Thunder Tim rolls in 2024

Thunder Tim Tolson lived up to his nickname in 2024, as the hard-hitting lefty led the way in almost every offensive category for the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers.

Tolson played in 115 games and batted 365 times while maintaining a .550 batting average with 203 hits. He also led the TOTS in runs-batted-in with 143.

Joe Opocensky, Jon Beady, and Randy Livingston were also tough outs in 2024.

Opocensky played in 106 games and batted .560 with 190 hits in 339 official at-bats. He scored 95 runs and collected 115 RBI, while Beady led the club in home runs (7) and runs scored (120) while maintaining a .568 batting average with 155 hits in 268 at-bats. Livingston led the club in doubles with 36 while finishing third in hits with 153 in just 252 at-bats for a hefty .607 batting average. 

Livingston also led the TOTS pitching staff with a  24-19 record. He struck out 107 batters, walked 100 in 308 innings, and pitched in 46 games.

For the super seniors (players over the age of 75), David Byars led the way in 2024 with 117 hits in 341 at-bats, a .343 average in 111 games.

 

Way to go, TOTS!

And now it's on to 2025...

Tucson Old Timers Baseball
Final 2024 Stats after 123 games
FIRST	LAST	GAMES	AB	RUN	HIT	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SAC	HBP	AVG	OBP	SLG
Arnie	White	36	90	6	11	0	0	0	5	7	0	0	0.122	0.186	0.122
Bill	Mishler	86	49	8	7	0	0	0	6	8	2	1	0.143	0.276	0.143
Bob	Daliege	101	172	35	65	1	0	0	23	6	0	0	0.378	0.399	0.384
Bob	Lockwood	13	35	5	7	0	0	0	6	1	0	0	0.200	0.222	0.200
Bob	Royer	30+	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bobby	Long	88	248	52	94	12	0	0	47	20	1	6	0.379	0.438	0.427
Brack	Whitaker	108	277	20	34	0	0	0	14	8	0	1	0.123	0.150	0.123
Carl	Schwanbeck	55	14	1	3	0	0	0	1	5	0	0	0.214	0.421	0.214
Danny	Price	84	231	16	59	0	0	0	28	6	3	2	0.255	0.280	0.255
Dave	Byars	111	341	30	117	4	0	0	78	11	0	0	0.343	0.364	0.355
Dave	Musavi	4	11	3	4	1	0	0	1	2	0	0	0.364	0.462	0.455
Dennis	Crowley	43	118	23	49	0	0	0	17	10	0	0	0.415	0.461	0.415
Ernesto	Escala	68	196	28	97	7	0	0	72	12	0	0	0.495	0.524	0.531
Gary	Cuttler	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!
Glen	Vann	20	60	15	30	2	0	0	21	4	0	0	0.500	0.531	0.533
Gregg	McKeegan	3	8	1	3	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.375	0.444	0.500
Guy	French	57	157	43	55	4	0	0	19	20	1	0	0.350	0.424	0.376
Herb	McReynolds	30	73	12	24	1	0	0	12	11	2	0	0.329	0.417	0.342
J. B.	Bulawin	90	279	61	113	13	0	0	37	13	0	0	0.405	0.432	0.452
Jerry	Callen	95	243	23	51	0	0	0	28	19	0	0	0.210	0.267	0.210
Jesse	Ochoa	79	210	20	70	0	0	0	31	16	0	1	0.333	0.383	0.333
Jimmy	Kinion	25	70	7	19	0	0	0	15	2	0	0	0.271	0.292	0.271
Joe	Opocensky	106	339	95	190	28	0	0	115	18	1	4	0.560	0.587	0.643
John	Cooke	24	64	24	29	2	0	0	7	7	0	0	0.453	0.507	0.484
John	Jarboe	5	18	4	7	2	0	0	3	0	0	0	0.389	0.389	0.500
John	Mathews	67	183	53	92	13	0	0	61	20	1	1	0.503	0.554	0.574
John	Misiaszek	46	138	24	47	4	0	0	27	9	1	0	0.341	0.381	0.370
Jon	Beady	105	268	120	155	33	3	7	91	46	3	6	0.578	0.647	0.802
Ken	Nebesny	101	269	46	95	0	0	0	50	25	0	0	0.353	0.408	0.353
Mark	Walton	4	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0.000	0.100	0.000
Mark	Rupert	62	100	19	29	0	0	0	13	7	0	0	0.290	0.336	0.290
Marty	Pelger	65	213	65	94	10	0	0	34	8	0	0	0.441	0.462	0.488
Mike	Dawson	90	243	79	104	12	0	0	43	17	0	2	0.428	0.469	0.477
Mike	Steele	93	197	44	68	4	0	0	18	21	3	1	0.345	0.411	0.365
Pete	Maldonado	56	49	11	6	0	0	0	1	6	1	0	0.122	0.218	0.122
Pete	Peters	100	21	5	3	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0.143	0.217	0.143
Phil	Ahern	59	193	47	85	13	0	0	30	8	0	0	0.440	0.463	0.508
Randy	Livingston	82	252	113	153	36	0	0	72	16	4	0	0.607	0.631	0.750
Reed	Palmer	63	169	36	92	19	1	1	88	34	2	1	0.544	0.623	0.686
Rick	Bitzer	28	75	8	15	0	0	0	12	8	0	0	0.200	0.277	0.200
Roger	Beebe	48	137	27	36	2	0	0	7	10	0	0	0.263	0.313	0.277
Ron	Ryan	49	147	18	60	5	0	0	35	4	1	1	0.408	0.428	0.442
Sam	Dean	58	185	45	89	7	0	0	37	8	0	2	0.481	0.508	0.519
Spiro	Roberts	16	36	7	17	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0.472	0.472	0.472
Steve	Karthas	38	96	7	28	0	0	0	9	8	0	0	0.292	0.346	0.292
Steve	Parks	99	203	17	41	0	0	0	18	25	3	2	0.202	0.296	0.202
Ted	Roberts	105	148	7	21	1	0	0	14	14	2	0	0.142	0.216	0.149
Tim	Tolson	115	369	86	203	26	0	0	143	19	0	3	0.550	0.575	0.621
Jacob	Callen	3	9	1	4	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.444	0.444	0.778
Zack	Callen	5	13	4	7	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0.538	0.538	0.769
	TOTs TOTALS:		7025	1421	2682	264	5	9	1398	523	32	34	0.382	0.427	0.425
			AB	RUN	HIT	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SAC	HBP	AVG	OBP	SLG
Tucson Old Timers Baseball
December 2024 Pitching Statistics
FIRST	LAST	Games		INN	RUNS	HITS	SO	BB	W	L	S		RA/7	BAA	WHIP
Bob	Daliege	32		177	153	277	30	92	12	14	0		6.1	0.343	2.08
Ernesto	Escala	17		91	73	132	26	57	4	12	0		5.6	0.326	2.08
Danny	Price	1		3	6	5	1	6	0	1	0
Dennis	Crowley	1		1	3	0	1	5	0	0	0		21.0	0.000	5.00
Mark	Rupert	8		44	52	84	10	28	1	4	0		8.3	0.389	2.55
Glen	Vann	14		67	46	70	34	27	8	3	0		4.8	0.258	1.45
Jerry	Callen	2		11	17	19	1	4	0	1	0		10.8	0.365	2.09
Joe	Opocensky	42		268	253	483	71	65	18	21	0		6.6	0.375	2.04
John	Mathews	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!
Jon	Beady	15		63	45	83	39	19	5	5	0		5.0	0.305	1.62
Martin	Pelger	22		103	95	179	23	28	8	6	1		6.5	0.367	2.01
Mike	Dawson	34		214	196	402	52	25	13	20	0		6.4	0.385	2.00
Pete	Maldonado	16		96	67	168	14	18	7	4	0		4.9	0.368	1.94
Randy	Livingston	46		308	259	446	107	100	24	19	0		5.9	0.326	1.77
Reed	Palmer	25		161	130	275	53	26	15	5	0		5.7	0.363	1.87
	++			1607	1395	2623	462	500	115	115	1		6.1	0.352	1.94
				INN	RUNS	HITS	SO	BB	W	L	S		RA/7	BAA	WHIP
RA/7 =(RUNS/INN)*7
BAA =HITS/((INN*3)+(HITS)
WHIP =(HITS+BB)/INN

  

Rippin' Reed Palmer closes out the 2024 season with the top TOTS' stats in December

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Rippin' Reed Palmer closed out the Tucson Old Timers 2024 season as the top hitter and pitcher during the month of December.

Palmer, 68, played in just eight games but was a blistering 17 for 22 for a .773 batting average. Reed hit a homer, had four doubles, and knocked in the most runs with 17.

Palmer (photo) was a perfect 4-0 on the mound in 27 innings of work with nine strikeouts.

Other notables included David Byars with 16 hits in 32 trips to the plate, a .500 average, while Martin Pegler went 15 for 24 (.625) and led the club in runs scored with 10, and Tim Tolson went 15 for 33 (.455).

The TOTS combined 219 hits in 597 at-bats and a club batting average of .357.

Way to go, TOTS! On to 2025!

Note: The year-end stats should be out soon. 

Byars leads TOTS super seniors in November

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

David Byars turns 77 on December 11 and, in a few weeks, will complete his ninth season with the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers. In November, Byars led the TOTS super seniors (players over 75) with 14 hits in 34 at-bats, a .412 batting average. He also finished second in RBI with 14.

In 2017, Byars, then 68, ran into TOTS regular Danny "Pigpen" Price, 70, at a coffee shop (Dunkin' Donuts, to be exact). The conversation between the two baseball aficionados eventually led to Byars becoming a TOT.

Fast-forward to December 2024, and Byars and Price, now 79, are still teammates and swing the lumber at Udall Park every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

"I was initially reluctant at first (meeting with Price)," said Byars. "But the more I thought about playing again, the more I wanted to join the TOTS.  I'm glad I did. It's such a great organization and a great group of guys."

Byars, a star high school baseball player at Marana High School and Tucson High School in the mid-1960s, has settled in as a regular and a super senior with the TOTS. Jokingly, Byars adds, "I can't quit now. As long as Pigpen continues to play, I'll hang in there too."

Heading into the final few games of his ninth season, Byars has collected 682 hits and has knocked in close to 400 runs. 

As for the 'younger dudes' in November, Tim Tolson, 72, and Jon Beady, 63, were the top hitters. Tolson went 19 for 34 and led in RBI with 16, while Beady went 18 for 29, with one homer and a hefty .621 batting average.

Reed Palmer, 68, led the TOTS pitching staff with a 3-0 record. Mike Dawson was the workhorse on the mound for the month with 37 innings, while Randy Livingston was the strikeout king with 13 K's.

Way to go, TOTS!

Photos: Byars, now a nine-year veteran of the TOTS

 

 

A painful ending at Arizona Stadium

 Arizona Wildcats Football

A painful loss at Arizona Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Most of the 40,000 or so Wildcat fans were gone before the final seconds ticked away, leaving the Arizona State fans to celebrate their team's 49-7 win.

I felt sorry for the Arizona players, especially the many Wildcats, who didn't even suit up due to season-ending injuries that occurred weeks ago.

A 4-8 season! My goodness!

I'm so tired of hearing the word "Portal." I'm frustrated with the school's administration, the head coach, the coaching staff, and college sports in general.

It all comes down to money. Forget the following season, the season after, and the season after. This will not be a quick fix for Arizona; everyone knows it!

I'm sorry, Wildcats!

I love my Arizona Wildcats. I've supported the team and the school for over 75 years. I remember the games we won and the games we lost.

And I'll remember what happened on Saturday when the Sun Devil player stuck a pitchfork into Block A at Arizona Stadium.