TOT to be knee-deep in operations

TOTS Senior Baseball Network

60-and-over baseball

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) right hander Doc Thompson has pitched his last game.

For this year, that is.

Thompson, 70, who pitched for the Iowa State Cyclones back in the 1960s and went on to sign a professional contract right out of college, is arguably the hardest thrower on the TOTS' roster, but he will be away from Udall Park and his TOTS' teammates for a while.

Doc, better known as Delon Thompson when he travels around the country doing one-man shows, playing his country music and promoting his CDs and albums, spends a good part of each year playing baseball with the TOTS, the oldest senior baseball club in the nation.

Knee problems has kept him from playing to his max, in other words, stretching a single into a double is simply out of the question. However, Doc's bad knees hasn't affected his pitching -- he went out in a blaze of glory this week, starting two games and winning both, including an 8-3 win today by Team Blue over Team White.

Thompson (above photo) will have his FIRST knee replacement in August, and will follow up in October with his SECOND!

"It's about time I get this done," Thompson said, after his win at Udall Park today. "According to the doctor, I may even be an inch taller when all this is done."

Thompson may end up with an added benefit after completion of both operations.

Born in Roland, Iowa, Doc said he got the short end of the stick with his bowlegs. "Pop and my brother, Gary, ended up with the straight legs and I ended up bowlegged."

Chances are Thompson, will be back in action in late November, taller, stronger and ready to show a "need for speed" when he steps to the plate.