Zeeeeeeets

If he can still pitch, so can you

Where were you on April 18, 2003?

You might've been in diapers, learning how to draw, and perhaps for some of you, not even born yet.

As for me, I was still getting over my high school prom rejection.

But on that day, Barry Zito threw his last complete game shutout, until the stars aligned yesterday.

Zito was masterful and looked like his 2002 Cy Young Award winning self, going the distance, giving up only four hits, and striking out four.

"I couldn't be happier for Barry," said teammate Aubrey Huff. "It's no secret he gets buried by the fans, the media and all. To see him go out there and put up a complete-game shutout in Colorado, all the haters out there — that's for them."

One person who has done more than his share of burying as a member of the media and as a fan is myself.

After he signed a 7 year, $126 million contract, Zito has produced absolutely nothing for the Giants in his five plus years as a member of the orange and black.

Sure, he has had his occasional good starts, but he isn't even close to living up to his contract, and isn't even close to being good.

Consider this.

When the Giants won the World Series in 2010, Zito wasn't even a member of the active roster. He wasn't eligible nor did he pitch a single game in the playoffs that season.

With the season on the line in game 161 of 2010, Zito fell flat again, and pitched one of his worst games as a Giant - and there have been many, forcing the Giants to clinch a playoff berth on the final game of the year.

On that Saturday, he gave up two runs in the first inning that put the Giants behind the 8-ball, walked four, and only went three innings. And it was the most important game of the year.

Zito has been attacked by the media and fans alike. He hardly has anybody on his side, and you would be hard pressed to find anybody out there that truly believed Zito had a complete game shutout in him.

It would be pushing it to say that anyone had faith in him yesterday to even pitch into the 5th inning, but he did more than that.

But here's the feel good part of the story.

No matter how many times people have kicked him while he was down, Zito still finds the motivation to get back up, and work at it. One thing you can't question him for is his work ethic and how he stays positive despite all the negativity and criticism thrown his way.

Even when he wasn't on the playoff roster in the championship year, Zito never complained publicly and was still a good teammate, cheering on the rest of his team.

Lesson for you boys and girls, is that you just have to keep fighting. There are very few athletes who have been beaten down as much as Zito, but even fewer that have been able to put aside the critics and keep on going.

Will Zito ever pitch another complete game shutout? I don't think so. But did I ever think he was going to throw one yesterday? Absolutely not.

Perhaps the morale of this story is that anything is possible as long as you try.

But if you're not out there playing baseball (or any other sport for that matter), nothing's possible.

Highlights from Barry Zito's performance Monday