Outsports » Barry Zito

Outsports classic: Is Barry Zito gay?

Jim Buzinski — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 19:43:15 +0000

After seeing San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito appear in the team’s It Gets Better video, I was reminded of the great cartoon Dylan Edwards did for us back in 2002 when Zito was with the Oakland As.

I thought the cartoon perfectly captured the stereotypes gays and straights have about sexual orientation and figured it was a great time to reprint it:

Share on Facebook

San Francisco Giants release It Gets Better video with Barry Zito and others

Cyd Zeigler jr. — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 17:55:55 +0000

The San Francisco Giants have released the It Gets Better video they said was in the works. And they didn’t hold back. Superstar Barry Zito is the featured player in the video, along with players Matt Cain, Sergio Romo, Andres Torres, and also Giants hitting coach Hensley “Bam Bam” Muelens. The message includes English, Spanish and Japanese and it addresses the LGBT community specifically. Forgive me for the horrible pun, but the video is truly a home run. You can see the video here.

We speak for the entire Giants organization when we say that there is no place in society for hatred and bullying against anyone.

There are now petitions to get the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox to also make an It Gets Better video. You can sign that petition here for the Yankees and here for the Sox.

Share on Facebook

Sports Tweets of the Week, real and fake

Joe Guckin — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:45:00 +0000

Before we get to my choices for this week’s favorite messages, some Twitter news. This past week St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa quickly settled a lawsuit he filed against Twitter over a user that claimed to be LaRussa. I don’t know why a lawsuit was necessary. Surely if he had merely asked, Twitter would have shut down the impostor account right away. At any rate, he got some money out of them — legal fees and a donation to his Animal Rescue Foundation.

Clearly this is going to be an issue that Twitter has to deal with. Todd Zolecki, who covers the Phillies for MLB.com, wrote about a golfer named John Raser who claimed he was going to conduct a “Twitterview” with Phils second baseman Chase Utley. The problem is, Utley isn’t on Twitter. There’s a fake Utley but there are only three legit Phillies Twitter accounts: the team’s own, as well as those of Chad Durbin and Jamie Moyer’s Moyer Foundation charity. This so-called interview was supposed to be about “marketing, branding, the power of social media and obviously some baseball talk.” Ummm, no. As Zolecki pointed out, “If you’ve ever interviewed Utley, you know it’s like pulling teeth.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer has joined other media outlets discussing Twitter in the sports world, and published a list of players and coaches using Twitter, according to AthleteTweets.com, a site that tracks athletes’ Twitter usage. (I’ve been using a similar site called WeFollow.com, which tracks people in various categories, including sports.)

On to this week’s goodies. San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito, he of the $126 million contract and the 23-36 record since signing said contract, needed to get something off his chest and took two Tweets to do it:

Twitter gives a chance for all the small minded, insignificant, s–t talkers to feel significant for 2 seconds, just check my inbox…
To the other 95 percent of you guys, I love reading your responses and appreciate the support. Go Giants!

Meanwhile, in the midst of his comeback attempt, Lance Armstrong took time to announce the birth of his son on Thursday:

Wassup, world? My name is Max Armstrong and I just arrived. My Mommy is healthy and so am I!

Armstrong also got a challenge from the sports world’s most popular Twitter user, Shaquille O’Neal:

@lancearmstrong wht about our race whn and were, flat lands or mts and do I get a head start! If I get a head start, u will nva catch up

The big question is, will Shaq wear those spandex biker shorts? Those baggy NBA uniforms won’t cut it on a bike.

Share on Facebook

Barry Zito, male model

Jim Buzinski — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:22:35 +0000

Pitcher Barry Zito has been mediocre since coming to the San Francisco Giants two years ago via free agency (a 21-30 record with an ERA of around 5), but he can supplement his $126 million contract with a new gig as a jeans model.

According to clothing company True Religion, the city needs a huge billboard with their new model. Soon, we will see the pitcher grace a billboard on Bush Street and Van Ness Avenue.

A True Religion exec found Zito while reading a California tourism magazine and seeing him posing with a guitar; he said Zito had “the look.” Of course, the exec thought Zito was a musician, which is what Giants fans must have thought the past two years. I do agree he does have “the look.”

“What’s great is that they don’t want my name,” Zito said. “I’m just strictly a model. Who knows? Maybe it’ll open up other doors. It’s always fun to be involved in different things.”

Share on Facebook