Beepbale gives blind baseball fun
http://www.triangletribune.com/index.php?src=news&srctype=detail&category=Sports&refno=2116
Published Wednesday, May 6, 2009 7:00 am
by Bonitta Best>
Ricky Scott might be considered a traitor to some Raleigh folks. Scott lives in Raleigh but plays in Durham. The right fielder is a member of the Durham Sluggers, a beepball team in Durham Parks & Recreation.
Beepball is baseball for the blind. Scott, the team captain, and the rest of the squad practice at Campus Hills Recreation Center every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
"The play and competition is great," said Scott who lost his eyesight at 11. "The camaraderie provides for interesting games."
Raleigh also has a beepball team called the Raleigh Rockets. The Rockets are the veterans of the two teams. Durham restarted its squad in 2005 after a 10-year hiatus. Raleigh has had a team for more than 20 years. The Rockets practice and play at Sanderford Road Park in Southeast Raleigh.
But experience means nothing when these two cross-city rivals meet. The Sluggers are the three-time defending beepball champions. And to make it even sweeter, the Rockets were the victims in last summer's 6-5 final win.
"They are our biggest rival, no doubt," Scott said. "We've had a whole year to do some trash talking."
Beep baseball says it all: The ball, which is twice the size and weight of a softball, beeps so the offense knows where to swing and the defense knows where to run. To score, a hitter must make it to first or third base - which makes a buzzing sound - before the defensive player fields the ball. (There is no second base or home plate.)
Beepball has three outs but four strikeouts, and seven players instead of nine, although the Sluggers play six. Only the pitcher and catcher are sighted players, which should be pretty obvious why, but everyone else must wear blindfolds since players have varying degrees of visual impairment.
As a sighted man, Rodriques Best had no use for baseball. After he lost his sight, the game became more appealing. "It's great sportsmanship," said Best (no relation) who's now in his third season. "We have a good time together, and it's a challenge."
Beepball is fun, athletic and even therapeutic, but it's also expensive.
The specialized equipment can cost hundreds of dollars: audio softballs cost $35 each and the bases that buzz are around $465 per set, according to the National Beep Baseball Association. That doesn't include travel and lodging costs for away games and tournaments, and entry fees.
Only four teams in N.C. participate - Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte and High Point - and one in Spartanburg, S.C. With the economy still in a nosedive and the state budget along with it, city funding is getting harder to come by.
"Beepball is very expensive," Christine Cummings, a Raleigh Parks & Recreation employee, said. "The bases and balls have to be custom made, and the people we used to purchase all the stuff from no longer makes them so finding the equipment is a challenge."
Raleigh is in elite company in that it has a visually impaired program within Parks & Rec that sponsors beepball and other such programs. But that doesn't mean it couldn't use a greenback or two.
But you're dead broke, you say. You couldn't buy a wad of bubble gum at a Family Dollar store. Well, after money, beepball's second biggest need is volunteers.
Upon my arrival at Campus Hills two weeks ago, the first thing someone asked was "Are you here to volunteer?" Sorry, the bugs and mosquitoes won't let me.
Dedicated volunteers are needed in all aspects of the game: pitchers, catchers, spotters, fundraising, chauffeurs, you name it.
You can see the Sluggers in a regular season game May 16 at 10 a.m. at Campus Hills or at the Rockets on May 30, and see what all the hoopla is about.
"People who come to our games don't see it as a disability, they just see people playing baseball," Scott said. "We need more teams and younger players."
And remember, only the players are visually impaired so you can still yell at the umpires.
