And so it goes. I google Willie Horton and I get this.

[hickman]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Horton

William R. Horton (born August 12, 1951 in Chesterfield, South Carolina) is a convicted black felon who was the subject of a Massachusetts weekend furlough program that released him while serving a life sentence for murder, without the possibility of parole, providing him the opportunity to commit a rape and armed robbery against an innocent white woman. A political advertisement during the 1988 U.S. Presidential race was critical of the Democratic nominee and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis for his support of the program.

Had to search a little to find who I was looking for.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Horton_%28baseball_player%29

Willie Wattison Horton (born October 18, 1942 in Arno, Virginia) is a former left fielder and designated hitter in Major League Baseball who played for six American League teams, primarily the Detroit Tigers. He hit 20 or more home runs seven times, and his 325 career home runs ranked sixth among AL right-handed hitters when he retired. He enjoyed his best season in 1968 with the world champion Tigers, finishing second in the AL with 36 homers, a .543 slugging average and 278 total bases. In the later years of his career, he was twice named the AL's top designated hitter.

Thats life.

[Oeditpus Rex]

1. Yup

That's who I think of when I hear "Willie Horton."

http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hortowi01.shtml

[hickman]

2. The only time Ernie Harwell lost his cool

was when the Tigers traded Willie Horton.

[Strawman]

3. The only player my dad ever took me to a game to see specifically

When he was at the end of his career in 1979 or 1980 with the Mariners (who were terrible). Willie hit 3 HR's that day against the Tigers at the old Tiger Stadium.

[InvisibleTouch]

4. And my thought was:

"The donut shop guy?"

But no, that's Tim Horton, isn't it? :)