Closing in on the Century Award with my ball club

 

Old-timers baseball in 2026

Closing in on the Century Award with my ball club

What will 2026 bring to the table? Will my body hang in there and allow me to play another year of baseball? I'll start my 19th season as a member of the Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) Baseball Club, and probably my 75th season overall playing on one baseball diamond or another.

I was six years old when I first started playing organized baseball as a Little Leaguer. I'll be 81 in July/2026, but my early New Year's resolution is again to play smart. Less diving...less running, and, more importantly, I'll try to remember I'm an old guy. That's hard to do sometimes.

Once you take the field, step over the white line, and head for your position, we oldtimers forget about age and have one common purpose: make the play.

Yes, it is more of an adventure now. Those high-fly balls off an aluminum bat become harder and harder to camp under. Getting in front of a sizzling one-hopper becomes a 50-50 proposition. Throwing to a target more than sixty feet away seems futile at times. But there we are week after week, month after month, doing our best to make the play.

Hats off to the TOTS, the MSBL (Men's Senior Baseball League), and all the organizations that promote baseball for guys and gals in our senior years.

Photo:

At the end of 2024, I had finally reached 1,600 career hits with the TOTS. Getting to 1,700 hits might be too much to ask for. The hits no longer come in bunches. Legging out a slow roller is a thing of the past. Photo above was from two years ago. Funny how the years just fly be now.

G         AB         R         H         RBI         Career batting Average

1,343  4,230     739     1,601     894           .378

Tucson Old Timers win 2025 MSBL World Series title

 The way it went down...

The Tucson Old Timers began their run to the 2025 Men's Senior Baseball League World Series title in the 73-and-over division with a 12-9 opening-round win over the Southern Cal Dodgers. Joe Jimenez started on the mound for the TOTS and Pete Maldonado came on in relief and pitched the final two innings.

The TOTS won their second-round game with a 12-11 nail biter over the Fresno Grizzlies. Joe Opocensky pitched a complete game to lead the TOTS to a 2-0 record. Jim Sears reached on an error in the last inning and scored the game-winning run thanks to a double from Paul Rosthenhausler as the TOTS' fans were discovering early on who their hitting star for the week would be -- the guy with the longest last name.

The Tucson Old Timers made it 3-0  with a 21-0 thrashing of the Cal Vets. Arnold Mares went the distance in this one and everyone in the lineup contributed to the onslaught. By Day 4, it was evident one of the front-runners of the tourney were the TOTS, who then headed for Goodyear on Thursday for a battle with the Virgin Islands.

The Virgin Islands were a pesky bunch and held a 5-2 advantage early on but the TOTS rebounded from a slow start to win going away at 16-7. Rosthenhaulser continued his dominance at the plate with three more hits and Ernesto Escala added three hits to go along with a couple of key walks.

Joe Jimenez pitched seven gutsy inning for the win over the Virgin Islands as the TOTS sailed to the top of the standings as they awaited a showdown with the unbeaten LA Athletics, a National division team, in the final game of pool play. Win or lose the TOTS had already qualified for the playoffs on Saturday.

The TOTS played well but lost 5-1 to the Athletics, but moved on to the playoffs with a 4-1 record and a date Saturday morning with Red Deer, the team from Canada. The TOTS had lost to Red Deer in previous tounaments, but not this time as they won with a walk-off, 9-8, win. An opposite-field blooper by Bob Daliege fell in front of the Red Deer rightfielder, allowing Joe Jimenez to score from third and cap off a come-from-behind, four-run rally.

Joe Opocensky went the distance against Red Deer and key hits came from the usual suspects -- Ernesto Escala, Joe Jimenez, and, of course Paul Rosthenhausler, who held close to a .900 batting average heading into the finale.

The TOTS' fans in attendance went crazy but the best was yet to come. On Sunday at the Gene Autry Complex in Mesa, the TOTS took on Chicago Fire for the MSBL World Series title.

In the championship game, Arnold Mares pitched all nine innings and consecutive hits from Paul Rosthenhaulser, Joe Opocensky and Ernesto Escala gave the TOTS a 3-0 lead in the third inning. The TOTS added two more runs in the fifth to take a commanding lead. The Chicago Fire scored a run in the fifth inning and a lone run in the sixth.

With two outs in the seventh, a lazy pop fly to left field would end it and the Tucson Old Timers won their first-ever Men's Senior Baseball League World Series title.

Photos: The TOTS championship trophy and the team photo with the MSBL World Series championship banner. The TOTS: The winner of the 73-and-over division at the Men's Senior Baseball League World Series held Oct. 27-Nov. 2 in Phoenix. The TOTS played at some of the major league spring grounds, including Maryvale (home of the Milwaukee Brewers), Goodyear (home of the Cleveland Guardians and the Cincinnati Reds) and Salt River (home of The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies).