The Old Boys of November

TOTS Senior Baseball Network (TSBN)

60-and-over baseball

The Old Boys of Summer have worked their way into November, believers still that the fence is an attainable goal. And sometimes it is, mostly as a way to keep the ball from rolling away.

Tim--big, strong Tim--is the only regular threat to the right field fence but, while hope may not spring eternal in the hearts of the ordinary mortals who make up most of the team, it does occasionally raise its head.

The TOTs--Tucson Old Timers--play ball the year around, moving the morning starting time up an hour in the summer to avoid midday heat, and back again in the fall to allow the sun to dry out the Park District watering schedule.

Later this week, I think for the first time, the team will play a night game, just for the fun of playing under the lights. Friends and relatives who have not reached the age when they might be eligible to join the TOTs (60), have been invited to see what baseball after 60 looks like--or more astoundingly--what a first baseman can do at 88. It isn't always pretty, but pretty has never applied to any of the guys who play autumn ball.

They are, as any of them will admit, if not a handsome lot, then at least durable, if viewed from a distance under the dim November lights.

Note: The above text was written by TOTS' bleacher bum Conrad Royksund, who makes it a point to wiggle into the stands behind home plate on occasion and watch the TOTS perform. His insight on the TOTS and the game of baseball is certainly a fresh approach, of which yours truly gets a kick out of. Conrad will be in the bleachers Friday night at Udall Park as the TOTS play their first-ever night game. For all my readers out there, come on down and watch the Old Boys of Summer, or, as Conrad puts it, the Old Boys of November. Game time is set for 6 p.m.

By the way, feel free to read Conrad's own blog at: www.smokesound.blogspot.com

Photos: At a recent day game, the TOTS huddle up and discuss the ground rules, while Bob Stofft makes himself comfortable outside the dugout and awaits the game's first pitch.