Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)
60-and-over baseball
The 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers have been around since 1968, and the amateur baseball club recently completed its 56th season.
The TOTS play year-round. They play every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at Udall Park (see photo above). They seldom take a break.
Arguably, the 2023 season is considered, by the people who keep track of such things, to be the best ever.
Why?
Well, read on to find out.
Forty-four members, ranging in age from 61 to 85, took their cuts at the plate this season, and the 'three studs' that topped the hitting charts were Big Jon Beady, Thunder Tim Tolson, and the "Big O' Joe Opocensky.
They most definitely have earned their nicknames.
Beady, who recently turned 62, finished first in hits (171), triples (10), home runs (17) and RBI with 144. He batted .586 (171 for 292) and was second in runs scored with 124.
Tolson, 71, batted .463 (170 for 367) and was second in RBI with 111.
Opocensky, 73, batted .558 (169 for 303) and was third in RBI (109).
Photos: Beady (top), who finished with the most hits (171) and home runs (17) in 2023. Bottom photo: Tim Tolson and Joe Opocensky. Tolson finished second in hits (170) in 2023, while Opocensky was third with 169.
That, of course, is just a start.
Other 'big guns' included John Mathews, who collected 141 hits in 245 at-bats, a .576 batting average, and John Cooke, who led the club in runs scored (131) while ending up fifth in hits with 136 in 294 at-bats, a .463 average.
Other notables included Ken Nebesny (133 hits in 346 at-bats, a .384 average), Mike Dawson (118 hits in 274 at-bats, a .431 average), Bob Daliege (114 hits in 292 at-bats, a .390 average), Sam Dean (110 hits in 225 at-bats, a .489 average), while Randy Livingston went 108 for 183, a .590 average; Mark Rupert went 105 for 335, a .313 average and Reed Palmer, who went 101 for 201, a .502 average. Palmer finished second in home runs with five.
Dawson turned out to be the TOTS' workhorse on the mound in 2023. He logged 278 innings and pitched in 49 games while compiling a 21-14 won/loss record. Pete Maldonado was also a 20-game winner for the year, going 20-12. Beady went 15-8, and Palmer compiled a 16-7 record.
Beady led the club in strikeouts with 108, Dawson finished with 86 strikeouts, and Palmer 85.
The TOTS carried a .377 team batting average as a club with 2,581 hits in 6,847 at-bats.
In the super-senior division (75 and over), it was Daliege, 75, leading the way with his .390 batting average. David Byars, 76, went 78 for 249, a .313 average; Mike Steele, 75, went 59 for 194, a .304 average; and Danny "Pigpen" Price, 78, went 53 for 212, a .250 average. Byars and Price tied for the most RBI among the super-seniors with 37.
Way to go, TOTS! And now it is on to 2024!
Great season with the guys getting in 130 games for the year. This was despite the need to move to Palo Verde Park while Udall received a much needed turf upgrade.
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