Barry Zito is a reborn Christian, “really excited” about owning and shooting guns

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Barry Zito got tagged with some sort of hippie/playboy/zen master stereotype when he came up with the A’s. Since then most of that has been obscured by talk of his contract, his pitching struggles and then his nice little comeback the past season or so.

But his interview in the May “GQ” reveals a much different Barry Zito than that which exists in casual, popular perception.  Turns out that he found God in 2011 and he and his wife have immersed themselves in “the Christian faith” to use Zito’s term. Also: while he still surfs and does yoga, he has a new passion:

You’ve been written about a great deal, as you pointed out. But is there anything you’re interested in that we don’t know about?

Let’s see. I’ve kind of picked up a new hobby of shooting firearms. So that’s something that I’ve really gotten excited about lately. I think when you have a family and you understand that you have so much to lose if some lunatic is gonna come off the street and try to do something in your home, it makes you feel a little better to know that I’ll be able to defend my family. It’s a utilitarian thing. That’s basically what it’s about.

I’m struggling to think of whose violent impulses are so messed up and random that Barry Zito of all people becomes the target of them, but I suppose that sort of thing, by definition, defies rational analysis.

The bigger takeaway, I think, is that while it’s often tempting and easy to pigeonhole hippie/playboy/zen/surfer types on the one hand, and it’s tempting and easy to pigeonhole Christian gun owner types on the other, there are a lot of people — probably most people — who fit neither of those easy caricatures. Zito is his own dude, comes off as a pretty thoughtful dude, and there’s something cool about that.

In other news, that Zito interview is part of a baseball package which includes Buster Posey, Zito, Brandon Phillips, Chase Headley, Jake Peavy, and Andre Ethier modeling clothes that are vaguely baseball-inspired. Posey in what look like sweat-capris is a particular highlight.

Next month, if there is a God in Heaven who loves us and wants us to be happy, we’ll have the Matt Adams/Billy Butler swimsuit pictorial.

Phils’ Hoskins tears knee, expected to miss significant time

hoskins injury
Dave Nelson/USA TODAY Sports
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CLEARWATER, Fla. — Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins needs surgery for a torn ACL after injuring his left knee Thursday fielding a grounder in a spring training game and is expected to miss a significant amount of time.

The Phillies did not say when Hoskins would have the surgery or exactly how long the slugging first baseman might be sidelined.

Hoskins hit 30 homers with 79 RBIs last season for the reigning National League champions.

He was backing up to play a chopper on Thursday when the ball popped out of his glove. Sooner after, he fell to the ground and began clutching his left knee. Teammates gathered around him before he was taken off of the field.

Hoskins, a free agent at the end of the season who turned 30 last week, hit six homers in Philadelphia’s playoff run last season. The Phillies lost to the Houston Astros in the World Series.

The injury was another blow for the Phillies, who will be without top pitching prospect Andrew Painter for another few weeks because of a sprained ligament in his right elbow. And slugger Bryce Harper isn’t expected back until around the All-Star break after undergoing Tommy John surgery in November.