Pigpen outlasts "Dennis the Menace"

TOTS Senior Baseball Network

60-and-over baseball

Lance closes in on TOTS' longevity record

It was a hot and humid morning at Udall Park.

Still, the members of the Tucson Old Timers (TOTS), the oldest organized baseball team in the country, hustled out to their positions -- yet another baseball encounter for the never-say-die players, ranging in age from 60 to 89.

Today's contest pitted hard-throwing right hander Danny "Pigpen" Price, 69, and crafty lefty Dennis "the Menace" Crowley, age 64.
Crowley, who turns 65 in October, kept Team Blue at bay for most of the game, but did give up a two-run single in the second inning to 89-year-old Floyd Lance. Team Blue would add three more runs to their total and eventually held on for 5-4 win over Team White.

Lance actually turns 89 on Sept. 6 -- but who's counting. Floyd, the oldest active player in the organization, has already received his new jersey -- number 89 -- and is proudly wearing it on the field of play. Every year he changes his number and is now just a year away from tying the record as  the oldest active player in the history of the TOTS. The organization was founded in 1968.

The record for longevity on the TOTS belongs to Clarence Fieber, who was active with the organization -- as a catcher, mind you -- at the age of 90. Clarence played in 120 games as a 90-year-old in 2010. Fieber passed away in May of 2011, just 13 days shy of his 91st birthday.

Today's game was called after five innings. The reasoning: Just too darn HUMID!

Pigpen Price picks up the win, despite walking three batters in the fifth inning and asking for relief help from youngster Lloyd Barzell (Lloyd turns 64 in less than 24 hours). Clinging to a 5-3 lead, Barzell coaxed the first batter into hitting into a double play and then recorded the final out of the game on a ground out to short as Team Blue, and Pigpen, walked away with a hard-fought, uniform-soaking-wet victory.

Come on weather, give us a break. Give us some coolness in the air.

Photos: (Top) Clarence Fieber, (bottom) Floyd Lance.