Zinicola feels more at home after difficult stretch

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When Zech Zinicola agrees to be interviewed, he knows one subject is certain to come up.

Zinicola, Washington's sixth-round draft pick last June, lived in a mobile home for three years while he played at Arizona State.

"No [I haven't done an interview without talking about it]. It comes up a lot. It was a cool thing and I had a great time. As long as people have a good time with it I don't mind it at all."

The 6-foot-1 right-handed pitcher began his career with the Sun Devils as a two-way player but focused on pitching in his junior season. Zinicola anchored the Arizona State bullpen with a 3.95 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 431/3 innings.

When the Nationals tabbed Zinicola, his college dwelling became well known and an integral part of his background story. He was labeled a "free-spirit," which can be interpreted and spun in several directions.

Zinicola's living situation was not like Rod Beck's at Class AAA Iowa. Beck, a former major league pitcher, lived in a motor home he parked just beyond the right field wall at Sec Taylor Stadium in Des Moines.

"It wasn't like a Winnebago or anything," Zinicola said. "It was sturdy on the ground. I didn't like, drive it to the field and park in the parking lot or anything like that. It was two miles from campus and I could ride my bike or walk. I don't think I am that different, but people have their own opinions."

His father is in the real estate business and his family lived in San Bernadino, Calif., which is about a four-hour drive from the Tempe, Ariz., campus.

"Instead of my parents getting a room every weekend for three days, we decided to buy a mobile home so there was some extra room to stay," Zinicola said. "They could come down and bring the whole family and over three years it just kind of paid itself off."

Zinicola didn't take long to acclimate himself to professional baseball. He started with short-season Class A Vermont but earned promotions to Class A Potomac (skipping a level) and to Class AA Harrisburg.