Baseball Stock Photography: Barry Zito is back: It must be the socks ...
Mention the name Barry Zito to a sports fan in the San Francisco Bay Area and you are bound to get a strong reaction. For the past several years it was disgust and anger about the $126 million contract he signed with the San Francisco Giants in 1997. Fans were especially upset because Zito did not get off to a good start with his new club and pitched rather poorly in the orange and black. Fans wanted the see the fun-loving lefty twirl the same magic he did while wearing the green and gold while pitching for the Oakland A’s.
Fast forward to 2010 and fans all over the Bay Area are talking about Zito in glowing terms. Giants fans have wanted to love Zito for years, and thanks to his stellar 4-0 start this year they can’t contain themselves. Fans are showering number 75 with chants of “Barry! Barry! Barry!” at AT&T Park when he pitches and giving him standing ovations. One of the trainers at my gym named John came up to me this morning all excited about Zito and wanted to talk about his great start....
nate schierholtz san francisco giants underrated outfielder | Real Talk
I’m often accused of having a man-crush on San Francisco Giants outfielder Nate Schierholtz. No denial there. Here’s why:
Talent
Obviously, I’m biased towards Nate. The guy has been my favorite player since he joined the squad in 2007. Nate’s hit .312 in July and he’s also hit six doubles and three home runs this month.
Schierholtz’s season stats are pretty amazing, given the limited number of at-bats he has had this season. Schierholtz has just 261 AB this year (league leader has 427) and still is second on the Giants in runs, hits, and RBI, and third in home runs, doubles, and steals.
Schierholtz is also an assassin in right field, closing out games with diving catches and gunning down runners at second and third all year long.
Class
Schierholtz is the epitome of class.
Nate doesn’t scream and look for attention from the cameras and he rarely even fist pumps after a big play. All Nate does is hustle to first base every at-bat and bring his helmet back to the dugout after making the last out (an extremely rare situation).
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