Zito sucks...oh wait, you suck...yup, that's right

[Providence A's]

Zito named pitcher of the month...and some "former" steroid user was named player of the month

Zito, who won every start he made during the month, surrendered just 12 earned runs over 43.0 IP in six games as he helped Oakland surge to first place in the A.L. Wild Card race. The left-hander went 6-0 with a 2.51 ERA and 30 strikeouts in July. Zito reached 6.0 IP in each of his starts, including July 20th against the Angels, when he combined with Justin Duchscherer and Huston Street for a shutout. The 2002 A.L. Cy Young Award winner has won his last seven consecutive starts, which is a career high. Five of Zito's six victories during the month came against teams with a winning record, including two against the A.L.-leading Chicago White Sox on July 3rd and July 9th, respectively. This is the third career A.L. Pitcher of the Month Award for Zito, who last won the award in September 2001.

What was that about Zito being washed up? The guy has never been on the DL and has been one of the most durable pitchers in the majors throwing at least 213 innings in each of his first 4 full seasons (well on his way to his 5th in a row).

Anyone still wonder why he was kept instead of Hudson or Mulder?

2005 Mulder

2005 Hudson

2005 Zito

Zito has pitched more innings and has more strikeouts than both of them. Zito came within 5 outs of a no-hitter against Texas. And for those of you who love win/loss record, in Zito's 8 losses the A's have scored a total of 7 runs (only 5 while he was in the game). His record is misleading as he should be better than 10-8, but he still has a better record than Hudson and has a better ERA than Mulder who has gotten help from his offense all season. Either way he is outperforming his former buddies.

Oh, and Rich Harden, who came within 5 outs of a perfect game against Texas, finished behind Zito in the voting.

[General]

Zito is back to beast. I hope he succeeds and proves the critics wrong.

[Kingdom]

HEY FU...

oh! Don't tease me like that.

[Fishercat]

(Note: Some of these references are off the old site if you're wondering where I got them since this site started in April)

Now now, let's not pretend that at least some Oakland fans weren't begging for Zito to be traded over Hudson and Mulder. I remember last year that ADH wanted Zito traded over Mulder/Hudson and got pissed at his lack of performance quite often.

He's too inconsistant, his lack of a dominating fastball will catch up to him eventually, you have to be very concerned about his mental ability. All three of those things were said last year around this time.

ABG called Zito mediocre in the offseason at the time of the Mulder (Beane an idiot as well, but the frustration made sense).

Many other fans (including myself) wondered why Zito wasn't traded instead of Mulder or why Mulder was traded period. I loved the trade for St. Louis at the time (for Mulder), I was wrong there, but pretty much everyone was dumbfounded by the trade and you're the only A's fan from there that I can't find anything downplaying the caliber of Zito. Not necessarily not liking trading Mulder, rather the return which has shown to be quite capable.

Funny thing, reefer got a lot closer than anyone else I've seen

"HAHAHAHA!! They said the same things about the big three that they are right now. They are too young and won't be **** for years. Well guess what, they were better than anyone thought they would be. This trade is a good deal. Sure they might not win 90 games this year (maybe) but they will be good in 2006. They have a possible rotation of Zito, Harden, Haren, Blanton and Meyer. Plus they got a good young bullpen. Street, Garcia, Cruz, Bradford, Rincon and Calero setting up Dotel is gonna be fun to watch. Haren looked good when he got his feet wet having a good September and Calero put up great numbers. They revised the pen which is a great step in the right direction. They have lost two very very good pitchers but got four pitchers, an outfielder and a catcher who had a good year at single A which doesn't mean much. They got good guys with an upside. It just depends on how you look at it. It will be exciting to see that's for sure."

Most fans wanted Zito to be traded too due to a lack of hope.

This only speaks volumes that Beane might know what he is doing.

[aTrUeCUBsFaN]

I don't know what Beane knows that other GMs don't, he always seems to be getting the better end of the deals.
I thought Zito was on the market. I thought Beane prefered trading Zito over Hudson or Mulder (for some reason), might just be the media.

[Kingdom]

If he ever were to be dealt, I would pray it's not to NYM or NYY. I would renounce my faith in baseball.

[Providence A's]

Zito won again folks

[MarinersFan87]

From what I've read, Zito was hanging his mediocre straight line fastball over the plate too much in the beginning of the year. Now apparently hes disguising it well and getting some movement on it, to compliment what is probably the best curve in the game. I wish he'd start hanging that fastball over the plate again.

[Providence A's]

He's actually added 2 pitches. He used to just have fastball, changeup, and curve. Now he has added a 2-seamer and a slider. People think this has also helped him.

[A's Baby Girl]

(Note: Some of these references are off the old site if you're wondering where I got them since this site started in April)

Now now, let's not pretend that at least some Oakland fans weren't begging for Zito to be traded over Hudson and Mulder. I remember last year that ADH wanted Zito traded over Mulder/Hudson and got pissed at his lack of performance quite often.

He's too inconsistant, his lack of a dominating fastball will catch up to him eventually, you have to be very concerned about his mental ability. All three of those things were said last year around this time.

ABG called Zito mediocre in the offseason at the time of the Mulder (Beane an idiot as well, but the frustration made sense).

Many other fans (including myself) wondered why Zito wasn't traded instead of Mulder or why Mulder was traded period. I loved the trade for St. Louis at the time (for Mulder), I was wrong there, but pretty much everyone was dumbfounded by the trade and you're the only A's fan from there that I can't find anything downplaying the caliber of Zito. Not necessarily not liking trading Mulder, rather the return which has shown to be quite capable.

Funny thing, reefer got a lot closer than anyone else I've seen

"HAHAHAHA!! They said the same things about the big three that they are right now. They are too young and won't be **** for years. Well guess what, they were better than anyone thought they would be. This trade is a good deal. Sure they might not win 90 games this year (maybe) but they will be good in 2006. They have a possible rotation of Zito, Harden, Haren, Blanton and Meyer. Plus they got a good young bullpen. Street, Garcia, Cruz, Bradford, Rincon and Calero setting up Dotel is gonna be fun to watch. Haren looked good when he got his feet wet having a good September and Calero put up great numbers. They revised the pen which is a great step in the right direction. They have lost two very very good pitchers but got four pitchers, an outfielder and a catcher who had a good year at single A which doesn't mean much. They got good guys with an upside. It just depends on how you look at it. It will be exciting to see that's for sure."

Most fans wanted Zito to be traded too due to a lack of hope.

This only speaks volumes that Beane might know what he is doing.

That humble pie tastes real good about now. I've bowed down to the greatness of Billy Beane. The man is a genius, i will never doubt his again. I don't know how he has such a knack for talent but he continues to prove his critics wrong. If the A's can get to and win in the post-season, he will be even more vindicated. As long as he remains our GM, we'll always been in contention.

[bwitty24]

How quickly views change. I told ya'll that beane was great. Providence you sound like a hypocrit now.

[bwitty24]

You guys are reminding me of barry bonds with all these flip flops

[riverdunesrat]

In all fairness, ABG professed her allegiance to BB a while back in a thread somewhere on this board.....

As for the three pitchers and from a baseball standpoint, I never wanted to see any of them traded.

[Kingdom]

In all fairness, ABG professed her allegiance to BB a while back in a thread somewhere on this board.....

As for the three pitchers and from a baseball standpoint, I never wanted to see any of them traded.

Unless they were dealt to the Padres for Stauffer and the ghost of Ruben Rivera.

[riverdunesrat]

Unless they were dealt to the Padres for Stauffer and the ghost of Ruben Rivera.

OR, Enzo Hernandez and Sixto Lezcano.....