Beginning and end: Tony Zych makes history with MLB debut

Tom Gatto

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Beginning and end: Tony Zych makes history with MLB debut image

For decades, baseball's all-time roster started with Aaron (Hank) and ended with Zwilling (Dutch). Aaron moved down when Aardsma (David) entered the scene. Now, it's Zwilling's turn to move up, because a new guy has arrived to take his place at the end of the line.

Mariners rookie Tony Zych made his big league debut Friday night in Oakland against the A's. The 25-year-old right-hander from Chicago became the last man, alphabetically speaking, in major league history.

Zych threw two scoreless innings in long relief, then allowed a pair of baserunners in his third frame before exiting. Those runners later scored, giving him a 9.00 career ERA.

It won't look like an A-plus line on baseball-reference.com, but at least Zych has his name etched in baseball history, even if you have to go to the very end to find it.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.