~ Dontrelle & Jimmy ~

Rollins Wins NL MVP ~ Rollins Has Longest Current Hit Streak ~
 ~ All-Star Teammates (7/1305) ~ Dontrelle Update (4/17/05) ~ Dontrelle Willis Day (11/22/03) ~ 
~ Dontrelle picked NL rookie of the year ~ Marlins win world series ~
~ Dontrelle coming to Pac Bell ~ Dontrelle picked for all-star game ~

Rollins nabs NL MVP Award
Shortstop backed up talk this season with big performance
By Ken Mandel / MLB.com

PHILADELPHIA -- Considering the amazing gallops for the teams whose uniforms they wore, the National League MVP race had to be this close.

There could be no other finish.

In the end, Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins, all 5-foot-8 of him, stood taller than Colorado 's Matt Holliday and Milwaukee 's Prince Fielder, earning the NL MVP from the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

"It's exciting. I've always said that I never thought about being an MVP player," Rollins said. "Winning the Gold Glove to me was winning the MVP for shortstop, and that's as far as I went. But to be blessed with the 2007 MVP ... ."

Rollins was named first on half of the 32 ballots submitted by two writers in each league city , second on seven, third on four, fourth on four and fifth on one for a total of 353 points. Holliday received 11 first-place votes, 18 seconds, one third, one fourth and one sixth for 336 points.

The 17-point differential made the 2007 election the ninth closest in the NL since the current format was adopted by the BBWAA in 1938.

Rollins wasn't the only Phillie to show up in the voting. Teammates Ryan Howard, the 2006 NL MVP, finished fifth with 112 points, receiving as high as a third-place vote (he got two). Chase Utley finished eighth with 89 points and Aaron Rowand received three points for an eighth-place vote.

This is the seventh MVP award for a Phillie, as Rollins joins Chuck Klein (1932), Jim Konstanty (1950), Mike Schmidt (1980, 1981, 1986) and Howard (2006). With Howard, the Phillies become the first club with back-to-back MVPs since San Francisco 's Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds in 2000 and 2001.

Tuesday's announcement should spark debate about which player meant more to his team, the .340-hitting middle-of-the-order bat who carried the Rockies , or the diminutive shortstop who excelled at every aspect of his game. While Phillies manager Charlie Manuel didn't have a vote, his bias was clear.

"Holliday had a great season, but every part of J-Roll's game stood out," Manuel said. "I like it man, well deserved. He was the guy who made us go. I'm happy [for him]."

Everything Philadelphia accomplished in 2007 focused on Rollins, starting with his January boast that the Phillies were the "team to beat" in the NL East. That disregarded the Mets, who captured the division the previous season and the Braves, who won it seemingly every year before that.

"Once he popped up, he put his intensity where his mouth was," Manuel said. "He likes the stage. Jimmy has what I'd call a good cockiness."

Rollins acknowledged that his boast may have helped earn him the recognition.

"I don't think people would have paid half as much attention as they did [without the statement]," he said. "I made the statement because I believed in my team, not to draw attention to myself. I did want to put pressure on the team and have us go out there and perform because we've come up a game or two short every year and we needed to get an edge to us. That was the point of me saying that."

Despite taking flack after Philadelphia 's 4-11 season-opening stumble, Rollins remained at the center of the Phillies' resurgence. He batted .346 (28-for-81) with six homers, 15 RBIs and 15 runs in 18 games against those Mets and started all 162 games at shortstop, playing all but 17 innings. Batting in the leadoff spot for most of the season, he kept the offense churning.

A defensive whiz as well, Rollins committed just 11 errors, enough for his first Gold Glove, though his fielding percentage was second to Colorado 's Troy Tulowitzki.

When closer Brett Myers hurled his glove in the air following a called strike three against Washington's Wily Mo Pena -- securing a 13-4 finish that earned the Phillies their first postseason appearance since 1993 -- Rollins' MVP credentials were cemented. He began that game by singling, stealing two bases and scoring on a sacrifice fly.

"If Jimmy doesn't win the MVP, there's something wrong with the system," left fielder Pat Burrell said on the final day of the season. "This guy, he took us on his shoulders from Day 1, and did things in this game that never happened."

Burrell got his wish. The voters on the NL Most Valuable Player Award committee filed ballots after the regular season, and most took the option of waiting until the Rockies ' one-game playoff win over the Padres.

Rollins became the first player in history to collect at least 200 hits, 30 homers, 15 triples and 25 steals in a season. Overall, the switch-hitter batted .296, with 38 doubles, 20 triples, 30 homers, 94 RBIs, 41 stolen bases, 212 hits and 139 runs scored.

The 139 runs scored and 88 extra-base hits were league records for a shortstop. He also set a Major League record with 716 at-bats, and became the third shortstop in history to have at least 30 homers and 30 stolen bases in a season, after Barry Larkin in 1996 and Alex Rodriguez in 1998. Rollins is the fourth NL shortstop to win, and the first since Larkin in 1995.

Holliday, meanwhile, captured the league's batting and RBI titles, and led the Rockies into the postseason for the first time since 1995. The left fielder was the focal point of the team's 15-1 run to get there, batting .442 with five homers and 17 RBIs. Overall, he batted .340, with 50 doubles, 36 homers, 137 RBIs, 216 hits and 120 runs scored. He also led the league in hits, total bases, doubles and extra-base hits.  

"I called Matt Holliday and congratulated him on having a great season and told him how much he inspired me to play," Rollins said. "You never know which way it's going to go. He had a spectacular season. I had a strong season. I didn't know which way the writers were going to vote."

The statistics told part of the story. The voters went with the player who backed up a bold prediction. On a team with Howard and Utley, who Rollins said would've won if not for a broken right hand, Rollins simply was the team's most valuable.

Now, he has the hardware, six weeks after the regular season ended. After a semi-sleepless night, Rollins said he calmly waited for the phone call from BBWAA secretary/treasurer Jack O'Connell.

"When I woke up, I was trying to be nonchalant about it," Rollins said. "At about five [a.m. PT], I jumped up and looked at the clock and was like, 'OK, I hadn't missed a phone call yet. At about nine, I was like, 'Oh man, I didn't get the phone call,' but it wasn't supposed to come for another hour and a half. When the call finally came, it was a great thing. I was thinking not to think about it, but you can't help but think about it in a situation like this."

Jimmy Rollins - Current Holder of Longest Hitting Streak

Monday, October 3, 2005
San Francisco Chronicle

Jimmy Rollins stretched his hitting streak to 36 games Sunday in Philadelphia's regular-season finale against Washington — and can pursue Joe DiMaggio's major league record of 56 next year. Sort of.

For the purpose of baseball records, Rollins' hitting streak will extend into 2006, and he can add to it. The major league marks for longest hitting streak in one season and longest hitting streak spanning two seasons are separate records, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

DiMaggio holds both marks with his 56-game streak in 1941, but there is a difference in the National League records: Pete Rose (1978) and Willie Keeler (1897) share the NL mark at 44 games. However, Keeler got a hit in his final game of 1896, so his run of 45 games overall is the first record Rollins can chase, Elias said.

"Not worried about next year right now," Rollins said after Philadelphia beat Washington 9-3 but finished a game behind Houston in the NL wild-card standings. "Worried about getting my garage cleaned."

His fourth-inning single just went by diving second baseman Jamey Carroll's glove. It was the first hit off Nationals starter Hector Carrasco, who retired his first nine batters.

The hitting streak is the ninth-longest over one season in big league history, and the longest in the majors since 1987, when Paul Molitor hit safely in 39 consecutive games. The old Phillies franchise record of 31 was set by Ed Delahanty in 1899.

"I haven't had time to think about it," Rollins said. "When I get a chance to sit back and maybe watch some news coverage and talk about things like that, maybe I'll appreciate it. It's too early right now, personally."

Rollins hit .385 (62-for-161) during the streak. He lined out leading off Sunday's game, when first baseman Nick Johnson made a leaping grab, and doubled in the fifth. He walked in the sixth, grounded out in the eighth and was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the ninth.

His last game without a hit was Aug. 22, when he went 0-for-4 against San Francisco. Rollins' average was .262 after that game, and he finished the year at .290.

Pride of Alameda Have a Ball...

Wednesday, July 13, 2005
by John Shea
San Francisco Chronicle

Detroit -- It was a touching moment when Dontrelle Willis and Jimmy Rollins were on the field together in the sixth inning of Tuesday night's All-Star Game.

Well, except for the teeny matter of the home run Mark Teixeira hit off Willis.

But, hey, it's only an exhibition, right?

The prevailing theme for Willis and Rollins was that they were here, together, teammates for the first time, the pride of Encinal High School in Alameda, united as National League All-Stars.

"Doesn't matter at all," Willis said of the Teixeira homer. "We lost, but it was fun being out there, and it was great being out there with Jimmy."

Even though the only A's All-Star, Justin Duchscherer, didn't appear in the game, the East Bay was well-represented. Rollins (Encinal Class of 1996) replaced starting shortstop David Eckstein in the fifth inning, and Willis (Encinal Class of 2000) entered one inning later.

"It's great," Rollins said. "Two black kids from the same neighborhood playing baseball together. It's something you don't see."

Especially these days.

Of the 20 players in the starting lineups, one was African American, Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee.

Of the 64 players on both rosters, five were African Americans -- and that was only because Rollins was added late to replace the injured Cesar Izturis.

It's hardly a surprise. The 8 percent representation at the All-Star Game is close to the major-league standard. Nine percent of players on Opening Day rosters were African American, down from 27 percent in 1975 and 19 percent in 1995.

"I wish more were playing," Willis said. "It's our job to go out there and be positive, and hopefully those numbers will grow. If kids watched us the last two days and saw us having a good time, hopefully that'll motivate them to go out there and play baseball."

This was the third All-Star appearance for Rollins, who's in his sixth season with the Philadelphia Phillies. It was Willis' first appearance. He was in uniform at the 2003 game in Chicago, but his manager, Dusty Baker, didn't pitch him. Tony La Russa wouldn't let it happen twice.

Willis is 13-4 with a 2.39 ERA for the Florida Marlins, on his way to becoming the first African American pitcher since the A's Dave Stewart in 1990 to win 20.

"I grew up watching him. He was one of the guys I looked up to," said Willis, an Oakland native. "It would be a beautiful thing. But it's hard to win 20 games. A lot of things have to go right. A lot has to go right for you to win one game, let alone 20."

Willis got ahead 0-2 on his first batter, Vladimir Guerrero, but Guerrero worked the count to 3-2 and singled to center. Teixeira, a switch-hitter who hadn't homered against a lefty all season -- all 25 of his homers were against righties -- went deep, and Willis walked the next batter, Ivan Rodriguez, prompting a visit from pitching coach Dave Duncan.

Rollins helped out his buddy from Encinal -- also the high school of Hall of Famer Willie Stargell -- by starting a double play after fielding Gary Sheffield's grounder.

"That's an old-school combo right there," Rollins said. "I was a little nervous when the groundball came to me, knowing Dontrelle threw the pitch."

The East Bay guys didn't hang out much as kids. Rollins' younger brother, Antwon, was closer to Willis' age, but Rollins does remember Willis from the pickup basketball games at Alameda's Longfellow Park.

"He was a short, little, skinny dude," Rollins said. "I know he had a heart on the basketball court. I fouled him as hard as I could, and he didn't want to take a foul. He wanted to keep playing. He had to prove he could hang with the big boys."

That doesn't seem to be a problem these days.

Both players said they're proud of their East Bay roots but saddened that fewer African Americans are playing baseball.

"The road to get here, some guys might get turned off by it," Rollins said. "You have to go out there and play ball, do the work. It looks glamorous on TV, but it's a lot of work. Basketball, you go out and dribble and shoot, it seems fun. Football, you're out there with a whole bunch of kids, working on your moves and trying to burn your friends. That's fun. Baseball, you've got to have it in your heart.

"Baseball is what I wanted to do. It was the sport that was on TV all the time at my house. My mom (Gigi) played softball in Oakland, and that was a No. 1 (influence) for me."

Willis' mother, Joyce Harris, also played competitive softball and stopped only because she was several months into her pregnancy with Dontrelle.

"It was a great experience here," Willis said. "I threw a 3-2 fastball up and away (to Teixeira), and I didn't think he'd swing at it. That's OK. I told Jimmy, 'Look how far we've come.' It's a beautiful thing. We're very appreciative."

Dontrelle Update...

Saturday, April 17, 2004
San Francisco Chronicle

Not only is Florida's Dontrelle Willis 6-for-6 with a home run this season, he's 10- for-10 dating back to last season.

He got a hit in his final regular-season at-bat and went 3-for-3 in the playoffs against the Giants.
It's as if he's still at Encinal High in Alameda, where he batted .629 as a senior.

"It's a little different than hitting up here, but the competition was good in our area," Willis said. "We had a bunch of guys get drafted. I feel like playing the game now and playing the game then is the same."

Willis, who moonlights as a pitcher, is also 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA.

Dontrelle & Jimmy

For a sleepy little island town, Alameda has done quite well preparing its young ball players for the next level, whether that was college ball, the semi's or the Majors.  A surprising number of island baseball players have risen through the ranks of Alameda youth baseball and made it all the way to the Big Leagues, starting with George "Duffy" Lewis in 1910, Dick Bartell, Johnny Vergez, "Dutch" Lieber, Leo Thomas, Bill Serena, Bill Macdonald, Andy Carey, Willie Stargell, Tommy Harper, Curtell Motton, Chris Speier, JR Rider (though he played HIS pro ball in the NBA) and Erik Schullstrom.

And right now, two former Alameda Babe Ruth players are making a big splash in the Major Leagues:  

• Encinal High grad, Alameda Babe Ruth alum and current rising star pitcher for the Florida Marlins, Dontrelle Willis, and

• Encinal High grad, Alameda Babe Ruth alum and current shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies, Jimmy Rollins

JIMMY ROLLINS

Jimmy Rollins didn't need long to establish himself as one of the game's top shortstops. He made the all-star game in his first full season in 2001 and finished third in the National League Rookie of the Year balloting. As a rookie, Jimmy was the only NL player to put up double figures in doubles (39), triples (12), home runs (14) and stolen bases (46). He repeated that effort in his second season. Jimmy has led the NL in triples each of his two full seasons. He also led in stolen bases in 2001, making him the first player since Lou Brock in 1968 to lead the NL in both triples and stolen bases.

Current 2003 Stats:

As of Saturday, June 21, 2003

Other Info:

• 1996 graduate of Encinal (CA) High School
• Selected to All-USA High School Baseball team by USA Today after setting 10 school career records, including steals (99) and batting (.484). 
• Rated by Baseball America as Northern California's top high school infielder; also was a BA 2nd Team All-American. 
• Played Babe Ruth in Alameda.
• Brother, Antwon, plays in Rangers' system.

DONTRELLE WILLIS

Talk about making a splash.  In this his first season up in the Big Leagues, Dontrelle Willis has racked up an impressive 7-1 record, including 3 shutouts, one (a 2-0 win) against his boyhood favorite Oakland A's in early June.  The other two shutouts were a 1-hitter against the Mets and a 2-hitter against the Devil Rays.   In his last 6 starts, Dontrelle has recorded an amazing 0.84 ERA. Did someone say, "Rookie of the Year"?

Current 2003 Stats:

As of Saturday, July 19, 2003

Other Info:

• Graduated from Encinal High in 2000. 

• He was named the California High School Player of the Year in 2000 after going 10-1 with a 0.70 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 70.0 innings. 

• Played Babe Ruth in Alameda.

• Was initially scouted and signed by the Chicago Cubs.

"Dontrelle Willis Day" in Alameda

Saturday, November 22, 2003

On Saturday, November 22, 2003, the Alameda baseball community honored current World Series Champion Florida Marlin, NL All-Star, NL Rookie of the Year and former Alameda ball player Dontrelle Willis in a ceremony at the Little League Fields.   The purpose of the ceremony was to show Dontrelle how proud we are of him and his accomplishments, and provide a chance for him to be re-united with the coaches and friends from his past days in Alameda Little League, Babe Ruth, High School, and Alameda World Baseball.

All his old Alameda coaches were on hand, as well as family members, special guests and a lot of happy and admiring fans.

Dontrelle was presented with a plaque honoring the occasion (see below), and there was also a separate bronze plaque presented that will be permanently displayed down at the Little League fields.

New Plaque	The Guest of Honor	Outgoing LL Prez Ron Matthews	Dontrelle Fans	Dontrelle's Family	Little League Coach  Reuben Fielder
Former L.L. Prez  Bill Brown	4th Grade Teacher Shelly Osborne	Ms. Osborne	Babe Ruth/World Coach Ken Arnerich	Encinal Coach Jim Saunders	Coach Saunders
Dontrelle w/mom Joyce	'Almost' principal Bill Sonneman	Ron Matthew bestowing plaque	Congratulations	Mother Joyce Guy Harris	Dontrelle...

Willis Voted NL's Top Rookie

SF Chronicle
November 11, 2003

Dontrelle Willis' memorable year moved merrily along Monday. Barely more than two weeks after his Florida Marlins won the World Series, and little more than three years removed from Alameda's Encinal High School, Willis was named National League Rookie of the Year.

The news left Willis' mom, Joyce Guy-Harris, "kind of dazed." Only one day earlier, she asked her son if the Marlins really did win the World Series (yes, he replied). Then came Monday's phone call from Willis, informing his mom of the award.

"It's been overwhelming," Guy-Harris said. "Just when you think it can't get any better, it does."

Willis collected 17 of a possible 32 first-place votes to easily beat Milwaukee outfielder Scott Podsednik. Kansas City shortstop Angel Berroa won the American League award, edging New York's Hideki Matsui in the closest AL vote since 1980.

The honor capped an astonishing season for Willis, a left-handed pitcher who began the year flinging fastballs for the Double-A Carolina Mudcats. By mid-May, he had joined Florida's starting rotation. By July, he was a full-fledged phenomenon, leaning on his distinctively high leg kick to deceive hitters.

He resuscitated the Marlins' season, pitched in the All-Star Game and survived a mediocre second half to finish 14-6 with a 3.30 ERA. Heady stuff for a 21-year-old kid who was born in Oakland, grew up in Alameda and began the season like so many other minor leaguers, dreaming of reaching The Show.

"It's basically been unreal," Willis said Monday. "Everyone has the goal of playing in the big leagues, obviously. I never thought I would make it so soon, let alone have success. It's all kind of unreal, truly a blessing."

As the off-season begins, unreal means this: Willis breezed through Los Angeles last week, making appearances on "The Best Damn Sports Show," a cable- television game show and Jim Rome's radio show. Then, over the weekend, he signed autographs in Walnut Creek at Tony La Russa's annual fund-raiser for his Animal Rescue Foundation.

Back on Taylor Avenue in Alameda, neighborhood kids often wander past to touch "the wall." That would be the wall outside the apartment building in which Guy-Harris still lives, where Willis and his childhood friends played "Strikeout" until their arms got sore.
"We've been catapulted into a life ... we had no idea what it could be like," Guy-Harris said. "We're trying to get our feet back on the ground."

For all of his sudden success this season, Willis wobbled down the stretch. He pitched poorly in the Division Series against the Giants and again in the NLCS against the Cubs. Manager Jack McKeon dropped Willis from the rotation and used him in relief in the World Series (he pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings).

Willis indicated Monday he would pitch in any role the Marlins ask of him in 2004, but realistically he figures to rejoin the rotation. 

Dontrelle's Marlins Win World Series !

Lenny Harris & Dontrelle Willis of the Florida Marlins hold up the 2003 World Series trophy, after their team defeated the New York Yankees.

MIAMI (AP) -- The Marlins returned home as World Series champions Sunday, and were greeted by hundreds of screaming fans. Rookie pitcher Dontrelle Willis used one word to describe the homecoming, "Electrifying".

A day after Florida beat the New York Yankees 2-0 in Game 6 of the Series, the Marlins fans were still celebrating. It was Florida's second world title since 1997, and to many revelers, this one was much sweeter.

World Series Stats:

W-L   ERA  G  GS  CG  GF  SH  SV   IP  H  R  ER  HR  BB  SO  WP  D.Willis 0-0  0.00  3   0   0   0   0   0  3.2  4  0   0   0   2   3   0

Kick-Starting a Career Dontrelle Willis Honed his Delivery Playing 'Strikeout' with Friends in Alameda

By Ron Kroichick, SF Chronicle Staff Writer
August 21, 2003

That funky delivery came to life on Taylor Avenue in Alameda, right here against this dirty two-story wall outside the apartment building where Dontrelle Willis grew up.

Long before Willis burst into prominence with the Florida
Marlins, long before he eyed Friday night's start against the Giants at Pacific Bell Park, he was just another kid playing ball. Willis and his neighbors across the street, Ross and Reid Muskar, played "Strikeout" until their arms got sore.

All they needed was a bat, a tennis ball and the wall, on which the kids spray-painted a red, rectangular strike zone still there today. Dontrelle, Ross and Reid grew to know each other so well, to know exactly what pitch was coming, that one day Reid began to throw submarine style, trying to fool his friends.

Soon thereafter, Willis, then about 10, toyed with his own delivery. He started to kick his right leg high. Then he looked away before he released the ball. Ross and Reid always had read Willis' eyes, but now they had no clue.

"It almost looked like the ball was appearing from his sleeve," Ross Muskar said. "I'm just glad I was the first one to be fooled."

Barely more than 10 years later, Muskar has the company of many major- league hitters. Willis, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound left-hander, takes an 11-3 record and 3.18 ERA into Friday night's game. He is only 21 and already an All- Star, a merchandise-selling, crowd-boosting revelation.

What started as innocent fun, peppering the wall with the tennis ball and waking up his mom on Saturday mornings, is now Willis' signature -- that leg- kicking, body-twisting, eye-wandering windup equal parts Vida Blue, Luis Tiant and Fernando Valenzuela.

"I tried to emulate him and see if I can get my leg that high," said Will Thomas, one of Willis' teammates at Encinal High School. "I just can't do it."

Three-plus years ago, Willis was pitching for Encinal. Little more than one year ago, he was pitching at Class-A Kane County in Geneva, Ill. Four months ago, he started the Double-A season in Zebulon, N.C.

Last week, when he stopped at a supermarket near his Florida apartment, some employees began yelling frantically, "That's Dontrelle Willis! That's Dontrelle Willis!" Willis looked down, uncomfortable, but he could not stop a full-scale celebrity sighting.

"All I wanted to do was get some cheese," he said.

Willis' visibility has soared so high so fast, people simply want to shake his hand. Sometimes, they ask him to sign autographs on their receipts.

To think, every day for two weeks after the Marlins summoned Willis to the majors on May 6, his mom, Joyce Guy-Harris, asked him when he was going back down. Back then, Marlins highlights seldom made "SportsCenter." Before long, Guy-Harris saw her son leading off "SportsCenter."

And now he appears on the show's irreverent "Hot Seat" interview, smiling and chatting with ease.

And now the club offers the Dontrelle Flex Pack, a five-game ticket package built around games Willis starts.

And now one Florida fan holds up a sign reading, "Dontrelle is my brother" (a white dude, his mom pointed out), and another fan's sign reads, "Dontrelle for President."

And now attendance at Pro Player Stadium rises nearly 40 percent when Willis pitches, according to the Marlins.

"Everything has happened so fast," he said.

Guy-Harris learned all about the clamor for her son when she joined him at the All-Star Game last month in Chicago. Kids mobbed Willis as he walked into the lobby at the Westin Hotel. Cameras clicked as he hugged his mom.

His wild popularity reflects more than that distinctive delivery and those sparkling numbers. It also speaks to Willis' engaging smile, his preternatural poise, the way he bounds off the mound and animatedly high-fives teammates.

Willis said he thinks fans see he's genuine, just an enthusiastic 21-year- old finding joy in playing baseball.

"It's been a life-changing experience," said Frank Guy, Joyce's brother and Willis' uncle. "You go from having fun playing ball, with no pressure, to all of a sudden you can't even go out of your hotel room without being recognized."

Said Joyce Guy-Harris: "I never talk to Dontrelle about baseball, I only talk to him about handling fame -- about how fast you go up, you can come down 10 times faster."

Willis never knew his biological father, so Guy-Harris raised him with help from family and neighbors. Now Mom, uncle Frank, agent Matt Sosnick and business manager Steve Reed form Willis' inner circle of support.

They help keep him grounded. Marlins veterans also help by making Willis serve them drinks on team flights, all the little rituals of life as a rookie in The Show.

Then again, few rookies find restaurants eager to put meals on the house, a temptation Willis said he resists.

"I don't take free meals, and I can stand in line at the supermarket," he said. "I don't need any special treatment just because I throw a baseball."

Or, as childhood friend Mazonie Franklin said, "He believes in karma, so he thinks the minute he gets cocky, he'll lose his strength, his mojo."

Willis' composure was evident his freshman season at Encinal, when he pitched on the varsity and his team reached the North Coast Section championship game at the Coliseum.

Coach Jim Saunders needed a reliever to enter the game against Acalanes. Two guys backed off, intimidated by the scene. Willis, all of 15, announced, "Just give me the ball," and pitched four-plus impressive innings (though Encinal lost).

Two years later, Willis played on the Area Code team, a prestigious summer- league squad. After the first inning of one game in Long Beach, Willis ambled back to the dugout; referring to the pack of sunglass-wearing scouts with radar guns, he casually mentioned to manager Doug McMillan, "Damn, a lot of Oakleys out there."

Said McMillan: "There was no fear whatsoever. He was like, 'Wow, I have all these guys here. I'm going to show them how good I am.' "

Willis was good enough to go 12-1 as an Encinal senior, with a 0.82 ERA. He was named Cal-Hi Sports state player of the year (for medium-sized schools), and the Cubs tapped him in the eighth round of the June 2000 draft.

Then in March 2002, in a move they might view with Lou Brock-ian regret, the Cubs included Willis in a six-player trade with Florida (they landed Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca). Willis tore through the '02 season at Class-A, developing a changeup to complement his low-90s, sinking fastball.

So there he was on May 6, hearing his Double-A manager, Tracy Woodson, tell him he was going to The Show. In the excitement of the moment, Willis showed his youth: He wanted his mom to see his major-league debut, so he mentioned putting her on a bus.

Woodson and Carolina's players laughed, knowing the distance between the Bay Area and South Florida. They told Willis to buy Mom a plane ticket.

Willis is so close to his mom, he has scrawled "Joyce" under the bill of his Marlins cap. Her toughness is evident in her occupation: Guy-Harris has done height-defying work on the Bay Bridge, Moscone Center and Mount Davis as a member of Ironworkers Local 378.

All that and yet she becomes so nervous when Willis pitches, she often doesn't watch. She knows all about The Delivery, because she was once his catcher: He raises his right leg to chest level, twists his body nearly 180 degrees, briefly looks toward right field and then eyes his target and whips the ball toward home plate.

It's most reminiscent of a young Blue, though Vida said he threw overhand and Willis throws more three-quarters and "keeps the ball down better." Blue also praised Willis for the way he's handling his abrupt ascent to stardom.

"If I could relive my life again, I'd like to be Dontrelle Willis," Blue said.

After steaming through his first two months in the majors, Willis has wobbled a bit recently. He's no longer a secret, obviously, and the evidence suggests hitters are making progress.

Willis is 2-2 with a 6.10 ERA in six starts since the All-Star break. That's a small statistical sample -- and it comes in the wake of his 9-1, 2.08 start -- but how Willis adjusts against educated hitters will be revealing.

"I'm still a rookie, I'm still only 21, I'm going to make mistakes," he said. "People think I have to be good every time out, but that's unrealistic."

That's also the burden of fame in The Show, the difference between throwing tennis balls to Ross and Reid Muskar and flinging fastballs to Barry Bonds. It's only a 20-minute drive from Taylor Avenue to Pac Bell Park, but it's an entirely different world.

"When I think of those days," Willis said of playing "Strikeout" in his youth, "if I could do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing."

Dontrelle Willis Added to All-Star Roster

By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com

MIAMI -- Just one look was all it took for National League All-Star manager Dusty Baker to have a change of heart regarding Marlins rookie sensation Dontrelle Willis. Willis, the 21-year-old left-handed wonder, was added to the National League All-Star squad Friday as a replacement to injured Dodgers right-hander Kevin Brown. Willis becomes only the 41st rookie pitcher ever chosen for an All-Star Team, reverting to the 1933 birth of the Midsummer Classic, and the 107th rookie.

Twenty-one-year old Dontrelle Willis joins Hideki Matsui as the only rookies in the 2003 All-Star Game. (AP)

"It hasn't really hit me yet. It's an honor," Willis said. "I feel like I was picked right off the bat. I can't really explain how it feels. I'm honored to play with the best in the world. I'll just try to have fun."

The promising Willis joins third baseman Mike Lowell as the two Marlins representatives in Tuesday's 74th All-Star Game at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago.

"This is bigger than anything I expected," Willis said. "I had only been to one All-Star game [in Class-A at Lansing, Mich.]. It was a big deal -- we had 14,000 people. I started that game."

Initially, Baker passed over Willis partly because he had not seen the rookie pitch.

That changed on Tuesday when Willis made a strong first impression, throwing 5 2/3 scoreless innings against Baker's Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Willis struck out seven and was not involved in the decision in a game that was delayed by rain. When play resumed, the Marlins pulled out a 4-3 victory over the Cubs.

While Willis wasn't credited with the win, he turned in yet another outstanding performance.

"God has a way of working things out," Baker said of Willis' eventual selection.

The left-hander, who started the season in Double-A Carolina, is 8-1 with a 1.98 ERA. Called up from the Mudcats on May 9 because right-hander Josh Beckett went on the disabled list, Willis has become an immediate sensation.

With his high leg kick and herky-jerky delivery, the Alameda, Calif., native has drawn comparisons to Vida Blue, Luis Tiant and Fernando Valenzuela.

Willis plans on bringing his mother, Joyce Harris, with him to Chicago. The name "Joyce" is written on the inside bill of his cap. A union welder in the Oakland, Calif., area, Willis often says his mother can "hang from a bridge, but she gets nervous watching me pitch."

In his brief Major League career, he has quickly made a name for himself, one-hitting the Mets on June 16.

In June, he was a co-winner of National League Player of the Week. He also was named NL Pitcher and Rookie of the month, posting a 5-0 record with a 1.04 ERA. He had a string of winning seven straight decisions, compiling an 0.91 ERA.

Willis becomes the second rookie in Marlins history to be picked to the All-Star Game. In 1999, then-rookie shortstop Alex Gonzalez was a reserve.

"Dontrelle has been a huge boost for us," Lowell said. "He's been pitching great. Even when you don't score, we can still win games 3-1 or 4-2."

The Marlins are 10-2 in games Willis has started.

"On the field and off the field, Mike's a really classy guy," Willis said of Lowell. "I always talk to him and see what he does to have success. I don't want to take anything away from Mike, he's going to have his family there, too. I'll just try to stay incognito.

"I'm going to the All-Star Game, but don't get me wrong -- I'm playing for the Marlins and I can't wait to have that patch sewn on my jersey."

The 21-year-old is nicknamed the "D-Train" and his popularity has steamrolled along.

Drafted in the eighth round by the Cubs in 2000, he signed for $200,000. Now, after just six starts at Double-A (he was 4-0), he is becoming a lightning rod for the Marlins' organization.

In his last start at Pro Player Stadium, against the Braves on July 2, the Marlins drew their second-largest crowd of the season -- 30,378.

TV ratings on Fox Sports Net Florida have been among their highest for Marlins games in years whenever the left-hander, who grew up cheering for the A's, pitches.

His July 2 start drew ratings that rivaled Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, when the Marlins defeated the Indians for their lone championship.

Willis jerseys are selling briskly at the team's merchandise shops at Pro Player Stadium.

Willis was dealt to the Marlins from Chicago prior to the 2002 season opener in a trade that sent Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca to Chicago for Julian Tavarez, Willis and two other minor league prospects.

In the Marlins minor league system last year, Willis combined for a 12-2 record with a 1.83 ERA in stints with low Class-A Kane County and Class-A Jupiter.

He was 4-0 with the Carolina Mudcats before being called up.

Willis will start for the Marlins on Sunday at Montreal, meaning he would be available for about one inning of relief should he pitch in the All-Star Game.

"I'm not at all surprised," said Marlins manager Jack McKeon, who touted Willis for the All-Star Game since early June. "I'm happy for the young man. He certainly deserves it. Baseball has made a wise decision, putting on a good young pitcher with lots of charisma. It's a great honor for a kid to come up from Double-A. He's an example to all the players in Double-A and Triple-A to show them that hard work and dedication can pay off."