Larry McCormack / The Tennessean-Imagn Content Services, LLC
Barry Zito can explain himself: He was trying to buy a Giants hat.
That won’t scrub the image of his donning a Dodgers cap from Giants fans’ eyes, though.
The former star A’s pitcher and two-time World Series champ with the Giants wore a black LA cap on an aftershow after it was revealed he was “The Rhino” on NBC’s “The Masked Singer” last week.
He acknowledged he’s taken some heat for it, but if it’s any consolation, it wasn’t his first choice.
“It’s so funny because I lived in LA for 15 years. I love LA, it’ll always be a part of who I am, SoCal guy,” Zito told NBC Sports California. “When I went to buy a hat — I remember I was in California — I went to buy an SF hat, all black, and they didn’t have it. ‘All right, well, my second favorite city is LA, just going to do that.’ I wasn’t thinking it was going to be this funny backlash.”
Oh, there was a backlash.
SCANDAL.
WE HAVE A SCANDAL. pic.twitter.com/n8pHcfhFsz
— Grant Brisbee (@GrantBrisbee) May 14, 2020
While he was after a Giants cap, it’s not his all-time favorite.
“My favorite color ever is the black A’s hat, back in the day, black and green,” Zito said. “That’s like the coolest hat ever in baseball.”