Former baseball pitcher Barry Zito appearing in LA as he launches musical career

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- When you think Barry Zito, you think Cy Young award winner, World Series champion - and that curveball.

Now you can think musician.

It's been two years since Zito pitched in Major League Baseball. The guy no one could hit now is looking for hits on the music charts.

Zito released his first album, "No Secrets" this year and he's performing in Los Angeles for the first time, Sunday night at the Hotel Café in Hollywood.

Zito has music in his genes, perhaps even more so than sports. His father was a jazz conductor and arranger for Nat King Cole. His mother dropped out of UCLA to sing with Cole - and that's how they met.

Zito played 15 years in the major leagues, for the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants, racking up three All-Star appearances, a Cy Young and a World Series championship in 2012. He retired in 2015.

Zito used to write songs on the road between games. His teammates, of course, enjoyed giving him a hard time.

"They were like ragging me, calling me names, as a locker room should, I guess."

Baseball was a harder life for him mentally, he says. Music just feels better.

"It was always more difficult for me to be on the field and be more rigid," he said. "This part comes a lot more natural to me."