D-Train, Marlins try to make express run into post

August 25, 200422 yr

A lengthy read, but well worth it. Pretty well sums up Dontrelle's season.

D-Train, Marlins try to make express run into postseason

Aug. 24, 2004

By Scott Miller

SportsLine.com Senior Writer

Either Dontrelle Willis has developed a serious case of the shakes, or something else is up.

It's late, he has lost another decision, his winning percentage now is a disappointing .500, and he's got a heavy metallic silver ball in his hand that he keeps jiggling like a nervous man bouncing a set of car keys.

"Concrete baseball," Willis says, shifting it in his hands every minute or so, shifting the weight on his feet, breathing hard. "It's heavy. Guillermo Mota started me on it.

"It's good. Whatever I can do to feel strong each start. I see the way he throws the baseball every day. ..."

So chalk that up as a potential side benefit of Florida's late July trade with Los Angeles.

Not only did the Marlins strengthen their offense by acquiring Paul Lo Duca and strengthen their bullpen by nabbing Mota, but perhaps now Willis will flex his muscles, too.

If they keep searching hard enough, there's got to be some magic around here somewhere. There just has to. For Willis. For the Florida Marlins. Right? They just had it. We saw it.

Willis emerged practically from nowhere last May to begin his fabled National League Rookie of the Year run.

The Marlins definitely emerged from nowhere to begin their sprint to the World Series title.

Ten months later, the Marlins are mirroring Willis (or is it the other way around?): flat, humbled and looking high and low for that extra something.

"It's been tough," manager Jack McKeon says. "We started playing much better baseball in the last couple of weeks. Better clutch hitting. Three or four comeback wins.

"We've got some fresh energy in the clubhouse since we made the trade."

Fresh is what the Marlins need.

Heading into the opener of their series with San Francisco on Tuesday night, the Marlins (62-60) were 7 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the NL East, five games behind the Giants and Chicago Cubs in the NL wild-card race and, truth be told, spending an inordinate amount of their time simply attempting to stay above the .500 mark.

Mostly, there has been nothing special about this group.

Josh Beckett, the brash World Series hero, has just five victories. The decision not to rehire Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez backfired so badly that the Marlins were forced to shop for a catcher in July. They rank ninth in the NL in batting average (.264) and eighth in on-base percentage (.331); seventh in ERA (4.03).

Even McKeon's stories sometimes seem tired.

As for Willis, 22, the league figured to catch up to him eventually. That's what happens. Adjustments, as you know. Since going 9-1 with a 2.08 ERA in his first 13 starts last summer, he has gone 14-14 with a 4.14 ERA ever since.

This season, he's 9-9 with a 3.91 ERA.

"I'm just trying to win ballgames," Willis says. "I don't get caught up in all that other stuff. We're right there, definitely. One pitch away, one play away. We have confidence in each other. We have to make our breaks and believe."

The Starland Vocal Band had one good year, too. Nobody ever heard from them again. The trick, more than believing, is making those breaks.

"He wasn't quite as effective early as he was last year," McKeon says. "Last year, he came in and threw strikes and we scored a lot of runs.

"This year, we started out not hitting. The last six or seven times out, he's pitched similar to the way he did last year. But from one night to the next, you don't know what the hell is going to happen. I wish we did."

There is a fine line between a stretch such as Willis' first-half run last summer being a harbinger of things to come ... and becoming an 800-pound chunk of concrete around a poor guy's neck for the rest of his career.

Granted, it would be difficult for all but the most special of pitchers to duplicate what Willis did during the first half of 2003, when he pitched himself right onto the NL All-Star team.

Yet, a run like that doesn't just happen by happenstance.

Does Willis think he's capable of pitching like that regularly? Or at least putting another streak together like that one?

"To be truthful, I don't think about that stuff," Willis says. "I just try to pitch quality innings every time out."

It will be fascinating to see where Willis' career goes from here, because he is a tireless worker who won't give up.

When he faded down the stretch last summer, the working theory among those in the industry was that he simply wore out. He had never before thrown as many as 197 innings in one summer in his life like he did last year (he pitched 160 2/3 innings for the Marlins and 36 1/3 at Double-A Carolina before the postseason ever started).

So this spring, he amped up his running program so he didn't tire down the stretch. So far, so good.

He says he feels strong -- and most important, he has been pitching like it.

Until the Padres hammered him for six runs in nine innings on Friday -- Willis next pitches Thursday against San Francisco -- the second-year lefty had been 3-3 with a 2.62 ERA over his past eight starts.

Aside from the running, as with Mota's "concrete baseball," Willis is always on the lookout for other ways to get stronger, too.

"He's very diligent in his work," says veteran Damion Easley, who, in his first season with the Marlins, is getting his initial up-close look at Willis. "I think he's very determined to be successful. He's very determined to be around for awhile."

Easley says Willis is one constant motion of activity, whether it is running, lifting weights, playing catch in the bullpen or gently tossing his weighted baseball up and down.

"He wants it," Easley says. "It's refreshing to see, a kid who had early success always doing something."

Willis swears he is not weighed down by expectations that are too heavy.

"Not at all," Willis says. "The only time I hear it is from the media. I just play hard till the end. When all is said and done, you can say whatever you want to say of my numbers, but you can't say I wasn't out there working as hard as I can and giving it my all."

One of the most touching moments last year for Willis and the Marlins came early on, on May 14 in San Diego, when Willis was making his second big league start. The kid was impressive and the Marlins jumped out to a lead before Willis appeared to hit a wall in the fifth inning, becoming too fine with his pitches.

McKeon, who had taken over the team a few days earlier, bounced out to the mound and barked at Willis: "I'm trying to get you your first win here. Quit ------- around and throw strikes!"

"Yes sir," the ever-affable Willis said.

A few pitches later, Willis, having located the strike zone again, was out of the inning. He got his first major-league victory.

If only it were that easy, that clear-cut, this year -- for both Willis and the Marlins.

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