SF Gate: Reuniting Zito with Rick Peterson makes sense

Hiring Peterson would not guarantee Zito’s return to Cy Young form, but as one baseball lifer said, “Who knows? Peterson could say the word ‘boo’ and maybe something would click in Zito’s mind.”

Zito declined to comment on the idea of hiring Peterson. In fact, Zito did not even know the Mets had fired him.

However, when asked what kind of relationship they had, Zito noted that as far back as college he and his family hired Peterson for private coaching. When the A’s drafted Zito, Peterson was their pitching coach.

“I had success from the start there in Oakland,” Zito said. “There’s a lot to be said for your first coach in the big-leagues, too. He moved me on the mound and did something also with my hands, stuff like that, stuff I still do today.”

* On second thought…let Peterson shikantaza where he is!