Tuttle rebounds with Elmira
by Melissa Chodan
June 17, 2005 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
Elmira Pioneers
Elmira Pioneers outfielder Jason Tuttle has been playing baseball for as long as he can remember. It has always been what he loves and what he planned on doing for the rest of his life.
Tuttle, 25, has always been successful at it too. With a career professional batting average of over .300, he has proven himself a solid hitter with the ability to consistently reach base.
But in the world of baseball, there is no "sure thing" as he was inexplicably released from his contract with the Milwaukee Brewers organization during this past spring training.
This devastating blow made Tuttle reexamine himself and his future in baseball. As he returned to his North Carolina home, he even considered leaving the game indefinitely.
However, baseball had become part of Tuttle. The support of friends, family and the children in the community helped Tuttle realize that he had to follow his dreams before it was too late. He said he couldn't even watch a game without longing to be apart of it.
"I kept hearing you're still a good player, you're 25 years old, it's not time for you to quit," Tuttle said. "If you love the game, and everybody knew I loved the game, go play.
Tuttle added: "Just to have people look up to you when you say you play professional ball and the experience, I just don't see myself doing anything else until I just really can't play baseball anymore."
With his impressive performance so far this season, it is clear that Tuttle made the right choice.
In 19 games with Elmira, he is batting .351 with an on-base percentage of .402 and is second in the league with 11 stolen bases.
With any luck, his performance will help him return to an affiliated organization where he has already proven he can be successful.
In his senior year at Elon University, a small Division I school northwest of Durham in North Carolina, he batted .332 and stole 39 bases in 46 attempts.
But in spite his college success, the quick-footed lead-off man was not drafted and signed with the Johnstown Johnnies of the independent Frontier League. Tuttle says he always felt that teams were hesitant to take a chance on him because of his height - he's 5 feet 8 inches tall.
However, the left handed batter flourished in the Frontier League and returned in the 2003 season to play with Florence Freedom, which purchased Johnstown.
Just 37 games into the season, Tuttle was batting .378 with stolen 16 bases. And on July 8 of that season, his contract was purchased by the Montreal Expos organization and Tuttle played the rest of the season with the Vermont Expos, a single-A affiliate of the club in the New York Penn League.
In 51 games, he hit .281 and stole 17 out of 21 bases.
He returned with the organization in 2004 and spent the majority of time with the high single-A affiliate, Brevard County Manatees of the Florida State League. There he continued to show his ability to get on base and advance.
Tuttle's achievements brought him to spring training with the double-A team. There he said he was traded to the Brewers and was eventually cut from the team by the end of the spring.
"It didn't work out for me," he said. "But you play this game long enough it's going to happen. I was really disappointed. ...I was glad they gave me a chance but I thought I did well enough to stay in affiliated ball."
But he was able to rebound from the Brewers decision and is once again looking at the independent leagues as a launching pad back into affiliated baseball or even as a way of life. Tuttle says he is content to just wake up every day and play baseball.
"Right now I'm just concentrating on doing well here and helping this team win," Tuttle said. "And then maybe something will come up and I'll put up good enough numbers that somebody will notice me again or ... I'll play independent baseball again."
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Canadian American League Stories from June 17, 2005
- ROX SWEEP GRAYS, 5-3 - Brockton Rox
- Can-Am League recap 6/17/05 - Can-Am
- Spirit fall to Grays - North Shore Spirit
- Tuttle rebounds with Elmira - OSC Original by Melissa Chodan
- Jackals fans have chance to meet Yogi Berra - New Jersey Jackals
- Cutters swept away by Tornadoes - New Haven County Cutters
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