Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)
60-and-over baseball
The odds of a father and son playing together on the same field at Udall Park as members of the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers is a 1,000 to 1 shot, maybe 2,000 to 1 or maybe even 5,000 to 1.
Of course, the Las Vegas odds makers aren't interested in such a scenario and probably wouldn't have a clue that there's a 60-and-over baseball team, playing baseball three days a week, year around, in Tucson, Arizona. They probably are unaware that a bunch of crazy dudes between the ages of 60 to 90 still play America's favorite pastime and have been doing so since 1968.
And a long comes the Tolson Clan.
Brad Tolson, who played with the TOTS from 1991 to 2012 (21 Years) retired from active play the summer of 2012 and handed over his baseball jersey (number 3) to his son, Tim Tolson, a hard-hitting, left-hander who is now in the middle of his third season with the organization. Tolson turns 63 on August 30, 2015 and if he matches his father's 21 years with the TOTS, well that would bring us to the year 2033.
Wow! A span of 42 years. The Tolson name is here to stay as far as the members of the Tucson Old Timers are concerned.
As for the numbers, take a look at Brad's career numbers with the TOTS: Games played 963...At Bats 2,776...Runs 578...Hits 1,288...RBI 801 and career batting average .460.
And...Tim in his three seasons: Games played 268...At Bats 801...Runs 317...Hits 497...RBI 401 and career batting average (through 2014) a hefty .620!
As far as team nicknames go, Brad Tolson is better known as "The Chairman of the Board" and because he's the current home run leader, three years running, we respectively refer to the younger Tolson as "Thunder Tim".
Photos: Father and son, Brad and Tim Tolson.
What a great article. Another great one could be digging into the baseball days of the three Hall of Famers from the Rife clan: Ed, his brother and their father! What a baseball family! Isn't it a city in Ohio that inducted these three into their baseball hall of fame? Was it Akron?
ReplyDeleteThanks Mike for the great comments. I did touch on the Rife family with a post on October 31, 2013 entitled TOTS Player in the Akron Hall of Fame.
ReplyDeleteGreat article! Always enjoyed the times I watched the TOTs play, especially Brad. How proudly the Tolson family takes their baseball and the love they all share for the game. I knew Tim would be following along in his dads longtime play of the game and wish I could have seen them play together with TOTs. Won't be long until another Tolson will certainly be on the team joining his brother! Love this family!
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