It happened long before he climbed on top of the car in the middle of the 12th street Detroit riots on July 23, 1967, trying to "bring peace to the people".
It happened before he sat out four days in the midst of the 1969 season as a small protest for lack of African American players being called up to the Detroit Tigers major league roster.
Willie Horton can't recite the exact date in 1961, but he'll never forget the day. He had just graduated from Detroit Northwestern High School, signed with his hometown team and migrated south for his first days in Tiger Town.