BARRY ZITO

I'm OK being the veteran, but I'm still just a kid.

Some people pray to a totem pole, some people pray to a sun, some people pray to a god. It all works for them. It all comes back to what you think.

It's not like I'm some kind of veteran and there is this huge age gap. I identify with them more off the field. I need to set an example, which is great, and I look forward to doing just that.

I do look forward to keeping in touch with the guys, because we'll always be connected in people's minds.

Meyer and I have a bit in common because we're both left-handed. I think it's great that he seeks out that advice because he's not too cool or too uncomfortable to ask for it.

I feel I can hang out with any group of people and find common ground to talk with them.

I was this 5-7 pudgy kid in high school... I wasn't a popular kid. I was an outcast.

I can count my friends on one hand.

The outfield is solid, so is the catching and the infield.

I just write mechanical things.

I view my pitching on how confident I was out there, period. And if I lose that confidence, I can become a prisoner of my own mind.

I hadn't focused on mechanics since I signed professionally.

When someone becomes successful or rich and famous, people perceive that person as being different. But I'm the same guy I've always been.

Big league defense is going to get outs most times.

Everyone focuses on the earthly state, but how cool might death be? I believe in spiritual rebirth, and I can't wait to experience that.

I think in the bullpen you can tell during your warmups, if you have a good feel for it. But anything can happen once you get into a game. Sometimes you just wind up throwing it better than ever before one day without knowing why.

I looked up to my father when I was 7 and 8. I believed it was my calling to be in the big leagues. I'd been raised by a family that always told me I could do anything I wanted.

I refuse to be molded into some stereotypical ballplayer that has no interests, really, no life, no depth, no intelligence.

Regardless of what you want to call it, guys need some type of spirituality they can grab onto. If it's Christianity, which is a very structured approach, or if it's something that's a little more open-ended... like, Zen's something you can make yourself a part of. You can interpret it for yourself, like Taoism and stuff like that.

It would be great to just be able to ignore everything and pitch to a spot, to suppress the intellect and let the intuition take over.

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

I need to have perspective. That's one of the big things former players told me, to not try to live up to anything, just live up to yourself.

I think I'm aware of what goes on in my mind more than some guys, and for that reason I fight more battles.

There's a part of me that wants to go streak and run outside and jump around and go swim in the ocean and do everything. The other part of me wants to bear down and repeat this kind of performance next year and in the years to come.

I can relate to anyone. I can hang out with stoners, skaters, surfers, stockbrokers, lawyers, athletes, rappers. I feel I can hang out with any group of people and find common ground to talk with them.