Maybe the music gene was always in Barry Zito. The parents of the former Cy Young award winner and World Series champion both worked for the legendary Nat King Cole when they met.
Now that Zito is retired from the mound, he's taken to the world his parents once lived in and couldn't be happier.
"I think I'm just genuinely more in love now with what I do more than I ever have been," Zito said on NPR's Only A Game on Friday.
Zito released his debut EP "No Secrets" on Jan. 27 of this year. The EP includes six songs.
Even though Zito's father loved the music business, he never actually wanted his son to go into it.
"He knew how difficult it was to make it into the music world," Zito said. "His approach was always, 'You master these three pitches and baseball will send out scouts to the end of the world to find you.' Whereas you could be the greatest musician ever, but if you don't have the right people behind you pushing you and the right machinery, you may never go."
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The lefty first picked up a guitar in the minor leagues after the A's drafted him No. 9 overall in 1999 to kill time on the road.
"I wanted something to do while I was going to be stuck in these hotel rooms and on these bus trips, so I got my signing bonus and bought a guitar," Zito said.
Though the Giants won the World Series in 2010, Zito and his $126 million contract were left off the postseason roster. Feeling down with what his baseball career was turning into, Zito first went into the studio.
"It was a very painful time for me that offseason in LA and I think part of me just wanted to get away from baseball," Zito remembers. "I went and recorded with a couple of really great friends at this studio in Burbank.
"I would wake up and train from 7 to 11 for baseball and then I'd go right to the studio in my athletic gear until about 10:30 at night."
After not playing in 2014, Zito signed back with the A's for the 2015 season and spent most of the year in Nashville for Oakland's Triple-A affiliate. It was perfect for the then 37-year-old.
"I started co-writing here in Nashville literally the week that I retired and haven't stopped since," Zito said.
Between the A's and Giants, Zito pitched 15 years in Major League Baseball, winning 165 games.
