Dontrelle on the DL with Anxiety

Yesterday, the Detroit Tigers placed pitcher Dontrelle Willis on the 15-day disabled list because of anxiety issues.  Apparently he’s taken a page out of Rocco Baldelli’s guide to getting paid while sitting on the bench with a “disease” that no one can verify.*  Watch, Dontrelle even tries to make it sound like it’s a medical issue and not a psychological one:

I have no idea [what's wrong with me], but [the doctors] didn’t like what they saw in the blood.

Let’s read that again.  The doctors didn’t like what they saw in the blood.  Did they see sickle cell anemia?  Probably not because they know what that looks like.  Did the doctors see cancer or AIDS?  Nope, for the same reason.  They saw something in the blood, something they didn’t like, so they suggested that Dontrelle be put on the DL with anxiety.

The “blood” invocation here sounds like a red herring.  The first time I read this article I glanced over it, saw the word “blood” and thought “it’s probably something serious…no wonder he has anxiety.”  Now it sounds like a scene out of Tommy Boy where D-train is trying to convince people that he isn’t sitting out because he’s got a case of the shakes.

Dontrelle continued:

This is not something where I’m too amped up and I don’t know where I’m at, and I’m running sprints up and down the parking lot.

What?  Dontrelle, that isn’t anxiety, that’s cocaine.

To add to the mystery, the Tigers are refusing to discuss the matter.

General manager Dave Dombrowski said he could not provide details about Willis’ medical condition or treatment because of privacy regulations.

I’m sorry but I think that’s funny that they can’t discuss it.  I remember in 2005** when Nomar Garciaparra injured himself coming out of the box, within five minutes I knew it was because his groin muscle detached from the bone.  I’m sorry but for my money, there’s nothing more private than knowing that someone’s groin muscle disconnected.

I’ve seen players who were on the DL with GSW listed as the reason.  That seems pretty personal.  You find out that someone is out with a bullet wound, you start to believe a few things about that player that may or may not be true.

The worst part about this story is that anxiety sounds like it makes sense.  D-train showed so much promise when he broke into the league and then fizzled to the point where the Tigers aren’t sure if they’ll have room for him in their rotation.  Where teams clap when he’s on the DL because then they don’t have to worry about that “Dontrelle issue” for awhile.  So yeah, while it’s too bad that we don’t have more information on the subject, anxiety sounds about right.

*Rocco’s on the Red Sox now so I support him with every ounce of my being, but when he was with the Rays he was just being lazy.
**I think it was 2005.  I’m pretty sure he wasn’t with the Sox.