05/23/09 12:00 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO — It’s merely a line from a movie, and Giants left-hander Barry Zito isn’t big on fiction.
But he loves the line nonetheless, in part because he’s as qualified as anyone to vouch for the authenticity of Kevin Costner’s iconic character’s take on perception and reality in the Majors. After making his big league debut with the A’s in 2000, Zito spent the better part of seven seasons on top of the world. He beat Roger Clemens in a playoff game at Yankee Stadium as a rookie. He helped Oakland reach the postseason five times (2000-2003, 2006). He won 23 games and the American League Cy Young Award in 2003. Off the field, he was thoughtful. Quirky. Accessible. A little strange, even. He was winning, though, so the eccentricities were fodder for a fawning media. He was portrayed as a yoga-practicing, wave-riding, guitar-playing superstar. And when he founded Strikeouts For Troops, a non-profit, non-political organization dedicated to helping the families of wounded American soldiers recovering in U.S. military hospitals, he became a yoga-practicing, wave-riding, guitar-playing superstar who also was a patriot and humanitarian. After signing a then-record $126 million contract with the Giants before the 2007 season, however, Zito struggled on the mound. Twenty wins It took him nearly two full seasons in San Francisco to get there. It didn’t help that he spent his offseasons living the TMZ life in Hollywood Hills. To Giants fans, he might as well have been living at Dodger Stadium.
The deconstruction of Zito’s colorful, endearing image was swift and predictable. Heck, ol’ Crash saw it coming 20 years ago. As far as the public was concerned, his shower shoes weren’t the half of it. Zito himself was fungus.