In 2012, Barry Zito became a Giants hero as the team won its second World Series title in three seasons.
But it wasn’t always that way, and the lefty had to go through some tough times on the mound to reach that moment.
The former San Francisco starting pitcher joined Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow in the broadcaster’s booth on Saturday shortly after the ‘12 team celebrated its 10-year reunion on the Oracle Park field. There, he shared a “surreal” memory from their World Series run that he had previously only written down on paper.
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“A moment that I don’t think I’ve shared, really -- I think I’ve shared it in my book -- but when I got off the field after we won that Game 4 in Detroit, did a couple interviews and came back in the clubhouse,” Zito began. “The whole team had the World Series trophy raised up, and they were chanting my name.”
Before Zito could continue his story, Kuiper let out an astonished, one-word response: “Wow.”
Krukow, awestruck, asked, "Is that true?"
For those who watched the Giants take down the Detroit Tigers with a four-game sweep back in 2012, the gravity of the clubhouse moment Zito described isn’t lost.
Zito signed a seven-year, $126 million contract with San Francisco prior to the 2007 season. The years that followed from him were lackluster at best; from 2007 through 2009, he never finished the season with a winning record or ERA under 4.00.
San Francisco Giants
In 2010, Zito went 9-14 with a 4.15 ERA -- and the Giants still won the NL West. But he was left off the team’s playoff roster entirely as they went on to win their first World Series championship in San Francisco history.
So when he won 15 games in 2012 -- his most in a Giants jersey -- after an injury-riddled 2011, the writing was on the wall for Zito to contribute in the postseason.
And contribute he did.
Zito rebounded from a poor NLDS outing against the Cincinnati Reds to pitch the game of his life against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the NLCS, tossing 7 2/3 shutout innings and inspiring the social media hashtag “#RallyZito.”
Thanks in part to his effort, the Giants fought back from a three-games-to-one deficit against the Cardinals to advance to the Fall Classic.
And on baseball’s biggest stage, Zito flourished again. He earned a Game 1 win after outpitching Tigers ace Justin Verlander and finished the postseason 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA as the Giants won their second title.
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So when his teammates hoisted the World Series trophy and chanted his name, it was a moment they all understood.
“It was almost, like, surreal that they were chanting my name, which, for me, was the biggest outpouring of love coming from your own team that they saw -- most of those guys were on that ‘10 team -- so they saw what I went through and came through,” Zito told Kuiper and Krukow. “By the grace of God, I was able to help that team. And so that was like, wow.”
Wow is right.
And 10 years later, Giants fans and the organization as a whole will never forget Zito’s contributions to that historic championship run.