Barry William Zito (born May 13, 1978, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA) is a pitcher with the Oakland Athletics baseball club. In 2002, he won the Cy Young Award for outstanding pitcher in the American League. A left hander, Zito throws a 90 mph fastball, a changeup and an excellent curveball that has drawn comparisons to Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax.

Like many left handed pitchers, Zito — whose hobbies include yoga, rock guitar and surfing — has a reputation for being something of a flake, which he does little to counteract. To wit, Zito once made it a practice to buy his own autographed baseball cards on eBay; when asked why he bought them at auction for high prices rather than acquiring unsigned cards and signing them himself, Zito replied, "Because they're authenticated." Moreover, Zito carries satin pillows on the road, collects stuffed animals, uses "dude" every third word, once dyed his hair blue, and burns incense to relax. Zito has since earned the nickname "Planet Zito."

Zito has been dating actress Alyssa Milano since November of 2004.

External links

• Barry Zito's career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
• ESPN.com: Barry Zito