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Article: Barry Zito an AL Cy Young winner.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- November 7, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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SAN JOSE _ When A's left-hander Barry Zito was 12 years old, former Cy Young Award winner Randy Jones placed an ad in a San Diego newspaper, offering pitching lessons for $50 a week.
Zito and his father called.
For the next five years, Jones, a onetime star left-hander with the San Diego Padres, tutored Zito in his back yard, instilling in him the virtues of pitching.
"When I'd do something incorrectly, he'd spit this big wad of tobacco on my shoes, my brand new Nike high tops that I could barely afford," Zito said. "He's spitting tobacco juice all over them, saying, `Do it right, lefty. Do it right.' "
Zito got it right.
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