Getting to the "heart" of it all

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Getting to the "heart" of it all...

The two players who took the mound at Udall Park this morning in a 60-and-over baseball game have a lot in common. Lloyd "Baby Bull" Barzell, 66, started the game for Team White and 71-year-old Danny "Pigpen" Price toed the rubber for Team Blue.

The story lines in this one were endless. Price is going on nine years since his quadruple heart attack in 2008, while Barzell -- well his operation is more recent, a double bypass surgery back in December.

Today the two pitchers squared off in a pitching duel. Barzell, making his first start on the mound since his surgery, pitched the first three innings for Team White before giving way to his relief pitcher, Pete Maldonado, while Price went the distance for Team Blue -- well, for the record he hurled six official innings.

Then came the seventh and final inning.

Down 4-2 in the top of the seventh inning, Team Blue plated two runs to tie the game -- thanks mainly to consecutive hits from Tim Tolson, Doc Thompson, Ron Carlson and Dick Ducklow. Unfortunately for Team Blue, they couldn't get that much-needed fifth run across.

So, up came Team White in the bottom of the seventh inning and they had the "heart" of their order up (there's that word again).

"I knew I was up against it," Price said. "I had their big hitters up -- Bobby Daliege, Joe Opocensky and Reed Palmer. Bobby is a contact hitter and sprays it to all fields and the two lefties up next are arguably the hardest hitters on the TOTS."

Price tried to hit the corners of the plate with Daliege in the batter's box, but eventually missed high on a 3-1 pitch and suddenly Team White had the winning run on base. Price had been successful getting Opocensky out earlier in the game. In fact, the hard-hitting lefty was 0 for 3.

But this time Price couldn't keep the ball away from Opocensky and he drilled a double to right field to drive in Daliege with the winning run.

The game was well played by both sides. In fact, both teams hit safely only six times. Team White scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning and, of course, finished things off with a walk-off win. Team Blue scored two runs in the top of the first inning and put up "goose eggs" until the their final at bat when they tied the game.

As for Barzell, he pitched well the first three innings, allowing two runs and a couple of hits, but he didn't want to push his luck. "It felt good to start on the mound again, but three innings were enough."

Price just shook his head after the game. "It's amazing what Lloyd is doing. My goodness, it's been only eighty days or so since his surgery. He's got the heart of a lion."

In the end, it wasn't the heart of Barzell, or the heart of Price, which made the difference in today's 60-and-over baseball game. It was just the heart of the order, which got the job done.

Price said, after the game. "My heart beat a little faster as I watched Joe's hit bounce off the right field fence."

One thing is for sure, Barzell and Price will be back on the field on Friday at Udall with the rest of the TOTS...and the beat goes on, even for a bunch of old-timers, who love to play the game of baseball.

Photo: Joe Opocensky hits a walk-off RBI-double in the bottom of the seventh inning today to give Team White a 5-4 win over Team Blue.