Baseball is what Barry Zito was.
Music is the former University of San Diego High School, UC Santa Barbara and USC left-hander’s life now.
A three-time All-Star, Zito won 165 games in a 15-year big-league career. Using a devastating curveball and a fastball that sat at 93-94 mph, Zito won the American League Cy Young Award in 2002.
Zito was 15-8 for San Francisco in 2012 as the Giants won the World Series, sweeping the Detroit Tigers. He won at least 10 games in 10 of his 15 seasons.
Friday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in La Jolla, Zito, along with former San Diego State and Washington Nationals star Stephen Strasburg, will be inducted into the Breitbard Hall of Fame on the Salute to the Champions night.
“I’m humbled to be honored in the place I grew up,” said Zito, who lives now in Nashville and writes and performs music. “And to be inducted with a guy as talented as Stephen Strasburg is a bonus.”
San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Barry Zito throws during the first inning of Game 5 of baseball’s National League championship series against the St. Louis Cardinals, Friday, Oct. 19, 2012, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Elsa, Pool)
Zito grew up in San Diego. He spent the first three years of his high school career at Grossmont High School, transferring to USDHS (now Cathedral Catholic) for his senior season.
Zito says now that he was “running with the wrong people at Grossmont, going down the wrong road.”
“My parents (Joe and Roberta) saw it, knew I was headed in the wrong direction, and got me to Uni,” he said. “The move saved my life. There were no cliques at Uni. I made great friends. I had a great coach in Dick Serrano, played on a great team with Gary LoCurto (who was a second-round pick of the Boston Red Sox).
“I was able to focus on baseball.”
Zito went 8-4 as a senior for the Dons with a 2.92 ERA. In 85 innings, he had 105 strikeouts. He didn’t make the All-CIF team that included future major leaguers Eric Chavez and Eric Munson (Mt. Carmel), Kevin Reese (Mission Bay), Marcus Giles (Granite Hills) and second-round draft picks Josh Glassey (Mission Bay) and LoCurto.
“I had good numbers, but I was a soft thrower in high school,” Zito said. “My dad thought I was a first-round draft pick.
“The Seattle Mariners said they’d like to take in around the eighth round and were offering $50,000. My dad said no way, but the Mariners still took me in the 59th round.”
That’s where Zito hooked up with Seattle scout Craig Weissmann.
Weissmann went to work on Zito’s mechanics, dropping his overhand delivery to a three-quarter arm slot and tightening Zito’s delivery. Zito picked up 12 mph on his fastball, going from the low 80s to 93-94, leading to a scholarship at UC Santa Barbara, where he earned Freshman All-American honors.
Zito then transferred to Pierce Junior College, where he was an all-state pick in 1998. Eligible for the draft, Zito was taken by the Texas Rangers in the third round.
The Zitos turned down the Rangers, and when USC offered a scholarship, they jumped.
“My dad was a brilliant businessman,” Zito said. “He grew up in New York, the Bronx. He’d spend 12 hours at a time locked up writing music. He believed in me. He instilled a work ethic in me. He taught me how to deal with success and failure. He told the scouts I’d be the first pick in the draft.”
Southern California’s Barry Zito delivers a pitch during the third inning against Stanford during the NCAA Super Regionals in Stanford, Calif., Friday, June 4, 1999. (AP Photo/John Todd)
Zito responded with a 12-3 All-American season with 154 strikeouts in 113 2/3 innings. The Oakland A’s noticed and took Zito with the ninth overall pick in the 1999 draft.
“So my dad wasn’t too far off in what he was telling the scouts,” Zito said.
Zito signed for $1.59 million, a far cry from the Mariners’ offer of $50,000 a few years earlier.
Former baseball pitcher Barry Zito performs at the Listening Room Cafe in Nashville. (Doug Hansen)
It was at the start of his professional baseball career that Zito first took up the guitar.
“As a starting pitcher, I knew I’d have a lot of downtime, so I turned to music,” Zito said. “My dad was a musician; he composed and arranged music for Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. My mom was a singer. I didn’t pick up the guitar until I was 21, but music was in my DNA. The seed was always there.”
Zito finished his baseball career in 2015, playing most of the season at Nashville, the Triple-A affiliate of the Giants. He moved full-time to the city after retirement.
A singer/songwriter, Zito released his first EP in 2017 and in 2020 appeared on Fox’s “The Masked Singer” as the Rhino. He also appeared in an episode of the CBS drama “Jag” and played in his sister Sally’s band.
In 2024, Zito sang “The Star Spangled Banner” before Athletics’ final home game in Oakland.
“Some of the best music in the world is created right here in Nashville,” Zito said. “Nashville is known for country and pop, but it’s more than that. It’s funk, disco, jazz, yacht rock … Kenny Loggins, El DeBarge, Christopher Cross. That’s where I am now.”
Zito is spending a few days in San Diego, surfing and reconnecting with old friends. He’s earned the downtime.
“Getting home will be great,” said Zito, who has four sons with wife Amber Seyer. “It has been a rough year.
“We had a severe mold problem in the house. Two of our four boys were pretty sick. I was away from music for about a year. But we’re in a new home now, everyone is well, and I’m back to pursuing my passion.”
78th Annual Salute to the Champions
When: Monday. Reception starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Hyatt Regency La Jolla, 3777 La Jolla Village Dr.
Honorees: Breitbard Hall of Fame inductees Barry Zito and Stephen Strasburg, Pro Stars of the Year Adrian Morejon and Anders Dreyer, Amateur Stars of the Year Lucky Sutton and Oliver Tarvet, Lifetime Achievement Award winner Joe Harper, Community Champion Miracle League of San Diego
More online: sandiegosportsassociation.com