In 2007, the San Francisco Giants made a big, splashy deal in free agency. They were able to sign Oakland Athletics ace, Barry Zito, away from their Bay Area counterpart. Zito spent seven years with the Giants, playing a huge role in the 2012 World Series run. However, he never forgot his roots, and Zito made sure to pay respects to the A’s in their last home game in Oakland by singing the National Anthem.
Barry Zito sings the national anthem pic.twitter.com/mtoNbvSxID
— Ben Ross (@BenRossTweets) September 26, 2024
San Francisco signed Zito to a seven year, $126 million dollar deal after the 2006 season. The lefty was coming off of a season where he was an All-Star, while posting a 3.83 ERA in 221 innings. He was the 2002 Cy Young with Oakland, winning 23 games with a 2.75 ERA and 182 strikeouts in 229.1 innings.
It was almost immediatley viewed as a failed contract for the Giants. In his seven years with the team, he never posted an ERA below four, with his best being 4.03 in 2009. He was even left off of the World Series roster in 2010.
The sentiment on Zito in a Giants uniform was changed by one game.
In game five of the 2012 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, Zito kept the series alive by throwing 7.2 shutout innings, striking out six. San Francisco went on to win the sereies in seven games.
The man known for his 12-6 curveball didn’t finish his career with the Giants, though. He went back home to Oakland, pitching three games in 2015 to close out his 15 years in the Majors.
Zito, a player who spent his whole career in the Bay Area, found it important to be in Oakland one last time.
“For me, this was the first and last mound I ever pitched on, it bookended my career. I had a lot of highs and lows in my career,” he said on the broadcast.
He played eight years with Oakland, has sung on the field before, and wanted to find “closure.’
“You can’t prepare for something like this,” the 46-year-old said.
He has been a big part of the festivities when the Giants have celebrated their World Series wins and is now beloved by the fans despite the rocky start. Yet, he wanted to make sure to go back to where his career started and ended and honor Oakland in its final game.
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