Please help Baseball Wiki by revising it.
Reggie Gene Willits (born May 30, 1981 in Chickasha, Oklahoma) is a Major League Baseball outfielder with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He goes by the nickname Reggie "Kill-It" Willits.
Early life[]
Reggie is the son of Gene and Judy Willits of Fort Cobb, Oklahoma. He attended junior high and high school at Fort Cobb-Broxton. He is an alumnus of the University of Oklahoma, and he played junior college baseball at Seminole State in Seminole, Oklahoma.
Career[]
Willits was drafted by the Angels in the 7th round (210th overall) of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft. Willits made his Major League Baseball debut with the Angels on April 26, 2006. He has a dubious record. He has the most active at bats without hitting a home run (758).[1]
Personal[]
Willits married Amber Klugh of Fort Cobb; they have two children, Jaxon and Eli. Reggie has only one older sister Wendi, who played basketball at Arkansas and for the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA [2] and won a championship.
Willits and his wife began building a home in 2003 in Fort Cobb, with the first completed structure a standalone 90-by-35 foot batting cage. Willits decided to save money and work on his game by moving the family into the batting cage, outfitted with an open plan. In 2007, the home was finally completed. Reggie was named after Reggie Jackson. Coincidently, Willits' first son is named Jaxon. The idea to name their son first came from one of Reggie's first host families, the Donnells. When Reggie was playing for the minor league affiliate, the Provo Angels, his host sister Mollie was talking about baby names with his wife Amber. Around the same time, Mollie's brother (who no longer lived with the Donnells) was naming his kid Jaxon, and Mollie jokingly suggested the name. Amber loved it, and she knew Reggie would as well because of the significance it held for them. Reggie and his wife have a second son Eli Willits born December 9, 2007.[3] He is a member of the "Reggie Cleveland All-Stars", a list by ESPN.com Page 2 columnist Bill Simmons of players named as though they belonged to a different race.
References[]
- ↑ Sports Illustrated Kids May 2008 Issue page 45 (reference only accurately states the dubious record,the at bat count is inaccurate)
- ↑ David Moore. "Angels fans cheering 'Reggie, Reggie' once again", USA TODAY, June 29, 2007. Retrieved on 2010-04-05.
- ↑ Lee Jenkins. "Life in a Cage: Baby Sleeps, Mom Cooks, Dad Bats", The New York Times, July 1, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
External links[]
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
Template:Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim roster navbox
This article is a stub. You can help The Baseball Wiki by expanding it.