Dontrelle Willis
Dontrelle Willis
Dontrelle Wayne Willis, nicknamed "The D-Train", is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseballfor the Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Cincinnati Reds. Willis was notable for his success during his first few years in the MLB and for his unconventional pitching style, which included a high leg kick and exaggerated twisting away from the batter. He was named the 2003 National League Rookie of the Year...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth12 January 1982
CityOakland, CA
CountryUnited States of America
We are definitely a few but a proud few and we take a lot of pride in going out theere and competing.
We definitely are few, but we're a proud few, ... Everybody's been rooting for me since I was 15. It's a camaraderie, not just pitchers but African American players in general.
We definitely are a few but a proud few, ... It's historic. It's a beautiful thing, not only for baseball, but for my team. Hopefully we'll just keep going.
I've played some baseball games just to see what I look like and it looked dead-on like me.
It would be a high honor, most definitely.
It was all positive. I'm just happy I'm employed again.
Hey, this is the highest honor of my profession. Look at Mr. Jeter over there. And A-Rod. Just riding the bus with those guys today. It's surreal to be around them.
How did I survive without this? Carrying around all those CDs ... man, how did I live like that?
He's very enthusiastic. The last few days he's been running around, trying to help the catchers. Things like that. I think that's a great fit for our team because we're very young and enthusiastic ourselves. He's almost like a player, running around touching base and everything.
He's always told me don't be afraid to do something special. A lot of times guys are afraid and don't want that responsibility.
We should win it, most definitely. Every team should feel they have a chance to win, or they shouldn't come out. I don't want to be around guys who don't want to win. We're all in it because we want to win.
I looked at the second baseman and I figured I'd go hard and give up my body to get in there, ... It was key. It was all about just putting pressure on their guy. I wasn't able to put down any bunts today. I'm upset about that, but I was able to get some key hits for the team.
I'll never forget how nervous I was. It was almost like getting transferred to a new high school in your senior year. Everybody watching you. I was so erratic they either swung or I almost hit them. But it's funny. They still believed in me. I thought I was going to get released after that.
I just haven't played good baseball. I had a great game plan. I just didn't execute.