TOTS' rookies to keep an eye on in 2017

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

A hand full of rookies on the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers are expected to have a "big year" in 2017.

Expected to take over the spotlight in the weekly games at Udall Park are rookies John Mathews, Reed Palmer, Pete Maldonado, David Byars and Tim Boyd (who played in just 15 games during the fall of 2015 and is still considered a rookie).

Palmer, 60,  is the new home run leader on the TOTS and is expected to duel the reigning home run champion Tim Tolson for the top spot as far as power hitters go. Palmer joined the TOTS in 2016 and played in 38 games. He collected 58 hits in just 106 at bats for a healthy .547 batting average. He hit five home runs since his arrival on the scene at Udall Park, one shy of Tolson, who ended up the home run leader for the organization in 2016. Palmer had 57 RBI in 38 games!

Also expected to light up the scoreboard in 2017, is rookie John Mathews, 60, who played in just 26 games in 2016, but batted .506 with 39 hits in 77 trips to the plate -- including two doubles, a triple and a home run.

Add to that, the exploits of Boyd, who played in just 46 games in 2016 and posted a .607 batting average with 91 hits in 150 at bats -- including 17 doubles and 36 RBI.

Also expected to have breakout seasons in 2017 are Maldonado and Byars, two players in their mid-60s, both capable of putting the bat on the ball. Maldonado played in 52 games in 2016 and batted .321, while Byars, the latest addition to the TOTS, is still getting his feet wet, so to speak, and played in just 29 games in 2016, with 18 hits last winter to go along with eight runs scored and four runs-batted-in.

By the end of 2017, the above players will no longer be considered "rookies" with the TOTS.

Welcome aboard, John, Reed and Dave. The trio have a combined total of 93 at bats -- still rookies as far as the TOTS are concerned. As for Pete and Tim, well their rookie status is all but over with a total at bats between the two at 281, heading into 2017.

As 91-year-old Floyd Lance would say, "They're all rookies." Take for instance the young 60-year-old stud Mathews. He'll need to play 31 years with the TOTS to be considered a "real old-timer."

Photos: Reed Palmer (top), John Mathews, Pete Maldonado, Tim Boyd and Dave Byars (bottom).