The leather was flashing at Udall today

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

The leather was flashing at Udall Park today.

In a well-played, almost error free game, Team Blue edged Team White 4-2 in a 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game. The big story were the gems on defense turned in by the old timers.

Team White's Floyd Lance, 94, started things off with a dandy catch in short left field in the second inning when he took a hit away from Team Blue's Jesse Ochoa. The play seemed to open up[ the gates for one thrilling play after another.

Reed Palmer, playing shortstop for Team Blue, snared a live drive off the bat of Team White's Lloyd Barzell in the third inning. Team White's Ron Carlson followed an inning later with a backhand snag at first base and second baseman Pigpen Price got in the act in the same inning with a running backhanded play on a hard hit ball, again off the bat of Team Blue's Ochoa.

In the meantime, the pitchers of record -- Team White's Tim Boyd and Team Blue's Joe Opocensky -- were either snagging comebackers or running down fly balls. Not to mention the fact that both pitchers did not walk a batter and threw nothing but strikes in a seven-inning game, which took just one hour and twenty minutes to complete.

Team White's third baseman John Mathews hauled in a shot off the bat of Team Blue's Doc Thompson in the fifth, Thompson returned the favor with a couple of nice plays at third in the sixth, while Palmer finished things off by controlling things from his shortstop position -- gunning down runners at first base on four of the final six outs -- including a one-hop, backhanded snag off the bat of Price.

"It's hard to get a ball by Palmer," Price said. "At 6 feet, 5 inches tall, he can cover his position well."

One thing is for sure, time goes by quickly when the pitchers throw strikes and the defenders make the plays. "In games like today, you just want to keep on playing," Price said. "The game was a blur."

Fortunately, their are plenty of games on tap for the TOTS. Next game: Friday at Udall, 9 a.m.