The Tucson Old Timers changing of the guard

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

The following story primarily focuses on the monthly batting and pitching statistics of the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers for May 2025.

 The TOTS play three days a week at Udall Park, on the baseball field just south of the Senior Center.

Fans come and go. They find their way into the stands and, at times, cheer on all the players on the field who are between the ages of 61 and 80.

The players come and go, too, and it has been that way since the amateur organization began playing baseball in 1968.

There is always a changing of the guard, so to speak, as the young 60-somethings join the club, while older players, 80-and-over, hang up their spikes and do other things like umpiring, watching the proceedings, or in some cases, spend more hours at the local coffee shop.

Case in point: One of the youngest players, Angel Durazo, had a birthday celebration last year; he turned 60, and this year, he joined the TOTS and is now 61 years old. He's a Dodger fan first and now a TOTS fan and player. He's so good, too. He hits to all fields.

In short, he hits where the ball is pitched, and he doesn't just tap the ball somewhere.; he smashes it.

In May, Durazo played in just five of the 12 games and went 17 for 21, a blistering .810 batting average with 16 RBI. He's a quiet man who makes a lot of noise with the lumber he carries to the plate.

In short, Durazo is the TOTS future for the next 20 years.

At the other end of the spectrum is Danny 'Pigpen' Price, who is closing in on two decades with the TOTS. He turns 80 on July 2 and currently is the oldest regular who takes the field every game, rain or shine.

Bless his heart, we do have an 87-year-old, Ted Roberts, who serves as the club's scorekeeper and announcer.

You can hear the voice of  Roberts as soon as he closes his car door and heads for the dugout. He grabs the scorebook and prepares for the game, which will last anywhere from two to three hours, depending on the pitchers and their ability to stay in the strike zone.  The TOTS do this every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday -- year-round.

Returning to Price, he has tried to retire more than once. "I just can't give it up. My teammates will just have to spread my ashes out there somewhere between second and third. Not in right field, though. I'm still trying to hang in the infield at my age, but I do venture out there from time to time. I guess it's inevitable that I will end up out there. It's just a long way to pee. I call it the West Pasture.

Price pulled a hammy 10 days ago and ended up playing in just eight games. He went 6 for 25, batted .240, and actually doubled in his second-to-last at-bat. He pulled the hammy on his next at-bat and was 'thrown out by one of those 60-year-olds.'

The top dog for the month goes, once again, to Randy Livingston, 67, who went 24 for 35, a .686 batting average, and was third in RBI with 12. Tim Tolson led the team in RBI with 18 and also posted a .488 batting average, going 20-for-41. The newcomer, the young stud Durazo, was second RBI with 16.

John Beady, 64, played in nine games and went 20 for 30, a .667 average, while newcomer Dan Gruniesen went 20 for 39 (.513), Joe Opocensky went 18 for 41 (.439), and David Musavi went 15 for 30 (.500) and hit an inside-the-park home run. Bob Long went 14 for 35, and Mike Dawson went 14 for 34.

As for the super seniors (75 and over), Jerry Callen led the way with an 11-for-37 effort, David Byars went 6-for-26, and Price went 6-for-25.

On the mound, 11 pitchers toed the rubber. Livingston won three games and lost two; Opocensky finished the month with a 3-1 record and nine strikeouts, while Dawson won two and lost one.

As a club, the TOTS batted .394 with 282 hits in 716 at-bats.

Way to go, TOTS! We're now in June and the beginning of the hot months.

Photos: the birthday boy, Durazo, and Pigpen Price...and at the bottom: Livingston, Tolson, and Beady.