TOTS' right-hander takes two-hitter into 7th inning and loses

TOTS Senior Baseball Network (TSBN)

60-and-over baseball


Arnie White,  a 71-year-old right-hander, took a two-hit shutout into the seventh and final inning at Udall Park today in a 60-and-over senior league baseball game. White struck out eight and walked three, but didn't get the win or loss as the Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) game ended in a 3-3 tie.

As the old saying goes, "It's like kissing your sister." Both Team Blue and Team White packed up their gear after a two-hour plus game and headed home.

"We have a club rule to play just seven innings," said the TOTS Blue first-sacker Floyd Lance. "We don't play it out. So, it is like kissing your sister, but there's plenty of games down the road."

The members of the TOTS get together three days a week and play all 12 months of the year. And once in a while a game ends up in a tie. "It kinda sucks, but that's the rules," said Lloyd Barzell, the opposing pitcher in today's game.

Barzell, playing for Team White, provided an RBI-double in the top of the seventh inning to help break up White's shutout. Teammates Chico Bigham and Ted Davis also provided extra base hits as Team White turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead.

But in the bottom of the seventh, Barzell ran into trouble and Team Blue scored a run to tie the game. With two outs, Barzell elected to walk Team Blue's hot-hitting Tim Tolson, creating a force play at second and third. The strategy worked as right fielder Denny Leonard grounded out to end the game.

As for White (photo below), it wasn't the outcome he was looking for. "I felt good out there today," said White, a professor at the University of Arizona who spends most of his summers at his ranch in Montana.

The Tucson Old Timers will be at it again on Friday. The temperature is expected to reach the mid-60s and the two teams will be looking for a win and not a tie. Enough of this kissing your sister stuff.