Barry Zito and Tim Hudson to face off Saturday
Yes, it is 2015 and you are reading that headline correctly. Jane Lee of MLB.com reported Tuesday night that the Athletics seem to be “on board” with the idea of pitching Barry Zito on Saturday. The Giants will more than likely miss the postseason this year, and the last place A’s have struggled all season long. However, fans will be in for a treat when these two teams square off this weekend.
From 2000-2004 Barry Zito and Tim Hudson both pitched during an incredibly successful run for the A’s. Over that period of time they won no fewer than 91 games, and finished no lower than second in the division. Zito, Hudson and Mark Mulder made up the core of a dominant pitching staff that put the A’s in the postseason four years in a row. Famously, they were unable to ever get over the divisional series hump. They would lose in five games in the ALDS each season from 2000-2003.
Hudson left Oakland to pitch nine seasons in Atlanta and two seasons in San Francisco. He is a four-time All-Star, and he compiled an ERA+ over 100 in thirteen out of seventeen seasons. The thirty-nine year old won his first World Series a season ago while starting four postseason games for the Giants.
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The most surprising part of this matchup is Zito. Prior to Sunday, Zito had not pitched in a major league game since 2013. He took a year off in 2014 and signed a minor league deal with the A’s this offseason. Over the course of fourteen seasons Zito spent seven years in Oakland and seven years in San Francisco. He is a three-time All-Star who won the AL Cy Young in 2002.
Zito vs. Hudson will provide a nice bit of excitement for a season in which many of the postseason slots have already been filled. It will be a blast from the past for many baseball fans from the late 90s through early 00s. Oakland’s “big three” gave fans in the Bay Area a reason for optimism year after year, and on Saturday those fans will get a chance to relive those days one more time.