Huntington Wiffle League Podcast

Josh Smith gets to come full circle with his WV wiffle historical journey by nabbing an unexpected interview with a few of the members of the Wheeling Wiffle Association (formerly Matt Velez Wiffleball League) that served as a major inspiration to one an earlier league of his. The interviewed fulfilled a long-awaited wish for Smith to get to know the state's first known league some questions. This is an exclusive early access for the episode before it airs on Holey Commutes on October 20th. Enjoy!Intro song: "Honeybee" - Mediogres

This episode was originally uploaded to the National Wiffle 'Holey Commutes' podcast (nationalwiffle.podbean.com) on January 6, 2023 - and was one of the most downloaded episodes of that season. But in the interest of maintaining the episode for the sake of posterity, it's being presented here as a vault release. Josh Smith recites all of the league he is aware of that called WV home from Y2K to now, which also encompasses precursor league (the GDWL) and the foundation of the HWL itself. Episode will feature something special as a follow up from this vault release ;) 

Josh Smith is joined by long lost co-host Jeremy Ray to get caught up on the season as they look down the barrel of the end of the season. They look to the playoffs, make predictions for the awards race, talk Greek Wiffology prepping for the Amy For Africa tournament coming up next month, and wrap up with a Power RAYnkings round for the July 8th match-ups.    

Josh Smith hosts the premier Wiffle Talk Hour episode for the league podcast to recap the games from the series' in April. He's joined by co-host Kevin Chattin (long-time listener, first time partaker) review the standings, leaderboard and recap analyze each game of the two series. Greg Sowards also enjoys being a guest for the first time and provides his insight as they discuss a new amendment to the steal rule in a segment called the 'Wiffle Balk Hour.' Chattin mesmerizes Smith with his MS Excel capabilities and the future of the statistics for our league (Saber-metrics are coming) and we name the April Player of the Month. 

Josh Smith hosts this episode solo with the fourth (and final) installment of the Hot Stove series for the league podcast. This episode features the fourth round of player acquisitions but also reviews big injury news that could impact one of the teams early in the season. We also discuss our return to a prior venue and beta testing some of the new rules as pitchers and strike zones reported for the first Spring Training session. The season starts soon... April 29th!

After a decade of being a steady hand and co-host Greg Sowards officially hosts for the first time in this third installment of the hot stove with Josh Smith riding shotgun and Jeremy Litton producing. Sowards takes listeners through the latest rounds of player acquisitions and off-season news as the days until pitchers and strike-zones report for spring training continue to countdown!

Josh Smith is joined by co-host Greg Sowards and producer Jeremy Litton to dissect the latest round of player acquisitions and hot stove news as the off-season chatter continues to heat up as winter wanes on. 

Josh Smith hosts this episode solo and lights the Hot Stove by giving the run down on the first round of player acquisitions. He also dives into a "Christmas list" of each team's needs and speculates on future signings as we draw closer to spring. 

After a four-year hiatus, the league finally announces plans for their official return to the wiffleball scene! Greg and Josh discuss Greek Wiffology's performance at the Amy For Africa Tournament and what led to the decision to restart the league. They dive into some of the key points of the format and what will make 2023 unique from other seasons. Intro song: "Shadow Boxing" by VundabarOutro song: "Without Me" by Eminem

Josh, Anthony & Greg chat about how they assembled the Greek Wiffology team (a squad that's only been reserved for the Amy For Africa tournament in Ashland KY) to serve as the HWL's first time returning to the London Wiffleball Tournament in Ohio since 2016 and our results were... lacking. After recapping the trip to London, they recap prior trips to the AFA (Amy For Africa) Tournament in Ashland KY and preview this year's tournament scheduled for August 20th. 

Josh Smith hosts and celebrates the 40th episode milestone with former league commissioner and hall of famer Patrick Rayl and producer Jeremy Litton (also a hall of famer) as they discuss who made it in to the fourth class of the HWL Hall of Fame and the institution itself. They also countdown their top hall of fame moments and Patrick announces the league will be hosting the Brian Reed Foundation Memorial Whiffle Ball Tournament in partnership to benefit the Huntington Children's Museum on June 4, 2022. Start getting your teams together now!

Josh Smith hosts this episode solo and is joined by guest Jeremy Ray to do a "deep dive" discussion on his article that was posted on the league website a couple weeks ago in his Power RAYnkings column where he ranks 10 players he feels could potentially be on deck to see the hall of fame. Four on the list made this year's ballot and the other six were among those discussed and came close to getting on the ballot but, as the saying goes... close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. If you have not yet read the article, it's well worth the read as it's referenced a lot in this episode and expanded on as well as the Hall of Fame overall. We also look ahead to the upcoming milestone of episode 40.

Josh Smith hosts with Greg Sowards returning to cohost in a brand new episode where the two league founders announce a brand new ballot of potential league hall of fame inductees. This episode is complete with in-depth interviews with each of the hopefuls and analysis that only Josh and Greg could provide, in what would be another offering to an interesting discussion surrounding the assembly of the league's most illustrious players.

Greg Sowards makes a return to the show and recaps the two newest inductees into the league hall of fame. Josh was struggling with a fever during this episode and if you pay attention, you'll see his decline throughout the episode.

Josh Smith and Anthony Stidham honor the 2018 Hall of Fame class and interview each of the five players on the 2021 ballot. Big year for the hall of fame this year!

Josh and Anthony bring on Brice Clark and Jeremy Ray to recap the 2018 format changes in what will be a banner year for the league. The league is bringing a lot of old features back by popular demand while still trying something new.

Anthony subs in for Andrew to help Josh interview commissioner of the Greater Cincinnati Wiffleball League, Jim Bryant. We get to know Jim, his league, and his thoughts on the NWLA Tournament and his plans for 2018.

They boys discuss the lackluster turnout of the most recent Hallowiffle, have some fun with zombie players, and ponder who would be killed first in a horror movie. It's a scary good episode.

Josh is joined by nearly every cohost to ever be on the show and special guest, Nick Kappra. They discuss players of the past, the best one-and-done franchises in league history, and play a league trivia drinking game called Calling Your Shot. It's an episode to remember!

Josh takes back the wheel with Anthony co-hosting as they start their 10-episode odyssey into the off-season where they will be interviewing players from outside the HWL. Up first is LWA commissioner Tim Wiltjer. They discuss the achievements LWA has attained in such a short time and the status of wiffle as a whole nationwide.

Anthony Stidham hosts another episode with Josh Smith co-hosting. The boys recap the 2017 season and discuss the Amy For Africa Tournament and look ahead to Hallowiffle III.

Anthony hosts this episode by commemorating the induction of Josh and Greg into the HWL Hall of Fame with an in-depth interview.

Josh and Jeremy are joined by special guests Greg Sowards, Jeremy Litton, and Brice Clark for some hot takes from the NWLA Regional Qualifier in PA. Intro Music: "Stuck In A Moment..." by U2 Break Music: "Wrong" by Archers of Loaf Outro Music: "Dipped" by Rozwell Kid

Josh is joined by Jeremy and Anthony in a discussion about some of the league's biggest legends and list who they would put on the first ballot of the HWL Hall of Fame. Their guest is the infamous Drew McClanahan and they hit him with some big questions. Interview begins around the 15:50 mark.

Josh and Anthony discuss the NWLA Regionals with Jeremy Ray. Josh catches listeners up with the league's history with this event and all three of them delve into whether or not Saved By The Balls will have what it takes to qualify for Morenci, MI.

Josh is joined by brand new co-host Anthony Stidham. They recap the April Fast-Pitch Tournament and make some predictions for the May Slow-Pitch Tournament. Joining them is first-time guest Andrew Westcott (captain of first place Saved By The Balls), interview begins at 16:40 mark. Intro song: "Deconstruction" by Witchcraft Outro song: "Faith & Oak" by Anciients

Josh Smith and Jeremy Ray recap the draft results with guests Patrick Rayl and Anthony Stidham. The draft brings the league to a new and exciting milestone and this leads to lots of discussion of shocking picks and predicting where the teams will finish at the end of the year. Patrick also reminds us how the points system works that we use to determine the season champion and the guys discuss some rules changes. Intro song: "The Rising End (The First Prophecy)" by Zao

Josh and Jeremy talk about the player draft, NWLA Regionals, the leadership change that's come with the dawn of "the committee" and interview Brice Clark. Intro Song: "Back In The Saddle" by Aerosmith