Bobby D picks up another win

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

They call him Bobby D and he's been called other names from time to time by his teammates.

His real name is Bob Daliege and he has become one of the more consistent winners when he toes the rubber for the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers.

Daliege, who turns 70 in May, is in his ninth season with the TOTS. The last couple of years, Daliege has improved his pitching skills. All TOTS' pitchers start out as "throwers" and gradually, after some experience, advance up a notch and are affectionately referred to as "pitchers" by the members of the club.

Today was another perfect example of how far Daliege has come as a pitcher. Daliege, who won 18 games in 2017 and 15 in 2016,  picked up his first win of 2018 at Udall Park as he led Team White to a 14-7 win over Team Blue.

Daliege has figured out how to win games. He works the corners and does his best to keep from throwing the ball right down the middle -- especially to the "big hitters" on the club like Reed Palmer,  a hard-hitting 61-year-old who led the TOTS in homers in 2017 with 21.

In today's game, Daliege helped his own cause with three hits in three trips to the plate, but it was his ability to pitch around Palmer for seven innings which helped seal the win for Team White. "Reed hits the ball hard. Today I got lucky," Daliege said. "I kept him in the ball park."

The only big blow off of Daliege today was a first inning RBI-triple from John Misiaszek, which gave Team Blue an early 1-0 lead. After that, Daliege settled down and most of the runs scored by Team Blue the rest of the way were unearned. Errors are part of the game with the TOTS and if you want to pitch for the club, well there's one thing you have to get used to: errors -- after all the guys who take the field Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Udall range in age from 60 to 90.

It certainly looks like Daliege has it all figured out. He knows you can't win 'em all, but he loves playing with the TOTS. "It's so much fun and it's the best deal in town."

Way to go, Bobby!

He'll be back on the mound soon. You can count on it.

Photo: Daliege