The Giants will be the first to admit that they overpaid for Barry Zito, but nobody -- especially that other Barry -- is complaining about the new vibe he's brought to the clubhouse

	Zito added half a foot to his stride, which he hopes will bolster his velocity and his falling strikeout rate. Brad Mangin/SI

By Chris Ballard

As the new Face of the Giants, Barry Zito would like to clear up something: He is not a flake. He does not bring stuffed animals on road trips or sleep with special pink pillows or God knows what else you may have heard. Rather, Zito is "very normal," as his publicist, Kathy Jacobson, will assure you (hey, would a flake have a publicist?), and he'd like people to stop perpetuating the stereotype. "Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not flaky," Zito says, a bag of ice strapped to his $126 million left arm. "It's just a fun thing to put on a guy" -- and here he mimics a chirpy, Entertainment Tonight kind of anchor -- "'Hey, lefthanded, long hair, surfer!'" He shakes his head. "But these people don't know, because they've never come in here and talked to me. Because if they did, I'd call them on that s--- in a second."

It's true, Zito is not a descendant of Bill (Spaceman) Lee, for that implies a certain absent-mindedness, whereas Zito is renowned for his work ethic and preparation. Zito is just, well, different. Keep that in mind when you hear how a cactus attacked him last week. Or how he recently flew to watch an Iowa-Oklahoma State wrestling match because Bobby Kielty, his former A's teammate, told him the college competition was "just so intense" that he had to check it out. Or how he arrived for the first day of spring training and unveiled a radically different delivery -- beginning with a windup from a deep crouch and ending with an exaggerated stride -- that freaked out Giants fans and caused manager Bruce Bochy to think Zito might be pulling his leg. "I know Barry better now," says Bochy, "but when I first saw [the new delivery], I didn't know if part of it was him having some fun with us."

Zito, however, does not joke when it comes to baseball. As unconventional as he is, at least by the narrow standards of a professional athlete -- with his interests in surfing, guitar playing, yoga and the Strikeouts for Troops foundation he started to help wounded U.S. soldiers -- he is also very serious about the game. That focus is what persuaded the Giants to sign him to that bloated seven-year contract, the largest ever for a pitcher. It's also why, after locking down the deal, he spent the winter focusing on his core conditioning and refining his delivery. His goal was to add power while reducing stress on his arm, so he incorporated more leg thrust into his windup, then amplified the motion. "It's tough to make fine adjustments," Zito explains. "Sometimes you have to exaggerate the s--- out of it, then you pull back to the original and the original has changed."

What Zito didn't count on -- though he should have -- was the reaction the new delivery would get. Pitching coach Dave Righetti called it so different as to be worrisome, and the story quickly went national. By the next morning Zito was being bashed across the sports-scape. And he was ticked.