Diamondbacks on top of NL West!

I go away for five days on a mini-vacation to Colorado and what happens?

The Arizona Diamondbacks come up with six in a row and are, at this moment, two innings away (if they hold on to their commanding, 7th-inning 15-4 lead over the Florida Marlins) from No. 7 and are just six outs away from continuing to lead the National League West Division by a half a game over the San Francisco Giants.

Way to go Diamondbacks!

Super Seniors to lock horns at Udall Park

The Tucson Aces will play host to the Old Pueblo Baseball Club tomorrow morning at Udall Park.

Both rosters include players who are 60-and-over and a few who are 70-and-over. The starting pitchers -- Ron Petersen for the Aces and Doug Mullins for the OP Club -- are both 65 and can throw the old cowhide at speeds close to their age! I, of course, as a member of the Aces, will return to the ball field, after a two-month layoff. I hope to get the bat on the ball tomorrow. I'm a little rusty, but I'm looking forward to playing, once again, with my teammates and against many of my friends on the OP team (many of them are former Men's Senior Baseball League 2010 World Series teammates). It should be fun. I'll post the results tomorrow afternoon.

Super Senior Baseball Update: The Tucson Aces and the Old Pueblo Club finish in a 12-12 tie today at Tucson Udall Park. I had an okay day at third base with three tough plays and ended up pitching the final four innings, allowing four unearned runs, with a strike out, a couple of walks and one hit batsman. Not too bad for my first week back. Knees hurt a little, but I'm ready for the rest of the week with games Wednesday and Friday with the TOTS.

Next Aces' game: June 7, against the Arizona Rattlers at Mission Manor.

Wildcats get to play some more baseball...

The University of Arizona women's softball team couldn't make it out of the Super Regionals, losing on Saturday at home to Oklahoma, so it looks like we can set our sights on the Wildcats' baseball team and see what they can do in the postseason as they head for College Station, Texas on Friday to take on Seton Hall. Game time is set for 12:35 p.m. (Central Time Zone).

 The Wildcats will go in as the No. 2 seed, while Seton Hall has earned the No. 3 seed. Texas A and M, the host team, goes into the regional as the top seed, while No. 4 seeded Wright State will be the Aggies opening-round opponent.

The regional is a double-elimination format, so GO CATS!

I'm not the youngest TOT anymore...

As a proud member of the Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) Baseball team, it has occurred to me that I'm not the "Rookie" on the ball club anymore.

The current roster list 12 players with a birth date later than mine! My goodness, wasn't it just the other day, when I joined the club (the World's Oldest Baseball Team in the country), in April of 2008, at just 62 years of age? I was born in 1945, gonna hit 66 in five weeks, and there are two guys on the active roster born in 1949 and two more teammates born in the 50s! (well, actually, 1950).

The oldest TOT is 85-year-old Floyd Lance,a member of the club since 1999, while Chuck Sabalos, a recently retired Tucson Superior Court Judge, shares rookie honors with Lloyd Barzell.

Lance was born on September 6, 1925, Sabalos, March 5, 1950 and Barzell entered this world on August 28, 1950.

The TOTS, with 52 active members (plus 13 Honorary members) play on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Tucson Udall Park. An off-shoot of the TOTS are the Tucson Aces, which play on Tuesdays against two senior-circuit teams from the south side of town, the Old Pueblo Club and the Arizona Rattlers.

I think I'm ready for baseball...

I've been out of action, away from the playing field, so to speak, for the last two months. See previous post: March 30, 2011 -- (Back on the DL, again).

I've dropped nine pounds, which is a good thing...I guess. The baseball injury and life in general has somehow helped to whittle away the flab around the middle. I'm back to my collegiate-playing days (40-some years ago) when I was 165 pounds, soaking wet. I plan to return to the senior circuit and catch up with my teammates at Tucson Udall Park on the 1st of June.

It's hard to stay away from the game. Setting still... and leaving my glove and bat bag in the garage to gather nothing but dust, along with the rest of the junk, is not an option.

 Let's play ball!

I can't believe this Tuba City kid...

His name is Billy Orman, a high school senior from Tuba City.

This weekend at the state championships at Mesa Community College, Orman ran the 1600 meters in 4 minutes, 6.75 seconds, just missing the state record (set in 1983 by Jeff Cannada, 4 minutes, 6.44 seconds) and then finished off that incredible performance by shattering the state record in the 3200 meters with an unbelievable time of eight minutes, 48.63 seconds. The best high school two-mile time in the country this year.

What a future this kid has!

Indians still on top...

In a previous post, dated May 1, I discussed the fact that the Cleveland Indians and the Colorado Rockies were leading the way in their respective major league divisions, emphasizing what a World Series it would be if those two teams made it all the way to October.

Since then, the Rockies have dropped out of first place in the National League West, but the Indians are still rolling along in the American League with 25 wins and 13 losses -- a major-league best .658 won-loss percentage.

In the NL standings, it's the Philadelphia Phillies sitting atop the leaderboard with a 25-15 mark, just 33 percentage points behind the Indians for the best record in baseball. I expected the Phillies to do well this year, but the Indians, what's up with them?

Cleveland is 15-4 at home so far this season! But, it is a long way to October. We are barely a quarter of the way through the 2011 season, so let's check back on those surprising Indians in mid June and see if they're still sitting on top of the mountain.