The Oakland A’s Barry Zito was on H&C on Friday night, talking about his philanthropic organization called Strikeouts For Troops. What a genuinely nice guy!

From the site:

“Strikeouts for Troopsâ„¢ is a national project founded by Oakland Athletics pitcher Barry Zito, for the benefit of our war wounded being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Bethesda Naval Hospital and other military hospitals for injuries received during service in Afghanistan, Iraq and other assignments around the world.

Barry Zito will donate $200 to Strikeouts For Troops for every strikeout he throws during the 2006 season and has invited other baseball players to join him in this effort to help our American Soldiers.

Strikeouts For Troops provides funds for “comforts of home” by helping to make the recovery time for an injured solider a little easier and also assists with travel and housing expenses for their families.”

There is a whole section on the website of testimonials from folks whom the organization has helped, and others who are just showing their admiration for this patriotic effort.

Here is a list of some of the participating players in this program:

Pitchers:

• Barry Zito, Oakland A’s
• Dontrelle Willis , Florida Marlins
• Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres
• Shawn Estes, San Diego Padres
• Curt Schilling, Boston Red Sox
• CC Sabathia, Cleveland Indians
• Danny Haren, Oakland A’s
• Matt Miller, Cleveland Indians
• Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves
• Horacio Ramirez, Atlanta Braves
• Chad Cordero, Washington Nationals
• Rich Harden, Oakland A’s
• Kirk Saarloos, Oakland A’s
• Huston Street, Oakland A’s
• Joe Blanton, Oakland A’s
• Justin Duchscherer, Oakland A’s
• Brad Lidge, Houston Astros
• Chad Qualls, Houston Astros
• Russ Springer, Houston Astros
• Dan Wheeler, Houston Astros
• Trevor Miller, Houston Astros
• Jason Hirsh, Houston Astros

Position players:

• Alex Rodriguez , 3B
• Chipper Jones, 3B, Atlanta Braves
• Manny Ramirez, LF, Boston Red Sox
• Jermaine Dye, RF, Chicago White Sox
• Jason Kendall, C, Oakland A’s
• Nick Swisher, RF, Oakland A’s
• Mark Kotsay, CF, Oakland A’s
• Eric Chavez, 3B, Oakland A’s
• Mark Ellis, 2B, Oakland A’s
• Eric Byrnes, CF, Arizona Diamondbacks

Minor League Pitchers:

• Errol Simonitsch, New Britain Rock Cats
• Trevor Bell, Angels Rookie Team

What an all-star lineup of benevolence unmatched! And watching Barry on H&C, you can tell this guy is the real deal. He’s not full of himself like some big-time athletes are, and seems like a guy that you’d just love to go have a beer with. What a neat story. Please do your best to go visit this site and donate some money if you can. It’s obvious this organization is making a difference.

Watch the video here.