As he went to the mound at 10 o'clock Tuesday morning, Tigers left-hander Dontrelle Willis did so bolstered by encouragement from a distinguished neighbor.
The Tigers' spring base isn't far from the Atlanta Braves' camp, and it turns out Willis is living in the same community as Braves manager Bobby Cox. After Willis gave up four earned runs against Cox's Braves last Thursday night, the two chatted when they saw each other as they returned home.
"He was impressed that even though I gave up a bunch of runs, I attacked the hitters and wasn't passive," Willis said. "He said, 'Throw the ball over the plate and have fun.'
"Bobby said he could tell I wasn't having fun at first in that game, and then I got in the flow and did. He has seen me since my rookie year. I've always had a lot of respect for Bobby. He was the first person to tell me to stop sliding head-first."
Bobby Cox can't help but help people
Willis credits this conversation with helping him pitch much better in an intrasquad game yesterday. I've always thought that Willis was the kind of guy that would thrive under Bobby Cox, much like I think Javier Vazquez will. We don't need the D-Train with our rebuilt and deep staff, but I wouldn't mind getting Dontrelle if his salary wasn't in the way. I'd like to see him rebuild his career a la Kerry Wood, with max effort out of the pen for an inning or two. In the pen the high leg kick might be a problem though.
7 months ago
gondeee
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Why?
Just why? I just can’t wrap my head around the D-Train’s sudden inability to pitch. The guy was a phenom, and he is still only 27…
by Andy Braves Fan on Mar 25, 2009 10:11 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
him and Zito both...
...catsports...
by bwellnjonesco on Mar 25, 2009 10:15 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Excluding salaries, if I have to pick one, I’d prefer Willis over Zito tenfold. Zito’s stuff just up and disappeared. I wish the Mets would have signed Zito.
"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism,
but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism,
until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism." --Nikita Khrushchev
by jeg on Mar 25, 2009 10:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
TEMPO
His delivery has slowed down significantly.
"He's getting better, but he's not there yet ..."
- Bobby Cox (talking about Boyer)
by FrankyWren on Mar 25, 2009 10:17 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
The pitching version of Andruw. Perrennial All Star and all of a sudden……………
……
…
..
.
.
by Fischerking on Mar 25, 2009 2:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Anyone remember
The reason why D-Train was encouraged to quit doing the high kick? I mean, I hate sound naive, but he did win 22 games and enjoy the most successful season of his career with that ridiculous kick, why would anyone get him to stop it?
No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.
by royhobbs on Mar 25, 2009 10:24 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
My coach always told me
that all of your pitching power comes from your leg kick…the higher/more powerful your kick, the faster you will throw.
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." -John Stewart Mill-
by justincredubil02 on Mar 25, 2009 10:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
see: Dibble, Rob. Most ridiculous leg kick I’ve ever seen.
by TradeAndruw on Mar 25, 2009 11:55 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I vote Bronson Arroyo as more ridiculous
No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.
by royhobbs on Mar 25, 2009 11:59 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I always thought the same thing
I too questioned the decision to make him lose the leg kick. It obviously worked for him and maybe it would have been harmful in the long run, but certainly could’t have been any more harmful than screwing up his mechanics like they are now…
by Andy Braves Fan on Mar 25, 2009 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
That’s one school of thought but they are not necessarily the majority. IMHO, the leg kick can be particularly problematic to tempo and balance. Some guys have difficulty repeating it consistently, being that they aren’t necessarily landing consistently and staying under control.
Particularly, Willis has been in steady decline for the last four years, H/9 increasing, BB/9 increasing, HR/9 increasing, and K/9 decreasing. His leg kick gradually evolved and he hasn’t been able to re-adjust. Here’s a good link where you can see the evolution year by year.
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-d-trains-mechanics-a-video-analysis/
"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism,
but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism,
until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism." --Nikita Khrushchev
by jeg on Mar 25, 2009 2:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Not only
does it help with creating power, it also helps to hide the ball from the hitters.
by KAPTHENEWBIE on Mar 25, 2009 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Love the D-Train
I really like Dontrelle Willlis. I really hope he can turn it around. Sucks that managers were telling him to lose the high leg kick.
Hideo Nomo had one of the more wicked pitching motions I’ve ever seen.
Maybe it’s just difficult to maintain good mechanics that way, I don’t really know.
by Sparhawk on Mar 25, 2009 12:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
tha's just it
D-train’s motion always seemd fluid and smoothe to me – unlike Nomo. I think that the key is fluidity (is that a word? Maybe “Fluidness”…) of the motion. If you are jerking around or stopping in mid motion (like Hedeo) I think that messes your mechanics up. However, if it is a fluid, continuous movement, I think it is ok.
"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." -John Stewart Mill-
by justincredubil02 on Mar 25, 2009 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Nomo’s mechanics had much a much more consistent tempo and balance. Even after the novelty wore off, his command didn’t breakdown as a result. After Nomo stops his delivery with hands raised above his head, he rates slowly and comes to a “normal” delivery position under control. Everything before that is irrelevant, at the point of landing, prior to his hips breaking his positioning is fundamentally sound. His weight is still back and he is perfectly balanced. Willis is leaning toward the 3rd base side, body leaking out in front and he has to speed his arm up for it to catch up with his body. Basically, Willis isn’t under control following the release of that high, violent leg lift. It’s not so much the height but the velocity and the way he “flings” it just prior to landing.
El duque’s delivery has a much higher leg lift than the norm but it is much slower than Willis and has a consistent tempo. His landing is consistent and balanced.
"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism,
but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism,
until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism." --Nikita Khrushchev
by jeg on Mar 25, 2009 2:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Maybe, on the days he doesn’t pitch, he could be the power bat in the outfield that we need!!
best defensive shortstop in baseball hahahahahahahahahah (omar visquel)
by mvandonsel on Mar 25, 2009 1:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I’d say a black Micah Owings, but Willis’s OPS has never been compared to Pujols or Ruth’s.
No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.
by royhobbs on Mar 25, 2009 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Plus, he hits kinda like he pitches
Arms and legs just flailing around all over the place, but with some good power.
by FineHamAbounds on Mar 25, 2009 3:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Also love the D-Train
It’s the kind of sad to see a man’s career derail (see what I did there?) when he’s still young and physically in good shape. He has the ability, he just needs the mindset, opportunity, and an environment in which he can thrive.
It’s similar to what happened to Mark Wohlers, and it makes me feel just as bad as I did for Mark. Top of the world, opportunities in front of you, and then suddenly the strike zone shrinks to the size of thimble to you. At least people have ideas about how to fix Dontrelle-he can adjust his mechanics, work on his arm angle, etc.-Mark’s problem was entirely in his head.
by Bronn on Mar 25, 2009 3:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
If you want to see a perfect wind up just look to Greg Maddux. You want a guy to be very quiet and simple in the way he works on the mound. It’s true that a gimmicky wind up and leg kick is often deceptive to hitters but a textbook example is so simple that it is easily repeatable. When I coach my Babe Ruth team, I always sit down with my pitchers and we study guys like mad dog for my righties and Glavine for my lefties. Two of the most simple, efficient, and effective wind-ups you will ever see.
by KC Ryan on Mar 25, 2009 3:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Dontrelle for LF!!
I can’t believe no one’s tried this one yet.
by parish on Mar 25, 2009 4:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
mvandonsel
Maybe, on the days he doesn’t pitch, he could be the power bat in the outfield that we need!!
...catsports...
by bwellnjonesco on Mar 25, 2009 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ive always compared Willis to Nomo and other pitchers who use a little “smoke and mirrors” to get guys out. Hitters like to be able to focus on that release window where the ball is going to come out. Some guys have so many distracting motions with their delivery that it’s hard to stay focused on the pitch.
Not saying those guys weren’t good pitchers. They were. But neither sustained anything really past a couple of years. I’ll throw another one out there, Oliver Perez. Kid had a lot of early success in Pittsburgh with a hitch in his delivery sometimes in the rock, sometimes with his hands over his head, sometimes right before the push off.
Some guys don’t use smoke and mirrors but manage to hide their release point. Randy Johnson was a master of changing arm angles and disguising where the ball was coming from. I saw a similar ability in my limited time watching Hanson.
I’d love to see Willis as a Brave. The Tigers need a starter something awful, and we can give them one. However, they might be reluctant to make a trade because A) we burned them the last trade, and B) they gave up a lot of talent to get him. I expect they will keep trying to make things work.
by kalesi on Mar 25, 2009 6:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
All I know about Dontrell is that last year when Toledo came here to Norfolk he won the jerk of the year award. He didn’t sign one autograph in four days, let alone have on interaction with a fan of any kind. He went extremely out of his way both entering and leaving the park to make sure that he wouldn’t even have to glance at a fan. On top of all that, he bitched out an employee who addressed him as ‘D-Train’.
So any sympathy I might have had for the wreckage of his career was summarily snuffed out.
"At least he didn’t nail the bitchy fat girl from Hell's Kitchen."
www.dropoutproductions.com
by cbwilk on Mar 25, 2009 10:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Wow, I’d love to hear your opinions on the whole public drunkenness and the urinating on police car debacle then.
No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.
by royhobbs on Mar 26, 2009 8:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I respect that
Private drunkenness is boring…urinating on places other than police cars is too conventional…
...catsports...
by bwellnjonesco on Mar 26, 2009 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I don’t even remember hearing about that. It doesn’t matter anyway, if you’re rich, which he is, by a lot, you get away with it anyway.
"At least he didn’t nail the bitchy fat girl from Hell's Kitchen."
www.dropoutproductions.com
by cbwilk on Mar 26, 2009 11:17 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I love how it’s relevant to mention his ROY award in a rap sheet.
No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.
by royhobbs on Mar 26, 2009 11:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
The most ridiculous leg kick I ever saw was Juan Marichal’s:
http://sfsportsinsider.com/files/2009/03/juanmarichal.jpg
As kids, we’d try imitating it and usually wind up falling over.
And as for pitchers with goofy, herky-jerky deliveries having short shelf lives, I’d offer up Luis Tiant as a counterexample. But the fact I can think of few others pretty much confirms the hypothesis.
by Tokyokie on Mar 26, 2009 10:33 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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