Somebody Shoot Me

Anyone else remember him on JAG?

Apparently, Barry Zito thinks that his mind is playing tricks on him. I read an article from the New York Times about why he's declined so dramatically. A few quotes:

"But the game speeded him up. You know, this is a tough game to be on top for years." -- Correct

"My curve and fastball are better now. But your body’s gonna do what your mind lets it do. You have to surrender to the pitch. You try to control the process, not the result. A New Age guy told me that the last thought you have before you let the ball go — I hope the batter doesn’t hit it — determines where it goes. All the preparation, off-season work, can be done in by that last thought." -- Mkay, but I'm not sure.

"I wanted to be more ‘professional,’" he said. "This new guy. Because of the Contract, I wanted people to know I was serious about pitching, not this flaky guy. I allowed the seriousness of things to creep into my mind. The city. The Contract. The fans. My new teammates. I wasn’t a blue-collar Oakland guy anymore." -- I can see that.

"But now I have to get back to that ‘age of innocence,’ when I realized how big things were and out of my control, and I just surrendered to it. I always played baseball because I loved it, not all these other reasons ... It’s a struggle for someone who’s super-aware, like me. It would be a blessing to be a typical jock." -- Uuhh, WHAT?!?!

I don't know that I can get past that last statement. It would be a blessing to be a typical jock. Please tell me that the "typical jocks" on his team string him up by his "typical jock" strap. I can see how his contract and pressure have gotten to him, but don't give me any bull about being "super-aware". He's given me no indication that he's more than the surfer boy he's always been. Also, if you just believe your dad's philosophies every time he gets a new one, it usually doesn't indicate that you're smart or "super-aware". It means either you're gullible or you don't think for yourself. That's not "super-aware".

I honestly wondered through the entire thing if it was actually just a big joke, but I think it's all completely serious.

My favorite quote:

"I just let it fly last night. Real success comes effortlessly, you know. The best fun is the game when you surrender to it. The hardest thing in life is to trust that something is gonna come. Like Rachmaninoff. He wrote . . . until he taught himself just to be an instrument of something coming through him. I made up my mind only a few days ago that’s what I was gonna do."

And ...

"Maybe I can laugh about this someday."

Yes, won't we all.