Oakland Athletics left-hander and University of Southern California alum Barry Zito announced Monday his retirement on The Players’ Tribune.
Zito spent his entire Major-League career in the Bay Area after getting drafted by the Athletics ninth overall in 1999. He joined the San Francisco Giants in 2007, spending seven seasons with the club and being part of two World Series teams.
After a year off in 2014, Zito signed a Minor League contract with the A’s in February 2015. He appeared in 24 games (22 starts) with Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate, going 8-7 with a 3.46 ERA over 138 innings pitched.
Zito joined the A’s in September, making one appearance out of the bullpen and two starts over the final month of the regular season. The peak of 2015 came Sept. 26 when he started opposite Tim Hudson, who previously announced he was retiring at the end of the season.
Zito allowed four runs on six hits, managing only to toss two innings in a high-scoring affair that Oakland lost to San Francisco. The veteran left-hander closes his career with a 165-143 record, 4.04 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, one American League Cy Young Award (2002) and three All-Star Game appearances (2002, 2003, 2006).
The Los Angeles Dodgers faced Zito 28 times; 27 of which were starts. He went 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA over two starts against the Dodgers in 2013, and finished a lifetime 10-10 with a 3.60 ERA in the 28 outings against Los Angeles.
