Barry Zito Quotations

I view my pitching on how confident I was out there, period. And if I lose that confidence, I can become a prisoner of my own mind.

When someone becomes successful or rich and famous, people perceive that person as being different. But I'm the same guy I've always been.

I refuse to be molded into some stereotypical ballplayer that has no interests, really, no life, no depth, no intelligence.

Everyone focuses on the earthly state, but how cool might death be? I believe in spiritual rebirth, and I can't wait to experience that.

I was this 5-7 pudgy kid in high school... I wasn't a popular kid. I was an outcast.

Regardless of what you want to call it, guys need some type of spirituality they can grab onto. If it's Christianity, which is a very structured approach, or if it's something that's a little more open-ended... like, Zen's something you can make yourself a part of. You can interpret it for yourself, like Taoism and stuff like that.

Some people pray to a totem pole, some people pray to a sun, some people pray to a god. It all works for them. It all comes back to what you think.

I feel I can hang out with any group of people and find common ground to talk with them.

I'm OK being the veteran, but I'm still just a kid.

I can count my friends on one hand.

I think in the bullpen you can tell during your warmups, if you have a good feel for it. But anything can happen once you get into a game. Sometimes you just wind up throwing it better than ever before one day without knowing why.

Meyer and I have a bit in common because we're both left-handed. I think it's great that he seeks out that advice because he's not too cool or too uncomfortable to ask for it.

The outfield is solid, so is the catching and the infield.

I hadn't focused on mechanics since I signed professionally.

Big league defense is going to get outs most times.

I do look forward to keeping in touch with the guys, because we'll always be connected in people's minds.

I looked up to my father when I was 7 and 8. I believed it was my calling to be in the big leagues. I'd been raised by a family that always told me I could do anything I wanted.

It's not like I'm some kind of veteran and there is this huge age gap. I identify with them more off the field. I need to set an example, which is great, and I look forward to doing just that.

I just write mechanical things.

There's a part of me that wants to go streak and run outside and jump around and go swim in the ocean and do everything. The other part of me wants to bear down and repeat this kind of performance next year and in the years to come.

When I'm doing well, it's like I'm in a nice little ballet. Everything is going slow all around me. It's very peaceful.

I need to have perspective. That's one of the big things former players told me, to not try to live up to anything, just live up to yourself.

I'm not trying to be cocky, but I set such a high standard for myself. I'm not happy when I pitch seven innings and give up two runs and get a win.

We're all physical bodies, but basically everything we do is determined by what goes on in our heads. The only person who ever stops me from achieving something is me.

It would be great to just be able to ignore everything and pitch to a spot, to suppress the intellect and let the intuition take over.

I think I'm aware of what goes on in my mind more than some guys, and for that reason I fight more battles.

We speak for the entire Giants organization when we say that there is no place in society for hatred and bullying against anyone.

I can relate to anyone. I can hang out with stoners, skaters, surfers, stockbrokers, lawyers, athletes, rappers. I feel I can hang out with any group of people and find common ground to talk with them.

I'm so secure in myself I couldn't care less what people think of me.

We're having the bus stop five blocks away from the hotel, too. So they'll be walking the streets of Cleveland all pimped out.

Lew Wolff has brought some unpredictable things to this team in the sense (of) comparing him to the old owners, which is a good thing.

so it's better to be in a daze.

So I'm going to get some grief about this. I don't say a word when I strike him out, but I'm sure I'll hear about this.

Money isn't the goal. It's more about me maxing out on the field, being where I want to be pitching-wise. This is my home team. I haven't spoken to my agent in a month or so.

Maybe I was a little lethargic mentally, instead of being pumped up. I think that works to my advantage when I'm lethargic. It helps me not trip out on everything.

I worked on a change and they had some swings today that made it look like they were expecting a fastball. I'm focused on mixing all my pitches up like I'm going to do in the season.

If we focus on this loss and take it to tomorrow's game, that's unproductive. Fans can look at it like that. But we can't look at it like that. We've got to focus on tomorrow and put this behind us.

I got out of some (jams) but I left a couple of pitches up and that can cost you the game. I'm frustrated with (my) up-down approach in April.

Basically, I had to grab it and side flip it. I was trying to grab it with two hands and stop my momentum. In retrospect, I should have taken my glove off and used my right hand. Plays didn't go our way.

I didn't have great fastball command or a curveball tonight either until the last few innings,

He's better now than he was before he was hurt.

He's been even better than he was when he was healthy before his injury, ... Elly has really proven how good he is.

He was sitting all over it. It would have bounced in the dirt. ... Obviously, it was what he was waiting for.

He was sitting all over it. It was going to bounce in the dirt if he doesn't hit it. Can't really guard against that. You just have to tip your cap.

I think as they all get a little more comfortable, I think they'll all start picking my brain a bit. I'm open to all that.

I think it was good to get one of these in. Generally you encounter in spring every situation you'd face in the regular season. This was another one of those.

I was working on keeping the ball down and I felt like I did that. I didn't establish the inside corner and that was the difference.

I was just getting the ball up. It seems like we were playing guys one place in the outfield, and they kept hitting it to the other, you know? Everything just went their way today.

I was kind of lethargic mentally. But that works to my advantage. It helps me not freak out because you're not attentive to every little hit or what a fan is saying. It's better just to be in a little bit of a daze.

I think there will be more of a baseball atmosphere.

I was trying to be too fine. I kept missing with my fastball. I fell behind and that was the difference. ... I've had rough ones before. I have to go out and let it fly. I have to let it go.

It felt good to do that, but I've got to be able to do it during the inning itself. If something goes wrong, I've got to be aggressive in the strike zone and get it done.

It doesn't even seem real, ... Pretty cool day.

I think going on Howard Stern was great. I was such a fan of his for so many years. It was just so cool to be in that studio.

I'm so excited. Man, it's going to be awesome. Last year's Opening Day was a day game in Baltimore, and it didn't really have the sort of atmosphere this year will have. We'll be at home, it's the Yankees and Randy Johnson -- that's just perfect. It couldn't be any better.

That was a pitch that was going to bounce in the dirt, you can't guard against that, ... He was sitting curveball and he got the barrel out.

I wasn't getting the ball down. Balls were staying up in the zone a little bit. They had a good approach. They laid off on good change ups down and capitalized on mistakes.

I wasn't getting the ball down, ... Balls were staying up in the zone a little bit. They had a good approach. They laid off on good change ups down and capitalized on mistakes.

You just learn these lessons and hopefully you only learn them once. I only want to learn the lesson last Monday just once. The key is just staying within yourself. I just have to trust my stuff.

You know going up against a Cy Young candidate that it's going to be a close one, so you've just got to go out and attack the hitters and hopefully come out on top,

Yeah, he was sitting all over it. It was going to bounce in the dirt, but he'd been waiting for it all that (four-pitch) at-bat. There's not much you can do about that.

We're a totally different team than we were in April, ... We're totally resilient. The team confidence is the reason that we do come back in a game like this.

We were playing not anywhere near to our capabilities. But regardless, I don't think we expected to come out and contend for a playoff spot. Things changed after our great run in June and July. Now we're going to be upset if we don't win the division.

Brown was way out in front of a changeup, ... That's just the baseball gods there. ... I haven't seen their games, but I figure they hadn't gotten breaks like that.

Bill was definitely the heart and soul of the A's. He was legendary. It was a luxury to have him doing our games.

Dude, he's, like, 38 or something. I'm not going to be the guy who makes a 38-year-old dress like the Village People.

I understand why people think that way, but anyone who knows anything about me knows that money is not what drives me. My drive has always been toward being the best pitcher in Major League Baseball, and that will be my drive right up to the day I hang up my spikes.

There won't be any intangibles that can distract the clubhouse, we'll know what to expect. That's a major plus.

It was tough shutting the door tonight. And we still picked up a half-game against Anaheim on its day off.

It was tough shutting the door tonight, ... And we still picked up a half-game against Anaheim on its day off.

Same old thing. I'm still falling behind, throwing way too many pitches.

Personally, I don't think I'm going to get traded this year,

They were getting the breaks we were getting in our streak. I figured they weren't getting breaks like that. ... When you have that kind of losing streak, you really stop caring. They were doing things today that normally major league teams don't do, like every time I threw to first their entire dugout was yelling 'Back!' They obviously were fired up.

There were some strange balls that were pop ups and they kept going. I was throwing to the inside part of the plate better and throwing the change. I just felt like a couple of them weren't really hit that well.

This last month should be pretty sweet, man. It's going to be very exciting.

It's a big area of frustration for us. Myself and the team, it seems the same -- one good game, one bad one, one good game, one bad one.

It wasn't so much the coldness as the wetness. I got so much mud in my spikes that it was hard to plate that front leg. There will be days you go out and its muddy. You just pitch through it. It's going to be cold in Seattle and I hope we have a nice day in Oakland.

It was electric out there. Games like this ... The last month should be pretty sweet.

It's going to be nuts in there. I mean, opening night at home is cool as it is, but that it's against what some people are saying is going to be the best team in baseball definitely makes it more exciting.

It's pretty cool going into camp knowing exactly what the staff is going to look like on Opening Day. A lot of years, you've got a spot or two in the rotation open, and maybe another two or three spots in the 'pen. So there's definitely some comfort there. Everybody can just focus on what they need to do to get ready.

That's something teams don't do. They were obviously fired up.

It's so cool to see all these people stepping up and doing something for the real heroes in our country. More and more, people are seeing that this isn't about whether you're for or against war. It's about being there in whatever way we can for the people putting their lives on the line.

It's great. The offense has picked up the last couple games and has shown what they can do.

It was kind of strange. It is dark here and the lights aren't great.

Oh, they'll be wearing those outfits around the house on off-days.

It was just electric out there, playoff atmosphere.

It was just a great game, definitely playoff vibes. It's good for the team to come out on top in huge games like this, with a large crowd, so we can develop our psyche for that. Hopefully, when we get to the playoffs, we can deal with that in a good way.

I'm not missing a start, no way. If I was going to miss a start, it would have been yesterday.

I'm not missing any starts. No way. If I was going to miss a start, it would be (Sunday). Why am I so sure? Because I'm in my body and I feel it. I feel fine. There will be no controversy from this. I hope you guys squash this. I'm not happy at all that it's out there.

I'm not missing any starts. If I was going to miss a start, it would've been (Sunday). I know my body. It feels fine. There will be no controversy over this.

I'm glad the offense is doing what they were doing. In spring you encounter just about every situation you'll face during the regular season. Today it was sitting for a while.

I just wasn't getting the ball down ... and they capitalized. I made some good pitches, but they were getting hits off those too, so it was tough.

I just wasn't getting the ball down ... and they capitalized, ... I made some good pitches, but they were getting hits off those too, so it was tough.

I knew coming in, with Colon being a potential Cy Young winner, there'd be very little room for error, ... He was amazing.

I'm just trying to lock in a routine and stand firm on my mechanics. I'm focusing on mixing all my pitches up like I'm going to do in the season.

I just know that Macha is great, he's grown and learned so much since he started in 2003,

Because you're not attentive to every little thing, every little hit, every little thing they are saying, ... You just get in a little bit of a daze out there.

I don't want to go through it again. I don't expect to have a rough April or a rough May or anything like it. I want to get back on it.

I can never really get to a level that will satiate me. I think in general it's hard to find that. I can do it with my family.

Colon was amazing, ... I mean, he's throwing 95-96 in the ninth and 10th innings. That's video-game stuff.