Beady top TOTS' hitter in August

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Jon Beady continues to be the top hitter on the Tucson Old Timers this summer.

Beady, 64, went 28 for 37 in August, led the club in runs scored with 21, and in RBI with 22 while maintaining a .757 batting average.

Two players collected 20 hits -- Randy Livingston (20 for 30) and Joe Opocensky (20 for 32), while Angel Durazo finished fourth with 19 hits in 32 official trips to the plate.

On the mound, Glen Vann went 2-1 and led the club in strikeouts with 10.

The TOTS collected 281 hits for the month for a club batting of .418. Forty members saw action.

Photo: Beady

  

Georgetown Orioles draw Puerto Rico in opening-game of Moonlight Graham Classic

 From the desk of Dan Price

My trip to the Field of Dreams is just two weeks away.

For this 80-year-old baseball historian, the 50-and-over Moonlight Classic to be held in Dyersville, Iowa, on September 5-7 is simply a dream come true for yours truly, as I will be a member of the Georgetown, California Orioles -- one of 16 teams participating in the event.

As an added bonus, the Orioles will play their opening game against RC21, a team from Puerto Rico, whose players will wear their jerseys, honoring the great Roberto Clemente. The Orioles' first game will be held in downtown Dyersville at the home field of the local high school team, Beckman Catholic, and the Dyersville Whitehawks, a semi-pro team.

The opener is slated for 8 a.m., followed at 2 p.m. with another seeding game, but what makes Day 1 complete for this historian and my Orioles' teammates is the fact that the second game will be played at the original Field of Dreams, the field used in the 1989 film that starred Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, Burt Lancaster and James Earl Jones.

Yes, the Orioles were selected in a pre-tourney lottery to play at the famous field against a team called the East Coast Cardinals.

The third-round opponents will be announced after all seeding games are completed on Friday, September 5, as the weekend games then turn into single-elimination contests.

Along with my third-base coaching job with the Orioles, I hope to post stories on my blog daily about my stay in downtown Dyersville with my two sons, Michael, 60, and Dan, 57, as I hang out with the locals searching for, like I always do, characters to write about.

It should be fun!

 

Brewers pulling away with best record in baseball

Major League Baseball

The Milwaukee Brewers are thirty games over .500 and own the best record in baseball at 74-44. The Brewers are 6 1/2 games ahead of the Chicago Cubs (67-50) in the NL Central and riding a 10-game winning streak.

Beady edges Harding, Livingston for the most TOTS' hits in July

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Jon Beady edged Doug Harding and Randy Livingston for the most hits in July as the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers closed out the hot month with nine games in the books. Beady went 17 for 25, scored the most runs (14), the most doubles (6), triples (3), and tied for the most RBI with 13, while maintaining a hefty .680 batting average.

Harding went 16 for 27 (.593), while Livingston went 14 for 29 (.483). Other top hitters for the month included Angel Durazo, 11 for 16 and an inside-the-park home run; Dan Gruniesen, 11 for 19; J.B. Bulawin, 11 for 18; Mike Dawson, 10 for 29; Joe Opocensky, 13 for 25; and Tim Tolson, 12 for 23, who also tied Beady for the most RBI.

Thirty players braved the hot temperatures during the month and, as a club, collected 205 hits in 487 official at-bats for a .421 average. Leading the super seniors (76-and-over) were Steve Karthas, who went 8 for 13, a .615 average,  Danny Pigpen Price, who went 6 for 19, a .316 average, and Carl Schwanbeck, who went 4 for 23, a .174 average.

On the mound, Glen Vann posted a 2-0 record, while Opocensky was 3-0. Nine pitchers toed the rubber in July, with Dawson logging the most innings (21). Livingston and Beady tied for the most strikeouts (7).

Way to go, TOTS! 

Blue Jays own best record in baseball at 63-43

 Major League Baseball

With August just days away, it's the Toronto Blue Jays that find themselves as the top dog in Major League Baseball with a 63-43 record and winners of eight of their last ten games. The Blue Jays are leading the AL East and hold a 5/ 1/2 game lead over the New York Yankees (57-48) and 6 1/2 over Boston (57-50).

Detroit (61-46) and Houston (60-46) are the other AL leaders, while the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers are tied for the best records in the NL Central with identical 62-43 records.

Where are the LA Dodgers? Well, the Dodgers are still leading the NL West at 61-45, but are clinging to just a four-game lead over San Diego. The New York Mets (62-44) hold a 1 1/2-game lead in the NL East over Philadelphia.

The Arizona Diamondbacks (51-55) are in a tailspin and are reportedly looking to trade away their best players, with their sights now set on the 2026 season.  A scenario that has occurred before. The Colorado Rockies, with a 27-78 record, own the worst record in baseball.

The teams are heading for their final 56 regular-season games or so. Still time for a few surprises.

 

Tigers rule at all-star break

 Major League Baseball

The Detroit Tigers head into the all-star break with the best record in baseball, with a 59-38 record, just edging out the LA Dodgers at 58-39. The Dodgers have a comfortable 5.5-game lead in the NL West over San Diego and a six-game lead over San Francisco. The Tigers own an 11.5-game lead in the AL Central over Minnesota. 

It's a tight race in the AL East, with Toronto  (55-41) holding on to a two-game lead over the New York Yankees, with Boston just three games out. In the NL East, the Philadelphia Phillies (55-41) hold on to a half-game lead over the New York Mets, while the Chicago Cubs (57-39), in the NL Central, hold a one-game lead over Milwaukee.

Houston, in the AL West, maintains a five-game lead over Seattle with a 56-40 record.

The Brewers head into the break on a seven-game winning streak, while the Boston Red Sox have won 10 games in a row.

At the bottom of the barrel are the Colorado Rockies in the NL West with a dismal 22-74 record, while the Chicago White Sox own a 32-65 record in the AL Central.

Close to home, the Arizona Diamondbacks continue to struggle at 47-50 in the NL West, 11 games back of the Dodgers.

The home run leaders continue to be Seattle's Cal Raleigh with 38 homers, 35 by the Yankees' Aaron Judge, and 32 by Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers. Raleigh holds on to the RBI lead with 82, one more than Judge.

Pitchers Max Fried of the Yankees and Freddy Peralta of the Brewers are tied for the most wins at the break. Fried at 11-3 and Peralta at 11-4.

The Field of Dreams awaits...

 

Should I pack my bags and head for Dyersville, Iowa?

This aging baseball player wants to know. After all, I'm 80 years old and have been playing baseball for most of my life. Heck! I'm older than Moonlight Graham, for goodness' sake. Well, not really.

All my blog readers know how I can fly off the handle at times, but I'm being serious here. I'm ready to emerge from the cornfields in Dyersville, Iowa, in my TOTS uniform. The TOTS, of course, are the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers, an amateur baseball team of which I'm now one of the elder statesmen.

The TOTS have been around since 1968. The youngest player to pass through the turnstiles at one time or another is 60 years old. 

Maybe I'll pack just one suitcase and head for Dyersville with my glove in one hand and my baseball bat in the other, much like I did in the 1950s as a little boy when I headed off to the local park for at least a "catch" and maybe a game with the other kids in my Tucson neighborhood.

Of course, I lived in the desert. Back in the day, there was less cement in Tucson, more dirt, and nothing but cacti east of Swan Road. There were neighborhood ball fields back then with enough grass to allow for a lovely Sunday hop, but not a well-manicured emerald green ball field with a cornfield surrounding the outfield and beautiful two-story farmhouses in the distance.

No stranger ever came to me and said: 'Is this Iowa? 'Or asked. 'If this was heaven?' as a tumbleweed blew by, followed by a twister...I mean a dust devil.

I've officially been invited to coach third base for the California Orioles, a 50-and-over team managed by Fire Chief Glenn Brown from Georgetown, California, for a three-day tournament (Sept. 5-7) at the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa.

I'll be sending my teammates home from third en route to a tourney title, we hope, at the Moonlight Graham Classic.

Brown says he's glad to have this 'old man' aboard, and I'm certainly pumped for the chance to participate in the tourney in Dyersville. It's a dream come true for me, and I'll have my trusty old laptop along to document the action and all the festivities.

Brown was previously a Fire Chief in Mayer, Arizona, and a Deputy Fire Chief for the Gila River Fire Department in Chandler, Arizona. We both have played in our share of the Men's Senior Baseball League World Series, held every October in Phoenix, Arizona. If I'm lucky enough to play in Phoenix this October, it will mark my 18th season at the prestigious event.

Both of my sons, Michael (60) and Dan (57), are also flying into Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on September 4. We will rent a car, stay in downtown Dyersville for three days, and return home on September 8.

None of us has ever been to the Field of Dreams.

More to come in the coming weeks.

A look at the California Orioles roster and their ages: Glenn Brown, 63, Warren Stout, 52, Scott Hasson, 63, Jason Brown, 50, Adam Huehnergarth, 55, Gerry Mecca, 65, Kevin Simmons, 51, Lincoln Mikkelson, 51, John Mahalik, 54, Marc Luett, 51, Jim Vargas, 51, Ira Dorfman, 69, Andy Poestema, 59, Barry Olberding, 50, Shawn Onley, 50, Mark Robens, basecoach, and Dan Price, basecoach. 

Photos:(top) Dan Pigpen Price counting the days til he leaves for the Field of Dreams. Bottom images: Mike and I as members of a Tucson MSBL Orioles team 13 years ago, and below a photo of Dan and Mike.