Dontrelle Willis of the Florida Marlins was a sight to see when he pitched early in his career, just for the theatrics in his delivery alone.
What a sight former Florida Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis was when he went through his pitching delivery. The leg kick which took his knee all the way to his chin. The half-circle, back to front, arm angle which shows off his lanky wingspan. The youthful exuberance of putting all he’s got into every pitch.
Now we know what the motivation behind Willis’ style was as he was trying to mimic his boyhood idol, Dennis Eckersley. Willis grew up in California and watched The Eck when he was a boy, then took to the sandlots to emulate the great pitcher.
Eckersley, who was a twenty game winner early in his career with the Boston Red Sox, later became the best closer in baseball with the Oakland A’s. The leg kick Eck possesses isn’t as exaggerated, but he has the same round about delivery which makes it look like he is throwing, more than he is pitching. Put the two deliveries side-by-side and the only noticeable difference is the arm they throw with. Willis is left handed and Eckersley is right handed.
In 1992 Eckersley was 7-1 with a 1.91 earned run average and saved 51 games, earning the Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player Award along the way.
At that time, Willis was a ten year old kid running around the ballfields of Alameda, California. Using the exaggerated motion Willis won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2003 and saw his best year come in 2005 while pitching for the Florida Marlins. Willis was 22-10 with a 2.63 ERA and led the majors in complete games and shutouts, finishing second in the Cy Young voting.
Eckersley was a good player to model a style after as he turned in twenty-four years in the majors, winning 197 games while saving another 390. Willis could not reproduce the longevity or effectiveness. He topped out at 72 wins over 9 seasons, winning just four games his final four seasons.
We all have those players we tried to be like in our youth. Very neat when major leaguers share who they based their styles on when they were growing up.