Five years ago today, Barry Zito pitched against a St. Louis Cardinals team that was built to demolish pitchers like Barry Zito. Their slugging percentage jumped 50 points against left-handed pitchers. It jumped 70 points when they didn’t have to face power pitchers. They were second in the league in runs scored, and they were playing at home. Every scrap of evidence suggested they would clobber Zito and win the series, 4-1.
They didn’t. It’s the fifth birthday of the Barry Zito game, and I baked a cake in the shape of ha-ha-what-in-the-absolute-hell. I hope you enjoy it.