Yes, that Barry Zito.
The legendary Lou Reed once said, “I don’t like nostalgia unless it’s mine.” Well, in recalling the 37-year-old Zito from the minor leagues, the Oakland Athletics can rest easy knowing that the nostalgia is all theirs.
The team selected the veteran southpaw from Triple-A Nashville after placing righty Jesse Chavez on the 60-day disabled list with a rib fracture, they announced on Wednesday.
Zito hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since a disastrous 2013 campaign with the crosstown rival Giants in which he went 5-11 with a 5.74 ERA. He signed a minor-league deal with the A’s in February of this year, going 8-7 with a 3.46 ERA in 22 starts for Nashville.
The three-time All-Star was, of course, one of the linchpins of the Oakland rotation at the height of the Moneyball Era, along with Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder. Zito took home the AL Cy Young Award in 2002, winning 23 games, and pitched several more memorable seasons with the A’s before making the move to San Francisco in 2007 and winning a World Series ring there in 2012.
With the injury to Chavez in a lost 2015 campaign that has seen the A’s go a dismal 62-83, the thinking may be to at least give the Oakland faithful something to cheer for before season’s end with this blast from the past.
Wacky 30-foot curveballs aside, Zito definitely brings a lot more sentimental value to the table for A’s fans than he does for Giants fans.
Photo Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
*Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference*
