It wasn't a dream: Barry Zito is working out at A's Spring Training

When it was first reported that Barry Zito had signed a Minor League deal with the A's and would be attending Spring Training with the team, there remained the possibility that it was merely a collective dream we were having. Zito? Back on the A's after nearly a decade? Are you sure?

But these new pictures of Barry Zito are real. He is not an apparition. An in-the-flesh Zito is present in Mesa, Ariz., participating in Spring Training and looking radiant in green and gold.

What a time to be alive. 

Do you remember how it started, A's fans?

And how it ended in 2006 -- or so you thought?

Well, all that is behind you now. Because Zito is really, truly, positively back.

He's pitching:

And catching:

And stretching:

And sporting luscious locks:

Take it all in, A's fans, and start planning that "Welcome Home" party.