Bill Shaikin: Athletics’ impending departure from Oakland leaves a deep hole in East Bay
SEATTLE — “The A’s saved my life.” Dontrelle Willis told me that the other day, not by raising his voice, but by looking me straight in the eye. He wanted to make sure I understood the gravity of what he was saying. Willis is a two-time All-Star, a World Series champion, and now a Dodgers broadcaster. None of that would have been possible, he says, without the team that plays in Oakland, the ...
SEATTLE — “The A’s saved my life.”
Dontrelle Willis told me that the other day, not by raising his voice, but by looking me straight in the eye. He wanted to make sure I understood the gravity of what he was saying.
Willis is a two-time All-Star, a World Series champion, and now a Dodgers broadcaster. None of that would have been possible, he says, without the team that plays in Oakland, the city where he was born.
“If I didn’t have the A’s, and the Coliseum, I wouldn’t know what I’d be doing,” he said. “The A’s, and Dave Stewart, they’re the reason I picked up a baseball. That’s what I mean about the organization being able to save my life.
“And, to be honest with you, it saved a lot of boys’ lives.”
Not every East Bay kid who picked up
