Dontrelle Willis

Dontrelle Willis pitched 6 and 1/3 innings of 1 hit ball last night.

Read that sentence above again.  Now try and believe it.

Like most of you, I was watching the Wings last night, and I didn't get to see most of Willis' gem; just a few innings during the 2 hockey intermissions.  But when the channel did get switched, I could barely believe those 3 boxes displayed on the Fox Sports Detroit screen:  0 | 1 | 0.

These numbers might have been more believable if either A) Number 35 was on the hill, or B) Dontrelle was high kicking in a church-league softball game.  But neither were true, and he was pitching to, quite possibly, the best offense in the American League.

I can recite stats to you all day long, but since you are reading my blog I am sure you can just as easily surf over to espn.com and see them for yourself.  My role is perspective.

Dontrelle Willis never earned any fans last year in Detroit, but what he did earn was a lot of respect.  He is a high profile player, and I know he has a lot of pride, yet he was willing to swallow that pride and be demoted to a minor league baseball team.  Did he have to do this?  Of course not, he signed a major league contract; the Tigers needed his permission to send him down.  He could have screwed the team over, either forcing him to stay on the Major League team, or forcing them to waive him and pay him the 27 million dollars to do nothing.

The other side?  Juan Rincon.  A worthless reliever who, a lifetime ago, managed to string together a few decent years.  In 2009, signs a minor league contract with the Tigers, but manages makes the opening day roster because Zumaya wasn't healthy.  The regular season rolls around, and his performance is terrible, and there is no longer any room for him on the roster, so the Tigers option him.  He refuses, hoping some team will pick him up, or the Tigers waive him so that he can collect 2 pay checks.

Instead of the easy road, Dontrelle worked his butt off.  He righted the ship with hard work, re-learning, and being open to constructive criticism.

So, the point of this blog is praise.  There aren't many players like Dontrelle.  Instead of believing he was entitled to that big contract, he wanted to earn it.  He wanted to earn it, not just for his own utility, but to make the contract look like a good investment for the team.  Willis said after the game, "[the win] feels great, because we're winning."  His attitude, his performance, and his aura is the kind of thing you want in your team's clubhouse.  His dedication and hard work are contagious, and nobody deserves success more than him.

So, I am really happy for Dontrelle's bounce back.  Of course, I am cautiously optimistic about his future, but I really, really hope his success continues because he earned it.