Tom Servo
07-13-2016, 04:49 PM
http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/d-train-derailed/
This isn't a sad story.
There are sad parts, because Willis did not have the career so many of us expected. He peaked as a player when he was 23 and spent most of the next 10 years trying to recapture what made him such a special pitcher that year.
There's regret, certainly. You hear it from many of the managers and coaches and executives who worked with Willis. There are lingering questions, too. If you came here looking for a definitive reason why Willis never did recapture that magic, you're not going to find it.
"To this day, if you were asking what happened, I couldn't answer that question," said Dave Dombrowski, who was the Tigers general manager when they traded for Willis and Miguel Cabrera in December 2007.
So yes, the Dontrelle Willis story remains a puzzling one. But it's not a sad story.
Willis doesn't need your condolences, and he doesn’t want your pity.
"I'm not interested in telling some sobbing story," he said when first approached about reflecting on his career's ups and downs. "I live a happy life."
Good read with some Reds specific tidbits as well. The D-Train was so much fun to watch early in his career.
This isn't a sad story.
There are sad parts, because Willis did not have the career so many of us expected. He peaked as a player when he was 23 and spent most of the next 10 years trying to recapture what made him such a special pitcher that year.
There's regret, certainly. You hear it from many of the managers and coaches and executives who worked with Willis. There are lingering questions, too. If you came here looking for a definitive reason why Willis never did recapture that magic, you're not going to find it.
"To this day, if you were asking what happened, I couldn't answer that question," said Dave Dombrowski, who was the Tigers general manager when they traded for Willis and Miguel Cabrera in December 2007.
So yes, the Dontrelle Willis story remains a puzzling one. But it's not a sad story.
Willis doesn't need your condolences, and he doesn’t want your pity.
"I'm not interested in telling some sobbing story," he said when first approached about reflecting on his career's ups and downs. "I live a happy life."
Good read with some Reds specific tidbits as well. The D-Train was so much fun to watch early in his career.