San Francisco Giants Pitcher Barry Zito Named Hutch Award Winner

SEATTLE, Nov. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Barry Zito, pitcher for the 2012 World Series champion San Francisco Giants,  three-time All-Star and Cy Young Award-winner, will receive the 48^th annual Hutch Award^®.  The award is given each year to a Major League Baseball player who best exemplifies the honor, courage and dedication of baseball great Fred Hutchinson, both on and off the field.

The award will be presented at the annual Hutch Award Luncheon on Jan. 30, 2013 at Seattle's Safeco Field. MLB All-Star and icon Lou Piniella will give the keynote address, and proceeds will benefit early cancer detection research at Fred Hutch.

Zito made his Major League debut with the Oakland Athletics in 2000. In his rookie season he posted a 7-4 record, finishing sixth in the American League Rookie of the Year vote. By 2002 he was easily one of the best pitchers in baseball and was named to his first All-Star team. He won the American League Cy Young award with a 23-5 record.

Following his seventh season with the Athletics, Zito signed a seven-year deal with the San Francisco Giants in 2006. He posted double-digit wins in his first three seasons and in 2010 he helped San Francisco win their first championship since the team moved West in 1958. After sitting out part of the 2011 season with a foot and ankle injury, he came back in 2012 and finished with an illustrious 15-8 record, his best season in a Giants uniform. In October, Zito helped lead the Giants to their second World Series title in San Francisco history by going 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA in three post-season starts. In his first career World Series start, he outdueled Tigers ace Justin Verlander in Game 1, setting the stage for San Francisco's sweep to their seventh World Series title in franchise history.

Off the field, Zito is a philanthropist.  He founded the nonprofit organization Strikeouts For Troops, supported by more than 100 MLB players, coaches and managers, athletes from other sports, corporate sponsorships and the public, to provide comforts of home to injured troops.  Additionally, the foundation works to lift the morale and spirits of wounded U.S. troops and their families undergoing treatment at military hospitals nationwide. Barry and his wife, Amber, also support the St. Anthony Foundation, which provides thousands of meals every day to San Francisco's hungry and homeless. They also support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Special Olympics,  Make-A-Wish Foundation, global illiteracy, organ donation and cancer research.

When the Zitos come to Seattle for the Jan. 30 Hutch Award Luncheon, they will tour research labs at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and visit children at the Hutch School, a unique K – 12 accredited education program that serves young cancer patients and school-age family members of patients.

The Hutch Award recipient is selected annually through a vote of all surviving former awardees. A total of 47 players have been honored since 1965, when Mickey Mantle accepted the inaugural award. Baseball Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax, Carl Yastrzemski, Willie McCovey and Lou Brock all received the Hutch Award; in more recent years Jamie Moyer, Craig Biggio, Jon Lester, Mark Teahen, Tim Hudson and Billy Butler have joined their ranks.

For more information or to register for the Hutch Award Luncheon, visit www.fhcrc.org/hutchaward.

At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, home to three Nobel laureates, interdisciplinary teams of world-renowned scientists seek new and innovative ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases. The Hutchinson Center's pioneering work in bone marrow transplantation led to the development of immunotherapy, which harnesses the power of the immune system to treat cancer with minimal side effects. An independent, nonprofit research institute based in Seattle, the Hutchinson Center houses the nation's first and largest cancer prevention research program, as well as the clinical coordinating center of the Women's Health Initiative and the international headquarters of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network. Private contributions are essential for enabling Hutchinson Center scientists to explore novel research opportunities that lead to important medical breakthroughs. For more information visit www.fhcrc.org or follow the Hutchinson Center on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.

CONTACT
Christi Ball Loso
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
206-667-5215
[email protected]

Kathy Jacobson
For Barry Zito
925-683-2988
[email protected]

SOURCE Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center