"The events of last October remain foremost on Barry Zito's mind, but not the ones you might think.

He isn't obsessing over the Giants' decision to trim him from all three postseason rosters and reduce him to a spectator for the World Series. Instead, Zito's daily thoughts remain with his 82-year-old father, Joe, who is making a slow recovery from a cardiac episode he suffered Oct. 12 -- the day after the Giants clinched the NL Division Series at Atlanta.

In late January, after a three-month hospitalization, Joe Zito moved to a rehabilitation center in Southern California. He remains confined to a bed, where he is relearning to sit up.

"It was definitely a very challenging time for me, all things considered, both familywise and careerwise in October," Barry Zito said in a wide-ranging interview with the Bay Area News Group. "But it also causes you to take joy in the things you're doing and just enjoy life more. I'm constantly in that pursuit just to enjoy being with the guys, laugh, go out there, work hard and be your best and be satisfied with that, instead of always needing life to bring you something to be happy."

The Giants will receive their World Series rings April 9 -- a joyful moment for players, coaches and fans. Zito will accept his ring and celebrate along with everyone else. But he knows it will be a challenge to tamp down other feelings that might be welling up inside him.

"I would like it to be (joyful)," he said. "I'm sure there's going to be some feelings in there -- a feeling like I didn't contribute as much as everyone else. But at the end of the day, it was what it was, and I have to move on. I went through all that stuff, and it's always going to be a certain part of my life. But now it has to be in the past."

Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he'll probably talk with Zito about last season's decision at some point this spring. But he isn't concerned that his left-hander, who remains a vital member of the rotation, will harbor any lasting grudge.

"This guy gives you everything he has. He's a pro," Bochy said. "We don't get to the postseason without Barry Zito. He's a big part of the rotation. We were in a tough situation, and we went with our four hottest pitchers. He understands that."

Zito wouldn't have become a major league pitcher without his father's hands-on guidance.

Joe Zito spent his working life as a classical pianist, composer and arranger for artists including Nat King Cole. When Barry showed aptitude as a teenage pitcher growing up in San Diego, his father, a baseball novice, sought all the information he could about the kinetics of throwing off a mound. He hired high-profile coaches to work with his son, including former Cy Young Award winner Randy Jones. And Joe Zito had his own ideas, too, using a metronome to teach Barry to throw with a musician's rhythm."