One in a series
Box-Toppers’ Stick-A-Fork-In-Them series looks at 14 players whose careers are done or may be done. Included is a look at how they have fared in Box-Toppers points over their careers, reflecting their impact on the game over time. This is the 11th of the series:
11. Barry Zito
Barry Zito, 35, is taking a year off from pitching but says he is not retired.
Zito won the 2002 American League Cy Young Award and was the No. 2 AL pitcher in Box-Toppers points in both 2001 and 2002.
Barry Zito
Here are Barry Zito's Box-Toppers statistics. The third column shows his Box-Toppers points (BTP) per season. The final column shows his All-Star Selections, his Box-Toppers key season rankings and his standing in key postseason awards voting.| Year | Team | BTP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | oak al | 2.0 | RoY-6 |
| 2001 | oak al | 18.1 | BTP-5, BTP-AL pi-2, MVP-21 |
| 2002 | oak al | 20.1 | AS, BTP-5, BTP-AL pi-2, CYA-1, MVP-13 |
| 2003 | oak al | 9.7 | AS, BTP-49, BTP-AL pi-15 |
| 2004 | oak al | 5.7 | |
| 2005 | oak al | 11.4 | BTP-32, BTP-AL pi-8 |
| 2006 | oak al | 9.0 | AS, BTP-72, BTP-AL pi-22 |
| 2007 | sf nl | 7.0 | |
| 2008 | sf nl | 6.0 | |
| 2009 | sf nl | 10.0 | BTP-48, BTP-NL pi-17 |
| 2010 | sf nl | 7.7 | |
| 2011 | sf nl | 1.0 | |
| 2012 | sf nl | 6.7 | |
| 2013 | sf nl | 3.0 | |
| Total | 117.4 | BTP-31, BTP-pi-21 |
AS All-star selection
BTP Finish among all players in Box-Toppers points
BTP-AL pi Finish among all AL pitchers in BTP
BTP-NL pi Finish among all NL pitchers in BTP
CYA Finish in league Cy Young Award voting
MVP Finish in league Most Valuable Player Award voting
RoY Finish in Rookie of the Year voting
Source: Information for player awards comes from Baseball-Reference.com
He has 117.4 career Box-Toppers points from 2000 to 2013, ranking 21st among all pitchers and 31st among all players (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995).
Zito, who pitched for the Athletics from 2000 to 2006 and for the Giants from 2007 to 2013, has only received Cy Young Award votes once during his career—the year he won the prize. He is a two-time World Series champion with the Giants in 2010 and 2012.
Some career highlights:
• In 2001, he had 18.1 Box-Toppers points, second among AL pitchers and fifth among all players. However, he received no Cy Young votes that season. Roger Clemens of the Yankees won the AL Cy Young. Clemens had 12.4 Box-Toppers points, sixth among AL pitchers. Zito’s Athletics teammate Tim Hudson, who led AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points with 18.8, finished sixth in Cy Young voting with one vote.
• In 2002, he had 20.1 Box-Toppers points, his best season, finishing second among AL pitchers and fifth among all players. He won the AL Cy Young. Pedro Martinez of the Red Sox had the most Box-Toppers points among AL pitchers (28.8) and finished second in Cy Young voting.
• In 2003, he had 9.7 Box-Toppers points, 15th among AL pitchers and 49th among all players.
• In 2004, he had 11.4 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL pitchers and 32nd among all players.
• In 2006, he had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, 22nd among AL pitchers and 72nd among all players.
• In 2009 with the Giants, he had 10.0 Box-Toppers points, 17th among National League pitchers and 48th among all players.
Zito had four seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points, two seasons with 15.0 or more and one season with more than 20.0. He has scored at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in each of the 14 seasons he’s played.
Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Coming next in the series: Chris Carpenter
Previously in the series: Alex Rodriguez, Roy Halladay, Manny Ramirez, Johan Santana, Jim Thome, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Roy Oswalt, Andy Pettitte, Todd Helton