The year of the home run

TOTS Senior Baseball Network

60-and-over baseball


As far as home runs go in the Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) baseball club, they are few and far between. Very seldom is there a blast over the fence at Udall Park and when it does come it usually comes from the youngest member of the TOTS, 60-year-old Thunder Tim Tolson.

Tolson averages a home run or two every 75 at bats. He's a big and strong lefty who pummels the ball to right field -- searing line drives that fall in front of the right fielder or shots that tug the right field line.

There was a time when home runs were aplenty. The year was 2006 and three players on the TOTS were ripping the ball with authority. The three, all three are still active with the club, include Doc Thompson, Chico Bigham and Ron Petersen.

Thompson won the year-long battle of home runs with an amazing total of 19, Bigham hit double figures with 10 and Petersen connected for seven round-trippers.

And take a gander at these stats:

Thompson batted 281 times in 2006, collected 209 hits, knocked in 160 runs and finished the year with a .744 batting average.

Bigham batted 356 times, collected 215 hits, knocked in 163 runs and finished the year with a .604 batting average.

Petersen batted just 167 times on the year, collected 101 hits, knocked in 54 runs and finished the year with a .605 batting average.

Of course, this all happened seven years ago. Thompson was 64, Bigham was 68 and Peterson was a rookie at 60 years of age.

It's obvious the older we get the less productive we are as members of the TOTS. But as we age, singles will still work and there's nothing wrong with a hard hit ball to the gap in left center or right center field.

But the TOTS trio (in photos above) can pump their chests and say there was a time when home runs were aplenty.

Photos:  Doc Thompson (top),  Chico Bigham (middle), Ron Petersen (bottom).