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
Everything was good today -- getting my legs back into it. I was just trying to get into situations where I have to make a pitch. It was all fun getting back into it.
I was trying to tell him to call time. Next thing you know, (Rollins) was running. The situation got out of hand quickly.
I don't even really care, to be totally honest. I'm really concerned about the lineup. I know I'm not betting on getting any hits off him, I'm just trying to keep the game as close as I can to give my team a chance.
I felt great. I could've thrown more. I was pitching off of my fastball, trying to get into a good count where I could throw something with some tilt.
I'm trying not to get ahead of myself. I'm taking it one game at a time.
I just have enough trouble trying to concentrate on myself, to be totally honest. I'm a high-energy guy, and I'm a young guy, and I still battle every day going out there and controlling that and trying to focus on doing the job at hand.
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 one of my favorite players, if not my favorite player, the way he goes about his business. He makes them go. I was thinking, 'If I could stop him from getting on base and causing havoc.' I was trying to disrupt him any way I could. I wish him all the best.
I've said early on, it comes down to consistency and being able to do it inning after inning, ... Things are coming together, and I hope to build off it.
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.
I understand where (the teams) are coming from; we're all investments whether we make $500,000 or $5 million. Injuries are unfortunate things that can happen any time during the year. ... You just have to suit up and represent your country.
Especially the last couple of days people were very excited, more excited than I was, ... I was eager to see how things were going to turn out, but I slept easy (Wednesday) night. ... I'm the second-best pitcher in the National League, which is not that dang bad.