To Sir Zito With Love

Good Vibrations isn't just the place where you go to buy your special someone a little "toy" to play with; it's something the recently less downtrodden Barry Zito feeds off of in order to get a good start going. After finding his personal email address on his website two weeks ago, I have taken to writing Barry an email before each of his starts in an effort to bolster his spirits.

They usually sound something like this:

Z,

I ain't afraid of no Marlins. You shouldn't be either. You have pitched well against them in the past and despite their recent surge, I know you can stick it to these guys. Your boys will get you some run support, so all you gotta do is go out there and throw strikes. I know you can do it, man. Let's eat some filet-o-fish for dinner tonight!

And you know what? He has been responsive, usually getting back to me relatively quickly with something like:

Hey man!

Thanks so much! I continue to work hard and I appreciate your support. They always say the fans are the 10th man on the field.

Z

It seems to have helped, too. In his last two starts, buoyed by the strength of the warm and fuzzy feelings that my oh-so-brilliant emails afforded him, Zito has looked closer to mediocre than he has all season. In his last two starts, he is 1-1 with a 2.38 ERA and has given up just 11 hits (only one of them for extra bases), while striking out nine. Barry has still had trouble keeping his pitch count low, throwing only 11.1 innings in that span, but he looked to regain some of that control in his last start.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I would love if every man, woman and crab were to login to their email and send a quick well-wishing note his way tonight. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but tonight. Preferably right after you finish reading this post. OBnB is starting an official "Warm Fuzzy Zito Feeling Email Writing Campaign". It's not going to transform him into Sandy Koufax any time soon, but it may get his spirits high enough to top The Big Screwnit tonight in AZ.

Email Barry Zito!