Dontrelle Willis: A Left-Handed Modern Greek Tragedy

Over the summer of 2005, Bay Area newspapers were full of stories about a local, 23-year-old kid who was paralyzing Major League Baseball hitters with a fearsome arsenal and uncomfortable delivery.

Not so extraordinary except the unorthodox southpaw from Oakland pitched for the Florida Marlins.

I'm guessing it's a rarity for a Fish to be heavily featured in Florida papers, so you know there was was something unusual going on.  Especially because that particular franchise is not San Francisco's favorite, having knocked our beloved Giants from the playoffs in 1997 and 2003 on its way to a pair of World Series wins.

Nobody out here's looking to heap praise on an organization that had the audacity to so rudely thumb its nose at the Gents' storied history, one that is missing a triumphant Winter Classic since the move West in 1958.

And the Marlins, not yet to their 20th birthday since they didn't exist until 1993, did it twice.

Nah, it had to be something special.  It had to be someone like Dontrelle Willis.

When the D-Train hung up his mitt and cleats following the '05 campaign, he had tossed 236-1/3 innings of scintillating baseball spanning 34 starts.  For a mediocre Florida squad that won 83 games, Willis would go 22-10 and post a 2.63 earned run average with 170 strikeouts against 55 walks, a 1.134 WHIP, seven complete games, and 5 shutouts.

His campaign was good enough to lead the Majors in wins, complete games, shutouts, and home-runs-per-nine-innings (Willis surrendered 11 taters on the year).  His ERA was tops in the National League and second only to the New York Yankee's Andy Pettitte in all of baseball.

Willis was an All-Star, finished second to Chris Carpenter in NL Cy Young voting, and received enough tallies to pop up in 11th place on the final NL Most Valuable Player ballot.

Two years before in 2003, the now-Detroit Tiger was the NL Rookie of the Year for the Fish, made his first All-Star appearance, and finishing 34th in NL MVP voting.

Then something went wrong.  Very, very, very wrong.

The kid with the goofy-grin had a decent 2006—throwing 223-1/3 frames in 34 starts, finishing 12-12 with a 3.87 ERA, and 160 Ks.  Those are still pretty good numbers since win/loss record is one of the emptiest stats kept on the books.

However, the clouds were already gathering in the from of a 1.419 WHIP (83 BBs and a MLB-high 19 hit batsmen) in addition to serving up 21 bombs.

Huge leaps in all and heading the wrong direction.

The D-Train, now a wagon, began officially throwing wheels in 2007—he finished 10-15 with a 5.17 ERA and a 1.597 WHIP.  His punch-outs decreased while his walks and long-balls increased in fewer innings.

Next, the warning signs became sirens as the Marlins included Willis almost as an after-thought in the trade with Detroit.  If Miguel Cabrera was the centerpiece on Florida's end, then Willis was a butter knife.

In 2008, his first in a Tigers uniform and still dripping potential at 26, everything went kablooey:

24 IP, 7 starts, 8 games, 0-2, 9.38 ERA, 18 Ks, 35 BBs, 2.208 WHIP, and 4 HRs

The compilation of that line, possibly confounded by a knee injury suffered in Willis' first start of the season, prompted a trip to the minors.  The move required Willis' consent due to his service record in the Show and, give him credit, the young guy readily assented.

Not every pro with his resume would be so malleable.

Finally, there was the suspiciously contagious stress disorder that's claimed Zack Greinke, Khalil Greene, and Joey Votto as well.  I'm not entirely sold on this whole phenomenon, but—then again—I'm no doctor, and far be it from me to dump on someone's legitimate illness.

I'll just say, it could get ugly if we end up elevating every frigid start and death-rattle of a slump to something as serious as a social disorder should be.

Roster expansions would be the least of our concerns.  There are only two consequences there—the struggles of certain athletes become significant illnesses (while others are dismissed merely because Player X was never goo enough to qualify) or the entire idea of a social disorder is trivialized into oblivion.

Back to Dontrelle Willis.

With his stress issues apparently conquered, the lefty made his first trip to the bump in 2009 about a month ago.  The start didn't go tremendously well, but Willis did record 14 outs while only walking two hitters and beaning zero.  Progress.

The second start was vintage 2005—6-1/3 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 2 walks, and 5 Ks.  Baseball fans everywhere heaved a cautious sigh of relief, particularly within the confines of the Bay Area's most famous bridges.

The third start landed between the first two—good, but not great.  The number of walks doubled, which was a touch distressing, but there was plenty to like.  Faith was holding strong.

Willis' fourth start of '09 was another stinker, but those of us pulling for the dude kept believing he was still on track for a triumphant rebound.  Everyone has bad days and he still wasn't walking a ton of batters.

That was May 29.  Since then...

Uh oh.

Starts No. 5 through 7 (which was Sunday) covered 11 frames and our boy issued—prepare yourselves, people, this ain't pretty—18 walks.  Including EIGHT today while retiring the same number of Pittsburgh Pirates.

Against the Boston Red Sox (start No. 5), my man didn't concede a hit.  Probably because he was too wild for the BoSox to venture a swing, walking five en route to seven outs.

As if there needed to be any more trouble on the horizon, the Oakland-native has seen his strikeout-per-nine-innings drop by two full whiffs since his return to the Bigs.

This is all bad.  Bordering on Rick Ankiel bad.

I don't throw Ankiel's name around lightly.  I won't feign ignorance to the implications of  a comparison to the former pitcher.

But consider we've seen another incredible start by a promising, green starter derailed by squirm-inducing control issues.  We've seen another blue-chipper retreat to the minors to "work things out," only to return with tenuously improved control.  And we've apparently seen another filthy arm pay for the improvement with substantially diminished stuff.

So the comparison isn't perfect (although Willis is a fine hitter as well) and it's a damn sight from conclusive, but I think there's enough for it to be appropriate.

I also hope it's 100 percent wrong.

There are countless reasons to root for Dontrelle Willis.

He seems like a genuinely kind hombre and a loving father.  He makes the short list of highly paid professional athletes who retains the spirit and enthusiasm of youth when he's on the mound. 

His boisterous antics were not about showing anyone up or drawing attention to himself like prima donna wide recievers—they were simply suppressible bursts of pleasure from throwing a ball well and gettin' paid to do it.

But the joy is gone.  His control took his smile and they hid.

That's the real shame.

**www.pva.org**