The Cyclone Kid and The Rocket

As I said in a previous post, it's time to give some of the characters on our Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) baseball club nicknames. The first one goes to pitcher Doc Thompson. Bookemdanosports will now refer to Thompson, in future posts, as the "Cyclone Kid." It's a fitting nickname. Thompson played for the Iowa State Cyclones back in the 1960s and signed a professional baseball contract right out of college. Doc Thompson is 70 years old and recently played for the Arizona Scorpions at the MSBL/MABL World Series, held earlier this month in Phoenix. The other new nickname for the week, goes to Jerry "The Rocket" Smarik. Jerry, a retired Navy man and a retired postman, is 80 years old and gets kidded a lot by his TOTS' teammates because he has a habit of hitting into double plays. In a recent Bookemdanosports' post, Smarik made headlines after his remark following another ground out which resulted in a double play. "Somebody stick a rocket up my butt, maybe I'll move faster." Smarik never misses a game and is now affectionately known as "The Rocket."

Photos: Top, "The Rocket" Jerry Smarik, bottom, Doc Thompson, the "Cyclone Kid".