VISTA -- Nobody gets to wear number 14 on the Vista High baseball team anymore. That number from this point on belongs to Wes Littleton, a 2000 graduate who last year began to really live his dream.

He gets paid to play baseball. In the bigs.

Littleton, a right-handed sidearmer, spent the second half of 2006 as a middle reliever for the Texas Rangers, appearing in 33 games and posting an ERA of 1.73.

On Sunday, before a crowd of about 100 folks, longtime friends got to honor Littleton as his high school baseball team retired his Panthers jersey.

"I've never had anything like this done for me before," Littleton said. "I'm very honored he (Vista High baseball coach Rick Lepire) wanted to do this for me."

After the short ceremony, coach Lepire uttered the words the folks in the bleachers and the guys in the dugout came to hear: "Play ball."

And thus began the first of what Lepire and the others said they hope will become an annual event: a baseball game played by alumni of the Panthers program.

About two dozen guys who used to don the school's baseball uniform, including Littleton, hit the field that meant so much to them in their prep days for an alumni game set up by Lepire, who coached many of them in high school. The game was meant to raise funds for the school's baseball program. But it also helped old friends reunite for some Sunday baseball under the sun and provide a backdrop for some good-natured ribbing.

After high school, some of the Panther players went on to play ball in college, and a few found themselves drafted into the minor leagues.

"This is a storied program," 27-year-old Craig Harris said of the Vista High team as he sat in the dugout before heading back onto the field. Harris played for the Panthers until he graduated in 1997. "We have a lot of tradition here, and a lot of guys are proud to come back."

Matt Landes, 19, was glad he made the effort to come. He knocked a single off of Littleton in the first inning, and Landes can now say that he got a base hit off a big-league ballplayer.

"It was sort of a once-in-a-lifetime thing, to stand in the (batter's) box against a major leaguer," Landes said. "Not that the hit matters, but I can joke about it."

Littleton graduated from Vista High shortly before Landes, now a University of Southern California student, played for the program. Last year, Landes was in the stands watching as Littleton, in a Texas Rangers uniform, struck out some of Landes' favorite Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim players.

Many of the players who hit the field Sunday graduated from high school within the last decade, but not all of them. The most senior of the guys to take the field was Craig Fischer, a 1981 grad who is now a pharmacist living in Carlsbad.

"I haven't hit against live pitching like that in 25 years," Fischer said, not long after he struck out. "They were even telling me it was going to be a fastball down the middle."

Although Fischer whiffed during his first at bat, the 43-year-old did connect for a foul ball off of Littleton. Fischer laughed at himself a short while later.

"It was just nice to get a piece of the ball," Fischer said.

Mike Casserly, who just graduated from Biola University last month, said the game gave him an opportunity he'd not gotten as a pitcher for the Panthers.

"The best part was the coach letting me get three at-bats," the 2002 Vista High grad said with a smile. "I went 2-for-3. You can write that."

Littleton lives in Texas now, and his appearance at the game was a last-minute surprise. His family and high school coach tried to keep the jersey-retirement honors under wraps, but had to tell Littleton at the last minute when it appeared he might not make it into town in time for the game.

So, with the cat out of the bag, Littleton, who planned to fly out on a 10 a.m. flight, made arrangements at midnight Saturday to climb aboard a California-bound plane six hours later. He was on the field in time for the ceremony -- and to hurl pitches in the first few innings.

With the game in its last inning and Littleton heading to the box for one last at-bat, he fielded the big question: Did he go easy on the other guys?

The kid with a half-year in the big leagues under his belt, one who reports to spring training on Feb. 17 to fight for a spot in the rotation for the next season, simply gave a big grin, a loud laugh and headed to the plate -- where he got a hit.

The game pitted the guys who graduated from Vista High in even-numbered years against those who graduated in odd-numbered years.

Bragging rights, for the next year at least, go to the grads from even-numbered years. Final score at the end of seven innings: 7-1.

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 631-6624 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.