Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)
60-and-over baseball
Ten men found a spot next to each other on the small bleachers, located behind home plate at Himmel Park on a warm summer day fifty four years ago.
It was the end of the 1960s and the first TOTS' photo session was in progress. Two rows, five old-timers in each row, getting ready to play the game of baseball -- and play for the love of the game.
The organization would grow over the years and by the year 2022 close to 300 players have worn the pinstripe uniform, covered their gray hair with a TOTS' blue and white cap and scampered onto the ball field, looking to knock in the winning run or make that leaping catch.
Who were the originals?
Well, let's salute them. The founder Joe Gorman was born in Russia in 1904, unfortunately we have birth dates for just three more of the remaining 10 original players. Skip Alexander was born in Mid Pine, North Carolina in 1907, Bert Hough was born in Rockton, Illinois in 1907 and was two months younger than Hough, while Clifford Burdick was born in 1896. Eldon Crews, Avery Nixon, Al Hall, Pete Paolo, Charlie Snyder and Ray Miller are on the original roster but their birth dates and birth places are omitted from the archives.
It's a sure bet they were all over 60 years of age and we are, of course, talking about men who were born some 120-odd years ago. For example, Mr. Burdick would be 124 years old if he was still able to mosey up to the plate and takes his cuts against the current TOTS' pitching staff.
According to the TOTS' archives, it was Mr. Hough, as it turns out, who was the last of the originals to play for the organization. Hough hung up his cleats in 1998 at the age of 91.
Of course, that record of longevity was broken by a familiar name with the TOTS' organization Floyd Lance, who retired from active duty with the TOTS close to three years ago at the age of 94. Lance stands as the oldest active player with the TOTS on record. Lance will turn 97 in September.
The TOTS have moved on to Udall Park and have been playing there for some 25 years with games played during the early-morning hours of Monday, Wednesday and Friday. In the old days at Himmel Park, the TOTS played without a fence. At Udall, it takes a poke of over 300 feet to clear the fence and the field is dragged and watered by members of the TOTS before each game.
An old-timers' oasis in the middle of the desert. Just what the doctor would order for his elderly patients, who were yearning to continue to play the game of baseball.
The Originals have come and gone and have been replaced by the TOTS' 2022 version -- another decade of players take the field and swing for the fences. More 60-somethings arrive everyday. The turnstiles are always open.
The Tucson Old Timers will live on...and on and on.
Photo: The Originals
Very nice piece. Appreciate you.
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