First Senior World Series a kick for Yours Truly...

The MSBL World Series way back in 2009...


I prepared all year to compete in my first Men's Senior League Baseball (MSBL) World Series in 2009. It was a dream of mine for a long time. I battled all the aches and pains and made the transition from an aluminum bat to a wooded Louisville Slugger. I fine-tuned what skills I had by playing for the Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) at Udall Park. I started off with a bang at the World Series and ended with a THUD!

On record, I went 8 for 20 with a walk and a stolen base for a .400 batting average. But in the fourth game of the World Series against San Antonio, we had a pick off attempt at third base. My catcher made a perfect throw -- a 2 to 5 putout. The runner decided to take me out and he came in with his elbows high, right after the tag. I was knocked out. He was thrown out of the World Series. I managed to see limited action the rest of the way, but eventually I couldn't run to first base and I missed the final three games. I returned to Tucson and battling through rehab with some nerve damage in my spine. The pain was nothing compared to the agony I felt sitting in the dugout and watching my teammates continue to play the game I love. I must say it was worth the price. The friendships and the camaraderie among my teammates is, and was, priceless. 

I'll be back next year. (and as is turns out the year after...the year after...and on and on).

Photo in 2009: From l to R: Me "The Kid" and my catcher and MSBL manager, Mike Morales. Mike was the one that made the throw to third. I was forced to wear street clothes and cheer from the dugout for the final three games of the World Series.

Tucson Golden Aces bow out of Senior World Series...

The Tucson Golden Aces were eliminated from the playoffs at the Mens Senior League Baseball (MSBL) World Series late Friday in Phoenix. But the Aces didn't go down easy. After dropping three close encounters in a row (5-4 to San Diego,12-9 to New England and 5-4 to Dodgertown West), the Aces came back to beat an unbeaten Detroit team, 15-11. The Aces, down 8-1, roared back behind the hitting of Roger Miller,who went 4 for 4 and drove in 4 RBI. Pitcher Bob Fortier,who entered the game in the third inning with the Aces on the short end of a 7-1 score, got the win for the Aces. Fortier was a workhorse during the World Series. He pitched 46 2/3 innings in 12 days. The Aces finished the first week of the tourney in the 60-and-over-division with a 2-4 record and they went 2-3 in the 65-and-over division, including their come-from-behind win over the Detroit 65s.

Photos: (Top photo)2009 Tucson Golden Aces 65-and-over-division MSBL World Series team: Front row (l to R) Tom Barrow, Billy Smith, Danny Price, Mike Morales, Billy Kee, Roger Miller and Tony Bonillas. Back row (l to R) Bob Fortier, Spike Graham, Chico Bigham, Joe Banner, Jerry Hamelin, Gene Ekholm, Jay Hayner and Dick Walvatne. (Bottom photo) 2009 Tucson Golden Aces 60-and-over-division MSBL World Series team: Front row (l to R) Cres Carino, Jay Hayner, Ron Petersen, Mike Morales, Billy Smith and Marc Sewell. Back row (l to r) Bob Fortier, Larry Armstrong, Doug Randall, Joe Banner, Don Drown, Danny Price, Doug Mullins, Frank Castillo and John Nowotny.

Tucson Golden Aces defeat St. Thomas...

The Tucson Golden Aces defeated St. Thomas, 7-4, at the MSBL World Series this morning (Oct. 26). The Aces, playing a first-round, round-robin game, received a complete-game pitching performance from Chico Bigham.

Chico, who plays year round for the Tucson Oldtimers at Udall Park, went nine innings and received support offensively from Tom Barrow of Westcliffe, Colorado (2 hits, including a triple in the first inning); 2 for 2 from Danny Price (also of the Tucson Oldtimers)and 2 for 3 from Bob Fortier of Nashua, NH. Billy Smith from Wakefield, MA. added a double, as did Mike Morales, also from Tucson and a member of the Tucson Old Pueblo Senior Baseball Club.The Aces will play their second round game tomorrow morning at 10 A.M. in Goodyear against the San Diego Mudcats, one of the teams favored to win the World Series.

Tucson Golden Aces edge Australia at MSBL

The Tucson Golden Aces came out swinging the lumber at the Mens Senior League Baseball World Series (MSBL)last Monday (Oct. 19) and crushed Tri Valley 22-4, a team from Sacramento, Ca., at the Goodyear Sports Complex. It was the MSBL World Series opener for both teams and the outcome put the Golden Aces in good position in the six-game round robin affair for the 60-and-over Central Division. But the Golden Aces' bats went silent the rest of the way as the Tucson team dropped three in a row with losses to the Arizona Scorpions, 5-2, the Salt Lake City Dodgers, 10-7, and a team from San Antonio, Texas, 11-2. Tucson did bounce back in the fifth game of the tourney with a 6-2 win over Australia.

Tucson then had a shot at the playoffs late Thursday (Oct. 22)when they took on Canada. But once again the Aces couldn't get the bats going and they lost a heart-breaker, 8-6, to end their tournament hopes. The star player for the Aces was pitcher Bob Fortier from Nashua, NH. Fortier pitched 31 innings in the World Series, including 18 straight innings on the final day--9 against the Aussies and 9 against the team from Canada. Fortier will pitch next week when the Tucson Golden Aces' 65-over-team open their round robin schedule against St. Thomas. The Aces hope the bats will come alive next week.

Bubba gets it done...

Back on August 21, I released a story on Bookemdanosports about a 56-year-old athlete named Bubba Sparks. Bubba didn't grow up with a baseball in his hand, but instead found his calling in track and field...and more specifically with a pole in his hands.

By the time he got to college in the early 70s, Bubba was pole vaulting upwards of 18 feet. And last week, he not only competed in the World Masters Games in Sydney, Australia, but walked away with the gold medal after vaulting 13 feet, 1 1/2 inches. Sparks, competing in the 55-59 division, out jumped the second place finisher, Great Britain's Allen Williams, who won the silver medal with a jump of 11 feet,5 1/2 inches. Australian Phil Carrero captured the bronze medal with a leap of 9 feet, 10 1/2 inches.

On Bubba's blog, Grand trip to Oz, he reports the conditions in Sydney was the toughest he's had to face in all his years of vaulting. "This was by far the most stressful and challenging competition of my entire pole vault career. Let's start with the constant 20-40 mph winds that were all over the place but never a tail," Bubba said on his blog. Sparks battled the conditions and his fellow competitors to get the job done.Sparks said, "The bottom line is that I won the gold medal at the World Masters Games to earn the title of World Champion and set a new World Masters Games meet record in the process. Since this competition is every four years I am at least assured the record for that long."

Sounds like he'll be back. Hats off to you, Bubba Sparks.

Are the Yankees back?

Are the New York Yankees back and are they in position to reach the World Series for the 40th time and can they grab their 27th championship?

All you old timers out there (and all you young baseball fans, too), place your bets. Will it be the Phillies or Dodgers? Or, will it be the Angels? My guess: it'll be the Yankees.The Yankees have to be the odds-on favorite by their past record alone. They've been to the World Series an outlandish 39 times and have walked away winners 26 times. Granted, they haven't been to the World Series since 2001 and we Arizona Diamondbacks' fans know what happened that year.

Mark Grace is always reminding us of how the Diamondbacks derailed the Yankees in that one and I can still see Luis Gonzalez jumping for joy as he motored to first base after delivering the winning hit--a bloop single to left-center--in game 7 at Bank One Ballpark.

The last time the Yankees won the World Series was in 2000 when they shutdown the New York Mets in five games. And don't count out the Phillies. Remember, they're the defending champions and they have away of coming at you...just ask the Colorado Rockies. Of course southern California fans are hoping for a showdown between the Dodgers and the Angels. I'd go for a West Coast swing. It would be a quiet late October in New York if that happens. But how do you bet against Jeter, Rodriguez and Company?

Not me...not this year.

The Tucson Golden Aces' 25-man roster set for MSBL World Series

The Golden Aces, the Tucson representative for the 2009 Mens Senior Baseball League (MSBL)World Series, which gets underway on Monday, Oct. 19, in Phoenix, are packed and ready to go.

The Aces' roster will include five out-of-state players and they include Bob Fortier from Nashua, New Hampshire; Bill Smith from Wakefield, MA; Jay Hayner from Rexford, New York; Don Drown from Ft. Myers, Florida and Doug Randall from Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Thirteen players are from Tucson and they include manager/player Mike Morales, Joe Banner,Tom Barrow, Larry Armstrong, Bill Skinner, Danny Price, Chico Bigham,Jerry Hamelin, Ron Petersen, Frank Castillo, Cres Carino, John Nowotny and Doug Mullins.

The remaining seven players are all from the Phoenix area and they include Billy Kee, Bob Snook, Spike Graham, John Ambler, Roger Miller, Dene Ekholm and Gene Ekholm.

According to Tucson Golden Aces' manager Mike Morales, all 25 players will get plenty of playing time."We'll need everybody.It's a grueling two weeks."

The Golden Aces have 11 round-robin games on their schedule--six games the first week in the 60-and-over division and five the following week in the 65-and-over division. And that, of course, doesn't include the playoff rounds on Friday, nor the championship games, which are slated for the weekends.

Morales, a catcher who has played in his share of MSBL World Series' games, is hoping this year will be the year his team will head back down I-10 with a championship trophy in its possession...and a ring, too. Just like in the major leagues, if a team happens to win it all, each player will receive a championship ring.

Scottsdale Stadium awaits MSBL finalists...

When it comes to baseball stadiums, what is the big difference between the two cities, Tucson and Scottsdale? Money!

In April of 2010, Tucson Electric Park will be just another piece of property on the south side of the Old Pueblo. No longer will the Diamondbacks and the White Sox take the field to prepare for a major league baseball season.

The only thing running from first to third will be a tumbleweed or two.

Compare that to Scottsdale Stadium, which yours truly and my teammates on the Tucson Golden Aces will have a shot at playing at on November 1 (if our 65-and-over Mens Senior Baseball League team can reach the finals of the 2009 MSBL World Series). Where is the money? Take a gander at this. In 2006, Scottsdale spent more than 23 million dollars to renovate the stadium, which was originally built in 1992 and has been the home field of the San Francisco Giants ever since.

And the Giants aren't going anywhere.

The Giants' organization recently agreed to lease the facility until 2025.

As spokesman and player for the Tucson Golden Aces, we have a lot of work to do if we expect to play between the lines at Scottsdale Stadium. We first must survive a round robin tournament and win a couple of playoff games. It could happen! We would love to see the name, Tucson Golden Aces, light up on the electric scoreboard. At any rate, 3,200 players and 340 teams will converge on the Phoenix and Scottsdale area from Oct. 19 through Nov. 7 to compete in the MSBL World Series. Think of the money that will be spent by players and fans at all the stadiums, hotels and restaurants around the Phoenix area.

As for taking the field at Scottsdale Stadium...wow! It is 360 feet down the left field line, 330 feet down the right field line and 430 feet to straight-away-center. My goodness, all I can hope for...when I step to the plate, is a gapper!

That alone would be worth the trip.

Footless in Seattle...

In the Stands Report by Bookemdano: The Las Vegas odds makers had the Wildcats favored by 3 1/2 points. Why? Because the Arizona Wildcats owned the best rushing attack in the Pac-10, so Arizona got the nod from the folks in Nevada and were a slight favorite to upend the Washington Huskies in Seattle last night.

But what the odds makers didn't take into consideration was the shoe size of Arizona receiver Delashaun Dean. With two minutes and 37 seconds to go in the game, Arizona quarterback Nick Foles unleashed one of his 53 pass attempts to Dean. The pass didn't hit Dean in his hands, but instead the ball bounced off his foot and into the hands of Husky defender Mason Foster, who returned the foot-flicker for a 37-yard touchdown to give Washington a 36-33 win. A freak accident. A freak interception. A dagger into the hearts of the Wildcats. But it wasn't the freak play that cost Arizona, it was the inability to score touchdowns.

Eight times the Wildcats found themselves in the red zone...but they walked away four times with only a field goal to show for their efforts. The Wildcats' heralded rushing game accumulated for just 77 yards as Arizona was forced to abandon its rushing game and go strictly to a passing attack.

Arizona quarterback Nick Foles completed 39 of 53 passes for 384 yards and one touchdown. Foles' efforts should have produced a Wildcat win, but unfortunately the "foot fault" changed the outcome of the game. The Wildcats hope to put their best foot forward next Saturday when they return home to face the Stanford Cardinal.

It'll be "rush hour" in Seattle for the Wildcats

In the Stands Report by Bookemdano: Saturday, Oct. 10...6 o'clock in the morning. It is going to be a long day!

 By the time the Arizona Wildcats and the Washington Huskies square up for the kickoff at Husky Stadium in Seattle a lot will be decided. We will know the outcome of the Oregon vs. UCLA game, the ASU vs. Washington State contest and the Stanford at Oregon State encounter. Somewhere around 10:30 p.m. Arizona time we will know if the Wildcats are to remain a leader in the Pac-10 race or succumb to an also-ran status.

The Wildcats have the horses to get it done and it should be "rush hour" for the Stoops' gang in Seattle. Look for every running back in Mike Stoops' arsenal to get a crack at the Huskies' secondary. The big question mark is how long can Nicolas Grigsby (407 yards in 4 games) stay on the field? Will his shoulder injury put him back on the bench? Keola Antolin, Greg Nwoko and even Nick Booth will all find plenty of holes to run through.

Another question: Will the rushing game be enough to offset the great quarterback play of the Huskies' Jake Locker (1,283 passing and 7 touchdowns)? So many questions...and an entire day...and half of the evening to think about it.

For Arizona fans, this will be one "rush hour" to look forward to.

I hate to see him go...

Ken Griffey Jr. will turn 40 on November 21. Some say he will call it quits and not return to the Seattle Mariners next season or any other club for that matter. The Seattle baseball fans will pray for his return, not because they have high hopes the slugger would lead them to a championship, but just to see that sweet swing of his for one more season.

At 630 home runs, Griffey would need 30 more to tie him with the great Willie Mays for fourth on the all-time major league home run list. Of course, Babe Ruth (714), Henry Aaron (755) and Barry Bonds (762) are out of reach, but I wish Griffey would hang around another year or two so we could watch the ESPN highlights after he crushes a round-tripper into the right field bleachers.

I watched Ken Griffey Sr. play for years and it is hard to believe his son is now on the eve of retirement. Together they have broke Bonds' record. If you put the Griffeys' home run totals together you'd have 782. Of course the father-son combination of Bobby and Barry Bonds is way out there at 1,094 with the senior Bonds providing 332 in his career. Many of the sports blogs in Seattle are pleading for Griffey's return.

I, for one, hope to see his name in the box score next season.

Golden Aces to face variety of foes...

The Golden Aces, the Tucson representative for the 2009 Mens Senior League Baseball (MSBL) World Series to be held in Phoenix (Oct. 19 through Nov. 7) will take on a team from "down under" when they battle the Aussie Aces at the Surprise Baseball Complex, home of the Kansas City Royals training camp, on Thursday, Oct. 22. at 10 a.m.

The battle of "The Aces" will be just one of six games the two teams will be involved in during the 60-and-over Central Division round-robin tournament, which will ultimately determine the playoff teams for the championship series (Oct. 23,24). The Golden Aces open the MSBL World Series on Monday, Oct. 19, when they tangle with the Tri Valley Hawks at the Goodyear Sports Complex at 10 a.m. They then take on the Arizona Scorpions at 10 a.m. on Tuesday (Oct. 20) inside the Goodyear Stadium,the main field used by the Cincinnati Reds during spring training.

The Golden Aces conclude the day with a 3 p.m. matchup at the Tempe Diablo Complex with a contest with the Salt Lake City Dodgers. The Golden Aces also face the San Antonio Utopia on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 9:30 a.m. in Peoria and will also battle the Snowbirds at 2 p.m. in Surprise on Thursday (Oct. 22) to close out its six-game schedule.

The following week, the Tucson Golden Aces will begin the 65-and-over round-robin tourney in the American Division with a game against St. Thomas at 9 a.m. on Monday, Oct.26, at Tempe Diablo and will then take on San Diego on Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Goodyear. On Wednesday the Tucson Golden Aces will face New England at 2 p.m. at the Maryvale Stadium and will battle Dodgertown on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. at the Maryvale Complex (Field # 7).

The fifth game of the round-robin affair will be on Friday at 10 a.m. against the Detroit 65s. The championship game for the 60-over-division is scheduled for Oct. 24, while the 65-and-over title game will be on Sunday, Nov. 1(times and sites to be announced).