Jeremy Litton Announces Retirement
Written by Josh Smith
After four seasons of wiffleball, league founder and 2012 Sportsmanship Award winner, Jeremy Litton has announced his retirement as a player. The news is no surprise to some as he has mentioned in the latest podcast back in September that "unless needed" he does not plan on playing in 2015. Litton is not known as a great player in the league but has gained popularity with his production of the league's podcast. He was originally the podcast's first guest but has since taken over the project as the editor and producer of subsequent episodes. His witty comments and bizarre tangents always make the episodes...interesting. In 2014 he was named the media supervisor of the league and began playing a larger role in the filming of games and he also handled the league's Twitter account during the NWLA Tournament giving up-to-the-minute updated during games. He also helped provide color commentary for the 2014 HWL Championship game that made the game a little more enjoyable to watch.
During the course of Litton's four year career the sport has changed a lot in the state. His first season was with the Garrett Drive Wiffleball League in Hurricane, WV in 2011. That year would be that league's last before it's demise but from the ashes the Huntington Wiffle League was born and Litton was there to help pick up the pieces. I don't know why he had such an interest in the game. He didn't understand most of the rules. He wasn't very good at the game either. But I think he saw the potential to bring people together that Greg and I saw as well. He might have seen an activity worth passing the time with among friends. It's a unique game and the rules we make can make the game all the more interesting. And it's because of that I believe he stuck around to help us do it right with the HWL.
Litton's playing style is one-of-a-kind. He has a grenade pitching style that is unlike anyone else's. The ball literally travels into the air 25 feet before coming right back down (sometimes) to the strikezone. Was he accurate? Generally not. But he did throw a no-hitter during the 2012 season thanks to some good defensive plays. His batting style was also unorthadox. A football player by nature, Litton had not played little league and learned much of baseball's fundamentals. So having him on my team was like strarting from scratch that first year. But it was exciting to see what happened any time he came up to the plate or the ball was hit to him on the mound or in the outfield. You never knew what you were going to get.
During Jeremy's first season as a player in the GDWL he manned his first team, the Fat Bastards. The team never really quite got off the ground with a revolving door roster of Tyler Call, William Held, and Mike Saxton the team never had more than two players in attendance at one time. But Jeremy's potential as a captain was definitely noticed. In 2013 he helped found the Huntington Wiffle League and joined my team, the Terrorhawks. It was just the two of us for much of the season before we got another couple players to help in the outfield. In 2013 he captained his own team again, the now legendary Welfare Warriors, and finished the season with a 2-22 record and dangerfield runner-up that year.
2014 was up-in-the-air for Litton at the beginning. The Winter Meeting, while successful, showed some weak franchises that may break. Litton was ready to answer the call of duty and form a squad in the event we didn't have enough to have an even amount of teams. But as it turned out it was an option that went unused and he joined Patrick Rayl's Wee Willy Wiffle team instead and served as a sort-of assistant manager. During the last half of the season Jeremy played less and less and was more interested in managing the team than being out in the field. So when he broke the news of retiring as a player it did not shock us. But his job as the media director of the league is still intact. He still has a keen eye for the game as an observer and his opinions on the podcast are always interesting. We will be using more technology in the 2015 season and his helping hands will definitely be needed to take the league one step further into the future.
Below are his career statistics. He wasn't the worst hitter in the league in the middle two season and was actually improving before the pitching really started the catch up. He was known for his ability to take a walk like no one else and was always near the top of the BB stats. His one regret of his career was never hitting a home run. He got close a couple of times but was robbed by an outfielder each time.
