78-year-old celebrates birthday with 2 hits to left

TOTS Senior Baseball Network

60-and-over baseball

When a member of the Tucson Old Timers celebrates a birthday it's usually another milestone -- another chip in the armor, if you will. There are times the old timer celebrates his special day on the baseball field.

So it went for 78-year-old Carl Brutovsky (photo above) at Udall Park this morning.

Brutovsky was born 78 years ago today in Johnson City, New York. A switch hitter, Brutovsky has been a member of the TOTS since 1999 and can still get the bat on the ball. In fact, he's having a pretty good 2014 season with 44 hits in 118 trips to plate -- including two hits to left field today as he led Team White to an 8-7 win over Team Blue. That's a .372 batting average.

Quite a difference from last year. In 2013, Brutovsky played in  only 55 games and maintained a .177 batting average, but this season he's managed to stay off the disabled list and has played in 34 games and the club has yet to reach the halfway mark of the season. Carl took a spill at first base midway through the 2013 season and missed his share of games.

But this year no spills.

Congrats, Carl...and Happy Birthday!