Monday, April 9, 2012

It's Barry Zito Day

It wasn't quite time to panic. But when I sat down to sketch out a preview of the series in Colorado just a few hours ago, I figured that it would be pretty reasonable to assume that:
Barry Zito needs to last four or five innings and give up less than four runs. 
Those kind of numbers, I figured, would keep the Giants in the game. I don't think anybody had expected what would happen...and usually those words carry a foreboding sense of catastrophe. Instead, Barry Zito pitched the Giants to their first win of the season with a complete game shutout. 114 pitches. 4 hits, 4 strikeouts. No walks. No walks.

When I reread those words, I experience some combination of cognitive dissonance and elation. I know it's a cliché, but anything can happen in baseball. And then sometimes it does, and you just soak it up and have a good laugh. Especially if you're Zito (who couldn't contain his smile in the bottom of the ninth) or Hector Sanchez. Those guys are going to be best friends forever. 

And here I thought that all I had to look forward to today was the MLB debut of Yu Darvish.

Update (April 10th): Also, don't miss the .GIF by .GIF analysis of Barry Zito's 11 pitch at bat--which resulted in a bloop single over the glove of Troy Tulowitzki, courtesy of Bay City Ball.

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