Dontrelle Willis Needed This!

He needed to step onto that mound at Comerica Park and feel the evening sun shine upon him, the clouds in retreat, the swirling winds at bay. He needed to kick his right leg high into the air and bring his left arm across his body in perfect plane as the baseball left his fingertips with a sizzle. He needed this, and so did we. Once upon a time Dontrelle Wayne Willis was an 8th round draft pick of the Chicago Cubs. He was a lanky, 6?4? left hander baby faced and fresh out of Encinal high school in Alameda, California. He had just completed a 12-1 senior season in which he posted an 0.82 ERA and was named the California Player of the Year (medium sized schools). It was the summer of 2000, and all of 18 years old, Dontrelle left California for Mesa, Arizona and the fall league. This was something new. This was different. This was the beginning. In the first inning of his last start Dontrelle retired Ian Kinsler on a ground ball to 3rd base and Elvis Andrus on a fly ball to right fie...