Tim Hudson has an ERA of 0.96 in his first four starts with the Braves. Scott Cunningham/Getty Images
	2000 Pitcher W-L PCT IP H ERA BB SO Hudson 20-6 .769 202.1 169 4.14 82 169 Mulder 9-10 .474 154.0 191 5.44 69 88 Zito 7-4 .636 92.2 64 2.72 45 78
	2001 Pitcher W-L PCT IP H ERA BB SO Hudson 18-9 .667 235.0 216 3.37 71 181 Mulder 21-8 .724 229.1 214 3.45 51 153 Zito 17-8 .680 214.1 184 3.49 80 205
	2002 Pitcher W-L PCT IP H ERA BB SO Hudson 15-9 .625 238.1 237 2.98 62 152 Zito 23-5 .821 229.1 182 2.75 78 182 Mulder 19-7 .731 207.1 182 3.47 55 159
	2003 Pitcher W-L PCT IP H ERA BB SO Hudson 16-7 .696 240 197 2.70 61 162 Zito 14-12 .538 231.2 186 3.30 88 146 Mulder 15-9 .625 186.2 180 3.13 40 128
	2004 Pitcher W-L PCT IP H ERA BB SO Mulder 17-8 .680 225.2 223 4.43 83 140 Zito 11-11 .500 213 216 4.48 81 163 Hudson 12-6 .667 188.2 194 3.53 44 103
	The Big Three Era Year Rec. Pct. Place Postseason 2000 91-70 .565 First ALDS, lost 3-2 NYY 2001 102-60 .630 Second* ALDS, lost 3-2 NYY 2002 103-59 .636 First ALDS, lost 3-2 MIN 2003 96-66 .593 First ALDS, lost 3-2 BOS 2004 91-71 .562 No playoffs * Wild card

In Oakland, for the better part of five years, the three friends took turns beating up the rest of the league. First Tim Hudson got his chance, then Mark Mulder and, finally, the kid with the big curve, Barry Zito. The trio that became known as the Big Three fed off each other's successes, picked each other up after the rare failure and, not coincidentally, blew away the rest of the American League West.

They have been split up now, across three different time zones and two leagues. In a lot of ways, they are back where they began. Zito has remained with the A's in California, where he grew up. Mulder, born just south of Chicago, has returned to the heartland with the St. Louis Cardinals. And Hudson, who grew up in Alabama, is back in the South after signing a long-term contract with the Braves.

How the three fare as solo artists will be an interesting study during the next five years. Friday night, two of the A's former Big Three will face each other for the first time when Mulder starts for the Cardinals, and Hudson for the Braves, in Atlanta's Turner Field.

"We have some good memories, but it is what it is now," Hudson told me recently. "I think all three of us are mature enough and far enough along in our playing careers that I think we'll be OK."

So far, at least two of the three -- the two who happen to be in Atlanta on Friday night -- are more than OK. Hudson is second in the NL with an 0.96 ERA (he's 2-0 in four starts) and Mulder, after throwing 18 straight innings without allowing an earned run last week, is 2-1 with a 3.10 ERA in four starts.

The lefty Zito is struggling with an 0-4 record and a 6.60 ERA. But he is in a much different situation than the other two, the leader of a young, perennially rebuilding team with an offense among the weakest in the league. In his five starts, the A's have given Zito just 1.80 runs an outing. Only two AL pitchers have had worse run support.

When the three of them were in Oakland Zito, Mulder and Hudson averaged almost 16 wins a season. Hudson was a 20-game winner in 2000, Mulder won 21 the next year and Zito won 23 in 2002, along with the AL Cy Young Award. The three combined to win more than 66 percent of their decisions from 2000-2004 as the A's went to the playoffs in four of those years (2000-2003).

They were three young aces in a loose clubhouse on a winning team built for pitching. And they loved just about every minute of it.

"It was just a lot of fun. That's what I'll remember. The relationships, the great time we had. Pretty much everybody was pretty good friends on the team," Hudson said. "Mulder and Zito and I, we were obviously really good friends. We worked well together, we had a lot of success together. We were three very different people, personality-wise, but at the same time, we enjoyed each other, for sure."

The competition among the three, too, spurred Hudson, Mulder and Zito to heights they probably couldn't have reached by themselves.