Conway Twitty once said -- "It's only make believe"
Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)
60-and-over baseball
The Corona Games
The two teams took the field at Udall Park this morning to play the game of baseball. The players practiced social distancing, six feet apart when they were at bat and even longer distances apart when they were on the field.
Whatever it takes. Right? No umpires present. No balls and strikes. No walks. Take your cut and get on with it.
The 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers had just enough players to field two teams-- each team dressed out in their familiar blue and white TOTS' uniforms, with one major add-on: face masks.
The tall and slender Tim Boyd took the mound for Team Blue and the hard-throwing Doc Escala got the call for Team White.
A half a mile away at the intersection of Sabino and Tanque Verde, only two automobiles came to a stop and the drivers of the vehicles waited patiently for the light to turn green. The players could hear the sound of a firetruck a mile away, roaring in what seemed to be in an easterly direction down Wrightstown Road. No doubt responding to the latest call.
A hawk flew over the TOTS' field and found a resting place atop the batting cage, just 100 feet away from Team White's first baseman Ron Carlson, who was busy tossing ground balls to his infielders -- Ray Garcia at third, Reed Palmer at short and Pigpen Price at second.
Four masked baseball fans sat in the stands behind the backstop. One spectator walked by with his Golden Retriever at his side...the dog anxiously awaiting a foul ball to come his way.
Escala's first pitch was right on the money to Team Blue's leadoff hitter Roger Beebe. The next pitch was a slow curve ball and Beebe timed it perfectly and sent a screaming line drive by Garcia.
Bill Mishler followed and punched a slower roller down third. By the time catcher Mike Steele retrieved the ball, Beebe had scampered into second and Mishler was safe at first with an infield-hit.
The hard-hitting lefty Tim Tolson stepped in and worked the count to 3-2 before drilling an opposite-field double to left field. Beebe and Mishler scored easily and Team Blue held an early 2-0 lead.
Both pitchers found themselves in a pitching duel for the next three innings, but in the bottom of the fourth Team White plated four runs to jump into the lead. It was a bad luck inning for Boyd as the first two runners reached on errors and Phil Gordon stepped to the plate, looking to do some damage.
He did just that as he burned Team Blue's right fielder Denny Leonard. The hard hit ball sailed over Leonard's head, two runs scored and Gordon labored into second with a double.
Joe Opocensky followed with his first home run of the year, a smoking line drive that cleared the right field fence with room to spare. Suddenly, Boyd and his teammates were down 4-2 and came to bat in the top of fifth in hopes of regaining the lead.
Boyd got the inning going with a triple to the gap in right center and Big John Mathews doubled to right center to pull Team Blue to within one run. Mathews scored later in the inning when Joe Aparicio reached on a fielding error.
The score remained 4-4 until the top of the seventh inning. Escala struck out the first two batters in the top of the seventh, but gave up a blooper to Beebe, a single up the middle to Bob Daliege and Doc Thompson got a hold of an Escala fastball and drilled a gapper to left center. Beebe rambled home and Daliege scored all the way from first to give Team Blue a 6-4 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, Boyd needed just nine pitches to get the win for Team Blue. Lloyd Barzell grounded out to second, Gordon drilled a shot into the glove of Garcia at third and Miguel Urtaza hit a harmless come-backer to Boyd to end the game.
The TOTS packed up their gear, remained six feet apart and headed for the parking lot. The hawk had seen enough and headed south. Minutes later, the players were gone.
The coronavirus continues...
TOTS fantasy boxscore:
Team Blue 6 Team White 4
WP Tim Boyd
LP Doc Escala
Home runs: Joe Opocensky (Team White)
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