The Oakland Athletics signed former Cy Young award winner Barry Zito to a Minor League contract in the off-season for a cool million. A’s fans have been waiting patiently for Zito’s triumphant return to Oakland all season, but on Sunday the 37-year-old southpaw may have pitched his final professional game. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that the A’s will not be calling up Zito, who holds an 8-7 record and a 3.46 ERA with Triple-A Nashville. Zito tells Slusser, “I got word that isn’t going to happen.”
In Sunday’s game, just one before the season finale on Monday, Zito came on in relief in Omaha, pitching a perfect 1-2-3 seventh inning, recording one punch-out. Reports say there was rain coming down and thunder in the area as Zito made what may be his final appearance on the mound.
The crafty left-hander could surprise everyone and come back for another go next season, but we’ll just have to wait to find out on that front. What’s most surprising is that the Oakland Athletics, who sank to a season-low 21 games under .500 with their 3-2 loss to Seattle at home on Sunday, are not going to give Zito one more chance to take the mound in Oakland, especially since Zito was a big reason that the team became relevant again at the turn of the millennium.
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With the A’s so far out of contention, the move, of lack thereof, is honestly surprising. While it’s feasible that the team could be using each coveted September roster spot to see what they have for next season and can’t waste any innings, Zito has been a fan favorite in Oakland since his arrival. In his debut against the then Anaheim Angels, Zito loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the fifth inning, surrendering two walks and a single with the heart of the order coming up. In 2000, that meant Mo Vaughn, Tim Salmon and Garret Anderson. Zito struck out all three to end the inning, and just like that a legend was born.
While some may consider Zito a bust after he left Oakland in 2006 for greener pastures ($119 million over 7 seasons), going 63-80 with a 4.62 ERA, he was instrumental in bringing home the second of three World Series championships for the San Francisco Giants in 2012. With San Francisco down three games to one to the St.Louis Cardinals, Zito took the hill in Game 5 with the Giants’ season on the line. He pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowed six hits, a walk and struck out six. He then pitched in Game 1 of the World Series against the Tigers, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing just one run against a tough Detroit offense.
Is he a Hall of Famer? No, but he is a cult hero of sorts, always showing up when his team needed him most. Going back to his Oakland days, he out-dueled Cy Young winner Johan Santana in Game 1 of the 2006 ALDS. While this isn’t as significant as his playoff performances with the Giants, it does mark the only time that the Oakland Athletics have reached the ALCS under GM Billy Beane‘s tenure.
While Sunday may have marked the end of an era for A’s fans, there is a good chance that Zito isn’t done being around the game in some capacity just yet. If a 37-year-old former Cy Young winner is willing to stick out an entire Minor League season waiting for an opportunity, that just shows his passion for the game–a passion that isn’t easy to extinguish. While there have been no reports that Zito would join a club’s coaching staff, it would be hard to imagine the left-hander away from the game entirely, if this is in fact his last hurrah as a player.