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Multitalented Zito wins first Cy

A's pitcher, also a musician and aspiring actor, edges Pedro Martinez by 18 points.

By KEVIN KELLY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published November 8, 2002

ST. PETERSBURG -- The ad ran in the local newspaper, proclaiming that for $50 an hour 1976 Cy Young Award winner Randy Jones could help teach your kid how to pitch.

"I didn't know so much at the age of 12 and 13 what a Cy Young was but I knew it was a great honor, knew it was the highest honor," said Barry Zito, who spent five years working with Jones. "It was just sitting there in his living room and I would just look at it every day and just kind of marvel at it."

Zito now has a Cy Young Award of his own to admire.

The A's pitcher, who's also a budding musician and aspiring actor, beat out Boston's Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe for his first American League Cy Young on Thursday. He received 17 first-place, nine second-place and two third-place votes cast by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

"There's a part of me that wants to run outside and jump around and go swim in the ocean," Zito said. "Then the other part of me wants to bear down and repeat this kind of performance next year and in the years to come."

Martinez, who went 20-4 and is a three-time Cy Young winner, got 11 first-place votes but finished 18 points behind. Lowe, who went 21-8 with a 2.58 ERA and a no-hitter against the Rays, finished 73 points back.

"To be mentioned in the same category is kind of mind-blowing," Zito said. "To win something of this stature is amazing."

On a pitching staff that includes Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder, Zito shined for the playoff-bound A's.

His 23 wins were most in the AL and his 2.75 ERA ranked third behind Martinez (2.26) and Lowe. His 182 strikeouts were tied with the Yankees' Mike Mussina for third behind Martinez (239) and New York's Roger Clemens (192).

"We had stellar pitching, stellar hitting and I felt like I was just part of it," said Zito, 24, who didn't lose a regular-season game after Aug. 8. "I don't feel like I was the only guy."

Even more impressive than his performance this season is the success Zito has enjoyed during his still-young career. His 47-17 career record and .734 winning percentage lead all pitchers with 50 or more decisions since 1900.

But baseball isn't everything.

This weekend Zito will play guitar in a band his sister, a piano player and vocalist, started and is inspired by Ben Folds Five.

"(Music) is everything for me," Zito said. "Obviously baseball is my No. 1 priority, but music is something that I can be a little more creative with.

"Fastball, curveball, changeup, you can only create so much and get so much of your personal expression to it."

He also hopes to start a career as a dramatic actor and has plans to appear on the Chris Isaak Show playing himself.

"I'm taking some workshops and some classes," Zito said. "There's an acting coach that I'm meeting with as far as getting on some shows or doing stuff where I'm not playing myself. Playing yourself isn't really acting. It's almost forced."

Nothing about his onfield performance is forced. Perhaps some of that goes back to the numerous days spent in Jones' back yard or from the confidence instilled in him by his father at an early age.

"If I wasn't going to go for 10 (Cy Youngs) or go for one every year there would be no point to my existence," said Zito, who has made 35 starts in each of the past two seasons. "You should always try to be the best you can be. It's not like I shoot for the Cy Young Award. My goal is to be the best I can be. If I do that the rest will follow."

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