Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)
60-and-over baseball
We lost our scorekeeper in 2015. Jim Pagels showed up three days a week, opened the scorebook and with a giant smile recorded every play on the field for the Tucson Old Timers.
Pagels passed away during the winter of 2015 and finding a replacement wouldn't be easy, but up stepped Mal Zwolinski. Mal turns 79 in October and a hand full of physical ailments keeps him off the playing field, but it certainly doesn't keep his mind off the game as he's become PAGELS 2. Showing up every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Mal grabs his spot in the dugout, finds his trusty pencil and does his duty for the next two to three hours,
Way to go, Mal!
A TOT since 2006, Mal spent his "working days" as an educator.
His life started out rather quietly. A hard-throwing pitcher in high school, Mal won 19 games in his prep career. His next stop, the University of New Hampshire. That made a lot of sense, since Mal was born and raised in Winchester, NH. He received his "first" degree in 1959, but that was just the beginning. He went to Yale University and another degree in 1961. And his education didn't end there as Mal moved West, to Tucson, and received yet another degree at the University of Arizona in 1965.
But this time, Mal stayed put -- for close to 40 years! His field of expertise: Foresty. He became a professor at Arizona and went on to become an expert on the ecological effects of fire.
Now we have our scorekeeper, a worldly scholar -- our SCOREKEEPER EXTRAORDINAIRE!
Photo: Mal
Mal does a great job! But the dugout misses Jim Pagels. Jim and I were both rookies in the summer of 2008. He discovered in that first year that his health was not going to allow him to be a player. But what fun he brought to the team! I really miss him as a teammate and friend. I was blessed by the way the TOTs shared their admiration for Jim the evening they presented him with the Packers gear. Is it only me or is some of the fun missing this summer by his absence?
ReplyDeleteYes, Mike. It'll be a while before we got over the loss of Jim Pagels.
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