Michael Edward Rife

I play baseball three days a week with a bunch of guys I admire. We are a strange group of old coots and we take the field at Tucson Udall Park to fulfill our passion and desire to play America's favorite pastime. We range in age from 60 to 90. As the years pass quickly...and they certainly roll by similar to the speed of a Boeing 757 on a coast to coast flight. There are times when we lose one of our Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) and it is a sad day for the family involved and for all the team members.

But Tuesday was filled with a double sadness when we lost not a player, but a player's son. Taken from us was Michael Edward Rife, the son of TOTS' player, Ed Rife, and his wife, Nancy. Michael passed away after a long illness at the age of 51, ten days shy of his 52nd birthday. In the local paper this morning it was written that Michael, like his father, was a classy individual. He was born in Santa Maria, California and raised in Akron, Ohio. Like his dad...he loved baseball. Michael also loved horses, music, soup, butterflies, angel food cake, tattoos and something that seems to fall in the category of "what I like to do in my spare time" among many of the TOTS' players: watch bad Westerns.

Rest in piece, Michael. As for you Ed, I hope to see you soon, on the field, alongside me in the infield, at Udall Park.