April 15, 2004
Dontrelle the Ruth
It always seems that when baseball needs a star to appear to save the game from some scandal one does. Josh Levin had written earlier that there was no Babe Ruth this year. I disagreed:
Just because there isn't an obvious Babe Ruth doesn't mean that one won't emerge. Albert Pujols is young enough that he should still be improving. Who knows what kind of numbers he'll wow us with this year. Mark Prior and Josh Beckett are still not mature pitchers. Maybe their stikeout artistry will entrance us this summer. Most likely, we don't know who or what the savior will be. That's what keeps us in love with the game; there's always something new and unexpected.
And now, Dontrelle Willis hit for 3/4 of the cycle yesterday in five innings while shutting out the Expos. I love this player:
- He has a cool name. It's so easy to come up with titles for blog entries around this guy. "What you talkin' about Wills." "Don't Ask Dontrelle." And today's, truth be told.
- He has a cool delivery. Tiant. Fernando. Nomo. Flair. All of these pitchers had that extra added entertainment value when they pitched, and Dontrelle has captured that.
- He can pitch. Yes, he faded down the stretch last year, but it was still an excellent season. He strikes people out and doesn't walk too many. He keeps the ball in the park. And he's only 22.
- He can hit. He hit .241 last year with a .328 slugging percentage. That's really good for a pitcher. With his six for six this season, he has a career .313 BA and a .453 slugging percentage. That's good for any player.
- He has a great attitude.
And to think Willis was feeling under the weather Wednesday with a sinus infection.
''I don't expect to go 3 for 3 every night,'' he said. ``I'd rather have seven consecutive wins.''
Maybe the Marlins can use him as a DH when they play AL teams. That would be very cool. Or play him in the outfield once in a while to get his bat in the lineup. I'm sure we'll see him pinch hit. Maybe
Brooks Kieschnick was the start of a trend.
Dontrelle has me excited. Now I'm thinking about getting a cheap flight to Miami to see him pitch at home. I'm certainly going to try to catch him at Shea or Montreal. Can't wait to see his next game on Dontrellevision!
Posted by David Pinto at
12:45 PM
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He has suprised me with his bat, but do you think the Marlins would take a chance on sticking him in the outfield? Just imagine the heat McKeon would recieve if he sprained an ankle out in right while shagging a fly ball.
David -
If you come down here to see Dontrelle pitch, let me know. I'll take care of the tickets (not my Choi-home run zone seats - I usually do something better than that when Willis pitches). I think his next home start will be against the Braves on Sunday night baseball next weekend. I can't wait.
Don't you think you might going a little crazy about him a little early? Did we already forget the second half last year?
How about some mention of the Brewers' Brooks Kieschnick? Last year, the relief pitcher had a .355 OBP and a .614 SLG.
I'd think if you were experimenting with a pitcher in the field, you'd try him at 1B.
Of course, Willis' 1.667 slugging % this year is still below Esteban Yan's career slugging % of 2.500.