he’s gotten no run support this season: three runs total in all four starts. That’s because the Giants save whatever pop they have for Tim Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez, and even Kevin Correia. (Matt Cain’s lack of support is for a separate post). The worst part about this is all the excuses he spouts every start: he’s getting better, he’s getting a better feel for his pitches, whatever. All he has to say is “I did my job” and he’ll make himself just as hated as Armando Benitez was, if he’s not there already.

Don’t even get me started about who he dates.

I’m sorry, Barry. I know you do good work in the community with Strikeouts for Troops and other things. However, I hate you. You’re not supposed to let Kevin Correia, the fifth starter, outpitch you. Maybe your shitty start is why the Giants are considering a six-man rotation once Noah Lowry (another fangirl favorite) comes back.

As for the fangirl aspect, he shouldn’t be allowed to grow a beard… or wear a wig like this: