Professional Major League Baseball player Dontrelle Willis was born in Oakland, California on January 12, 1982. As a 12 year old, he holds the record for most home runs with 15, at Alameda little league. He attended Encinal High School in Oakland, California, where following his senior year he was named California High School Player of the Year.

Willis was an 8th round pick in the 2000 draft by the Chicago Cubs, but was later traded to the Florida Marlins with whom he would made his Major League Debut, May 9, 2003. He then went on to be named the National League Rookie of the Year. He continued to develop into one of the most effective and intimidating left handed pitchers in the National League and was selected to the National League All-Star team in 2003, and 2005. In 2007, with the Marlins looking to trim payroll, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers with fellow All-Star Miguel Cabrera.

Dontrelle, his wife Natalee and daughters Adrianna Rose and Bianca make their off-season home in Aventura, Florida.

He was the Florida Marlin’s for the 2005 Roberto Clemente Award. Willis is also highly involved in charity and community service. He participated in Strikeouts for Troops in both 2006 and 2007, donating $100 for each strikeout he recorded. The following quote shows his involvement with local activities. “Dontrelle actively participates in the Detroit Tigers Autographed Memorabilia Donation Program. is a financial supporter and active participant of Play Baseball Detroit, sponsored youth baseball teams during the annual Negro Leagues Weekend, funded a field construction project at the Lloyd H. Diehl Boys and Girls Club of Detroit to be named Dontrelle Willis Park, attended and sponsored several families from area pediatric hospitals to attend "Keeping Kids in the Game" and participated in the Tigers Winter Caravan.” http://tigers.mlb.com/components/team/player/bio_iframe.html?is_mug_shot=true&roster_cid=det&cid=det&player_id=425883

Dontrelle is attempting to make a comeback from what has been described as anxiety. In Spring Training he was competing for one of the last two starting slots in the Tiger rotation with Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robinson. When Robinson was traded to the Florida Marlins, the problem was resolved and Dontrelle headed north to Detroit as part of their rotation.

During the early going, Willis has looked much better than he has the last three years. His Base on Balls are down and he has pitched consistently for the Tigers through his first three starts. He has a 4.24 ERA and has yet to post a win. Opponents are hitting close to .300 off him and he has allowed more hits than innings pitched. If the Detroiters are looking to compete with the Twins in the Central Division of the American League, he will need to improve on those numbers.

On April 30th Dontrelle pitched 6 innings of shutout ball against the Minnesota Twins to notch his fist victory of the season.

On May 30th Willis was designated for assignment, essentially ending his career as a Detroit Tiger.

This was another season cut short by control problems and what was defined as an Anxiety Disorder, which landed him on the Disabled List for most of the season. Willis finished with 1 win against 4 losses and a 7.49 ERA.http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=425883

He walked 28 batters in 33 innings and gave up 37 hits while recording on 17 strikeouts. The Tigers felt it better to shut him down for the season after a minor league rehab assignment.

2008 Season

The season was a waste for Dontrelle as he experienced control problems and made only 8 appearances for the Tigers. He posted a bloated 9.38 ERA with 2 losses and 0 wins to his credit. He also walked 35 hitters in only 24 innings of work. He landed up on the disabled list with a hyperextension of his right knee, which eventually led to the team shutting him down for the season.

2007 Season

Willis experienced his worst season as a Major Leaguer when he finished with 15 losses against only 10 wins. His ERA climbed to 5.17 and batters averaged .294 against him.

After the season, December 4, 2007 in a cost cutting move Dontrelle was traded from the Florida Marlins along with Miguel Cabrera to the Detroit Tigers for Dallas Trahern, Burke Badenhop, Eulogio de la Cruz, Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller and Mike Rabelo. The Tigers immediately extended Dontrelle's contract.

2006 Season

He was named the Florida Marlins Hometown Hero and also presented the Marlins Charlie Hough "Good Guy Award". It was a tough year for Dontrelle as he recorded 12 wins against 12 losses. His ERA was a solid 3.87 and he notched 1 shutout.

2005 Season

Dontrelle Willis enjoyed a great year by posting the most wins of any National League pitcher. He was selected as an All Star and named winner of the "Warren Spahn Award". His season stats included 22 Wins against 10 losses, with 170 strikeouts and 5 shutouts. He held opposing hitters to a .243 batting average and recorded a WHIP of 1.13.

2004 Season

Willis tailed off a bit from his rookie season and watched as his ERA climbed to 4.02. He finished with a 10 - 11 losing record and recorded 139 Ks in 197 innings.

2003 Season

Dontrelle capped off a solid first year by being naked "National League Rookie of the Year" and also earning "Player of The Week" honors on [[June 22}, 2003. He was a member of Florida's World Series Championship teamhttp://mistupid.com/sports/worldseries.htm and appeared in 3 games. He was also selected to the National League All Star team. He finished the season with 14 wins and 6 losses, while striking out 143 hitters in 160 innings. He posted a 3.30 ERA with 2 shutouts.

2002 Season

On March 27, 2002: Dontrelle was traded by the Chicago Cubs with Jose Cueto, Ryan Jorgensen and Julian Tavarez to the Florida Marlins for Antonio Alfonseca and Matt Clement. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/willido03.shtml#trans

2000 Season

On June 5th Dontrelle was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 8th round of the Amateur Major League Draft. He signed a professional contract on July 6th.