The 21st Century TOT

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

The players who take to the baseball field at Udall Park are considered a 21st Century TOT -- only a handful are still around and can be "labeled" a 20th century member of the Tucson Old Timers - an amateur organization which got its start in the spring of 1968.

The original players are no longer with us. A 60-year-old TOT in 1968 would be 111 years old and all of them are playing the game of baseball in the heavens now on a well-manicured ball field... at a spacious complex without outfield fences. Instead, beautiful and fluffy clouds line the horizon and a home run belted into the bright blue sky does not require a radar gun to detect the speed of the oval as it spins through the heavens.

Currently there are four 20th century TOTS who still take the ball field at Udall on a regular bases -- 93-year-old Floyd Lance (1999-present), 90-year-old Billy Heiny (1997-present), 85-year-old Joe Aparicio (1998 to present) and 81-year-old Denny Leonard (1992-present).

All four are members of the 1,000 hit club. Only one member of the organization has ever reached the 2,000 hit club and that honor belongs to Chico Bigham, who passed away in 2017 after amassing 2,134  hits -- all of his hits coming between the years 1999 to 2017.

A Few Good Men -- make that quite a few good men -- have played for the TOTS over the years. In the 21st century alone we have lost TOTS' legends like Bigham, Ed Rife (2014), Clarence Fieber (2011), Jim Pagels (2015), Conrad Royskund (2018), Chuck Harkins (2019), Leo Brault (2008), Joel Blutfield (2013), Bunny Bechtold (2008), Joe Tappero (2007), Mort Adkins (2009), Don Wood (2010), Carl Brutovsky(2019) and Dick McAnally (2015).

Still remain are the 21st Century TOTS who show up at Udall every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and play America's favorite pastime. They include the youngsters between the ages of 60 and 70...the middle-aged TOTS between the ages of 71 to 80 and yes,  the selected few mentioned above -- the men that started swinging the lumber with the organization before the turn of the century.

The baton, so to speak, has passed on to a new era of players like the 60-something studs Reed Palmer, Tim Tolson, Mike Dawson, Tim Boyd, Pete Peters, Lloyd Barzell, Joe Opocensky, John Mathews along with Ron Ryan, Jesse Ochoa, Brad Vermeer, Phil Gordon, Ted Davis, Mike Taylor, Dan Boxberger, Ken Nebesny, Ray Garcia, Don Jorgensen, Pete Maldonado, Roger Beebe and Dennis Crowley, And the over-70 standouts like Doc Thompson, Pigpen Price, Mike Steele, Ron Petersen, Bill Mishler, Bob Daliege, Dave Rhoades, John Misiaszek, David Byars, Dick Ducklow, Jeff Helzel,  George Staas, Joe Dinich, Rob Morse,  Ron Carlson, Leon Glasshoffer, Jerry Hamelin, Bob Stofft, Arnie White and Miguel Urtaza.

Within the next three seasons, it is likely Bigham's hits record may be in jeopardy. Three players who could break the record are Barzell, Thompson and Tolson. Barzell, 69,  a prolific hitter who joined the TOTS in 2010, averages over 200-plus hits a season and is within 400 hits of the 2,000-hit mark as the TOTS are en route to completing its 51st season. Right behind him is the 77-year-old Thompson, who is closing in on the 1,500-hit mark and Tolson, the youngest member of the trio at the age of 67, has already surpassed the 1,400 mark.

Of course -- as you can see above -- the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers are like a revolving door. There is no end in sight for the organization. Somewhere out there are some 50-somethings just chomping at the bit to join the club.

The TOTS live on...

Editor's Note: The author of the above, undoubtedly missed a name or two, but the reader should come away knowing the TOTS are built around men who play for the love of the game and give their all on and off the field to see to it the organization continues in the right direction. Thanks go out to the heart of our organization...men like Mal Zwolinski, 81, our scorekeeper, and Ed Seelbinder, 73, our Chef, and Bob Royer, 81, who volunteer's his time as an umpire and does it with a smile on his face, despite the "voices" from the dugout.

The TOTS top career hits leaders:

(the exact figures to be released in January of 2020)

*active

2,000 hit club       --  Chico Bigham (2,134)

1,600 hit club       --  Lloyd Barzell*

1,500 hit club       --  Doc Thompson*

                             --  Denny Leonard*

1,400 hit club       --  Tim Tolson*

                             --  Jerry Smarik

                             --  Floyd Lance*

1,300 hit club       --  Ed Rife

                              -- Pigpen Price*

                              -- Jerry Hamelin*

1,200 hit club       -- Dennis Crowley*

                             -- Brad Tolson

                             -- Billy Heiny*

                             -- Ron Petersen*

                             -- Pete Peters*

1,100 hit club       -- Dave Rhoades*

1,000 hit club       -- Bob Daliege*

                             -- Joe Aparicio*