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Zito bookends shaky Giants tenure with solid outing

Left-hander Barry Zito's final outing in a Giants uniform belied a tenure characterized by ineffectiveness -- expensive ineffectiveness, at that.

An impending free agent, the 35-year-old tossed five solid innings against the mighty Dodgers on Wednesday night, yielding just one earned run as he took the mound for the last time in San Francisco, his home for the past seven seasons.

The 2002 Cy Young award winner signed a mammoth seven-year, $126-million deal with the Giants before the 2007 season, in what was widely regarded as one of the greater contractual missteps in recent history.  The soft-throwing southpaw failed to vindicate that contract, fashioning a 4.62 ERA with a 1.44 WHIP across 207 appearances -- including 197 starts -- with the Giants.

After Wednesday's game, Zito's colleagues weighed in on what the veteran has meant to the Giants, with whom he won two World Series championships:

Pitcher Madison Bumgarner
"I've never heard him say a negative word about anything," he told Bob Nightengale of USA Today. "He's a lot tougher than people realize. He's been around for a long time. He's a gentleman of the game and he's a competitor. He really is a good teammate, one of the best teammates I've had."

Manager Bruce Bochy
"There's not a better competitor. He wants to pitch. He wants to stay out there. He wanted to do what he could to help us win the game."

Second baseman Marco Scutaro
"He's an unselfish guy,"  he told MLB.com. "He's always thinking team first. He's a great example. It's unbelievable. ... I really admire him for the way he handled everything and the way he worked, prepared and tried to get better every time."

Pitcher Tim Lincecum
"I can sympathize and empathize with him because of what I've been through, and seeing him always stick with it and never get discouraged was pretty special," the righty told Alex Pavlovic of the San Jose Mercury News. "Living up to expectations is one of those things that he hasn't really been trying to worry about. He's been trying to live up to his own, and those are usually harder for most people. He's found the inner peace that you kind of look for in this game."

So what does the future hold for the guitar-playing, yoga-practicing lefty?

"I have no idea," Zito said. "I've never encountered a situation like this in my career. ... I'm taking every day one at a time right now. It's not time to get ahead of myself. I'm sure I'll be setting my goals soon."

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