June 19, 2007 – After being coached incessantly from an early age by his father, Joe, Barry Zito was selected by Oakland out of the University of Southern California in the first round of the 1999 draft. By mid-season the following year, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound lefty with a paralysis-inducing curveball was in the A’s starting rotation. After compiling a record of 24-12 through the 2001 season, he had a career year in 2002, going 23-5 with a 2.75 ERA and winning the Cy Young Award at the age of 24. After four more solid seasons with Oakland, he signed a seven-year, $126 million contract with the Giants as a free agent, becoming the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history. He posted losing records in his first four seasons with the Giants, was sidelined by injury for most of 2011, then bounced back with a 15-8 record in 2012. That postseason he won the opening game of the World Series, setting the stage for the Giants’ four-game sweep.

After sitting out the 2014 season, Zito returned to the franchise that drafted him, signing a minor-league contract with the A’s. So here was a 37-year-old former Cy Young winner going back to the obscurity and grind of a minor-league season, pitching for Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate in Nashville. Called up by the A’s in mid-September, he appeared in three games, then announced his retirement. In his 15-year career, the three-time All-Star compiled a record of 165-143 with a 4.04 ERA.

Zito, who was born in Las Vegas but raised mainly in California, was almost as well-known for his offbeat, zen-like personality as he was for his pitching. He was a surfer with long hair (occasionally dyed red or blue), practiced yoga and transcendental meditation, and played the guitar in the clubhouse. Though he grew up in a musical environment—his father was a conductor and arranger for Nat “King” Cole and his mother sang in a group that toured with Cole—it wasn’t until his minor-league days that Zito began playing the guitar as a way to relax. He became more serious about songwriting during his season in Nashville and released his first EP in January 2017.