Word: zito
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...like this? more ballplayers each day, it seems. Ichiro's on-deck gyrations have become a Seattle model of cool, with little leaguers everywhere trying to keep their faces blank while contorting like pretzels. It is the fourth inning of a recent game against the Oakland Athletics. Lefthander Barry Zito, winner of nine straight games, is on the mound for the A's. As he prepares to step in, Ichiro betrays no awareness that he's enduring his longest drought?0 for 13?of the season. No, as always, Ichiro spends his time running through at least six different stretches...
...Ichiro's at bats are clinics in working over a pitcher: stretch, shirt tug, foul, foul, foul, flare to left center. With his maddening skill at making contact, it's nearly impossible to fire three pitches past Ichiro. When he dives after a curveball in the dirt, as Zito induces him to do in his first at bat, "I can't really pat myself on the back," Zito says. He figures Ichiro just made a rare mistake...
...arrives the perfect Ichiro moment. He slaps a ground ball three steps to the left of first base, but he is so fast that Zito never comes close to covering the bag in time, and what would be a sure out for anyone else ends with Ichiro safe again, a paradox in action. "When Ichiro doesn't hit the ball well, it's almost to his advantage," Zito says. "He's a pain...
...want to ring the opening or closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange? Everyone, it turns out. Especially since Sept. 11, as heads of state and celebs troop to ground zero and want to stop by, requests to be a bell ringer are up. The N.Y.S.E.'s Bob Zito, who filters the requests, says the first five months of 2002 are almost booked. As a courtesy, Zito will call the volunteers on a bad market day to let them bow out, rather than be publicly tarred with a bearish brush. (President Clinton never rang the bell; his advisers warned...
...clubs, developing talent until they become available free agents. Yes, it's possible for a team like Oakland to compete, but GM Billy Beane has been nothing short of brilliant, and he has no room for error. How much will the pitchers he's devloped like Barry Zito be worth on the open market? Denny Neagle just got $10 million per year. Hell, Darren Dreifort, who in my estimation is nothing better than a third starter, just commanded $11 million...