Fastball

Former Cy Young Winner Barry Zito Pitches For Savannah Bananas on Saturday

Playing in Nashville on Saturday night, the Savannah Bananas had a special guest take the mound: former Cy Young winner and World Series champion Barry Zito.

Brady Farkas

Former Cy Young Winner Barry Zito Pitches For Savannah Bananas on Saturday
Former Cy Young Winner Barry Zito Pitches For Savannah Bananas on Saturday /
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The Savannah Bananas continue to do things to attract attention. The barnstorming exhibition team is known around the country for its "Banana Ball" rules and fun times.

It's the baseball version of the Harlem Globetrotters, essentially.

On Saturday night in Nashville, the Bananas made more headlines when former World Series champion and Cy Young winner Barry Zito took the mound.

You can watch his entrance and a portion of his appearance here.

It's too bad that we didn't get to see Zito's classic curveball, which was one of the best curveballs of the last 20 years. The 45-year-old had a 15-year major league career, pitching part of eight years for the Oakland Athletics and seven years for the San Francisco Giants.

He played the first seven years of his career in Oakland, then spent seven in San Fran before coming back to Oakland for three games in the 2015 season at the age of 37.

Lifetime, he was 165-143 on the mound with a 4.04 ERA. He made the All-Star team three times (2002, 2003 and 2006) and won the Cy Young in 2002. He formed a "Big Three" with the A's alongside Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson.

He also received MVP votes in two separate seasons and finished sixth in the Rookie of the Year voting in the 2000 season. 

He threw more than 200 innings on six different occasions and tossed more than 180 on 11 different occasions.

We'll have to see who the Bananas are able to find next to eat some innings!

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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