Out of the Big Three the A’s had in their early years of dominance in the 2000s, Barry Zito was my favorite over Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson. All three pitchers were great, but it was something about that Zito curveball that just amazed me.
Zito was great for Oakland and spent seven seasons with the team, making three All-Star games and winning a Cy Young award in 2002. He was great for Oakland, but when he was to hit the market, I knew his time was gone. It was either San Francisco or the New York Mets and he choice to stay in the Bay.
But at the end of the day... 