A TOTS Story -- In the Dugout

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

The years pass quickly for everyone. 

Especially for the TOTS. The four letters mean so much to so few -- the lucky few that come and go with the amateur baseball organization that has been around since 1968.

In ninety-three days, the TOTS' 54th season will end, but for now, there's important business to take care of. Fall is in the air over at Udall Park, and the current members of the ball club, without fail, take the field and play America's Favorite Pastime every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

It's that time of year when former players gather in the stands or sit in the dugout and converse with the current players. Their eyes focused on the field of play as they recall a time they too had grabbed their gloves and hustled to their position on the field.

One player, who did just that for more than twenty years, is Floyd Lance, affectionately referred to by the ball club as Sir Floyd Lance.

Now 97 years of age, Lance showed up at Udall last Wednesday, sat at the end of the dugout, and shook hands with all the players. He then watched mostly 60 and 70-year-old players swing the lubber, run-down plays in the outfield, and dig out the hard ground balls hit to the infielders.

Lance is a legend, not only in the dugout with the TOTS, but beyond Udall as well, known and revered by the Tucson 60-and-over south-side teams, the Arizona Rattlers, and the Old Pueblo Club, and extending beyond Tucson, too. His name will pop up in conversations even at the Men's Senior Baseball League World Series, which is held every October in Phoenix, Arizona.

Undoubtedly, an old-timer from Wisconsin, New York, Texas, or California will ask: 'How's Floyd Lance doing?"

Below is a post on Bookemdanosports from three years ago: 

Floyd Lance has done it so many times before. He grabs his bat and moves to the on-deck circle. He awaits his turn -- his next swings...his chance to hit the baseball -- maybe a single to left field, a blooper to center, or maybe an opposite-field hit to right field.

Every time Lance steps to the plate he breaks a club record.

Today is Floyd's birthday. He turned 94 today and batted three times at Udall Park for Team White this morning in a 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game. He faced Team Blue's flamethrower Reed Palmer, who is 31 years younger and stands six feet, six inches tall, and throws a ball to the plate with more speed than Floyd's first car -- a 1934 Ford.

That is probably stretching things a bit. Palmer's fastball may top out at around 60 mph and Lance recalls the speedometer on the Ford he won in a raffle back in 1943 topped out around 65.

"Yeah. I entered a church raffle and won the car," Lance recalls. "I was 18 years old."

Fast forward 76 years and Sir Floyd drives to the ballpark in comfort these days in his 2015 Jeep Cherokee. His mode of transportation has changed, but his desire to get to the ball field on time and play America's Favorite Pastime remains intact.

"I love playing the game and I'll continue for as long as I can," says Lance, the oldest TOT to ever suit up and play for the organization, an amateur baseball club in its 52nd season.

Lance, a member of the TOTS for more than 20 years, was born in Glen Gardner, New Jersey on September 6, 1925, and he doesn't recall the first professional baseball game he attended.

"I'm not sure, but it had to have been a Giants-Dodgers game," Lance said. He can certainly be forgiven if he can't remember the game or the score.

One thing is for sure, it is a familiar scene to see Sir Floyd step to the plate every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at Udall Park. His teammates all agree. It never gets old watching Floyd Lance adjust his batting helmet and take his stance in the batter's box.

Whether the next pitch is a strike or ball...whether the ball dribbles down the third baseline or bounces into the outfield, it makes little difference. His teammates watch in awe.

Fast forward to the TOTS' dugout last Wednesday.

The two-hour game ended and Sir Floyd Lance was hustled out of the dugout and off to lunch with some of 'the younger boys' with the organization.

It had been another good day for the TOTS.

Photos: The oldest player to ever take the field for the Tucson Old Timers.