… Or Barry Zito has a very good publicist.
To wit, here is part of the Chronicle columnist’s article today:
Meanwhile, photographs by pitcher Barry Zito (quickly becoming a boldface regular) are featured in the first issue of the Men’s Book, San Francisco magazine’s new periodical offspring. Two of the pitcher’s shots are of himself, one’s a woman pulling down her dress and the third’s a teammate in what appears to be the bathroom. “If his pitches miss the mark on game day, he has the lens to fall back on,” says the magazine.
And the following excerpt was in yesterday’s column:
Montblanc is making a series of special edition pens, the sale of each (for $615) to include $149 to be donated to UNICEF. Famous individuals from all around the country are donating their signatures to be engraved on these pens. The Bay Area’s chosen personality – drum roll begins here and gets louder – is Barry Zito.
And two weeks ago, during the Barry Bonds ceremony, guess who had a cameo?
Despite this season’s showing, the honoree’s teammates, who arrived together in a bus, strolled in to awestruck gasps, and Barry Zito was immediately surrounded by admirers. I asked if he minded that by the time he’d become a Giant, the team, the “Bar-ree, Bar-ree” chant had been taken. “I think I got Zito,” he said. “Two syllables, that works.” That “admirers” is meant literally; he’s rock-star handsome with a kind of mane of shiny brown hair. “Great use of gel,” I said to my pal S.C. “Great use of genetics,” she said.
Conclusion: Barry Zito is a PR machine and Leah Garchik hearts him.
And here we thought that he had shed his “Rick Vaughn from Major League 2″ status. Is it possible that we were … wrong?
Posted by PL 
Despite the Giants’ firm grasp on last place, the Dodgers’ success, Brad Penny’s 13-1, 2.51 line, the Bonds fiasco reaching its boiling point and Ray Durham’s reluctance to return our fan letters, we are really looking forward to this three-game set. Maybe it’s because we need a break from the Dog Days of Summer. Maybe it’s because the odds say the Giants gotta beat the Dodgers sometime.
Dear Bay Area Fans,
As you might be able to tell, ever since the Dodgers swept the Giants this weekend (giving them 11 wins in a row at Pac Bell), we’ve been kind of avoiding discussing the slow torture that is your 2007 Giants, which is odd because usually train wrecks are fascinating and completely watchable. In any event, here’s the Giants news, divided into two distinct halves, because if you’re anything like us, you have days where you’re tired of the Bonds coverage.
Our main man–
