By Allison Douglas
The numbers helped members of the Long Island Bombers, co-founded by Rockville Centre resident Ted Fass, become aware of where each player was on the field. Moments later, these talented, legally blind athletes started a highly competitive game of Beep Baseball against a team from Temple Hillel of North Woodmere. In last Sunday's game, played at the Rockville Centre Recreation Center baseball field, the Temple Hillel team batted blindfolded, but played the field without blindfolds. In a spirited contest, the Bombers prevailed by a score of 12-3.
The creation of Beep Baseball in the 1960s created opportunities for legally blind athletes to play a modified version of the game. "Our mission is to provide visually impaired athletes with the opportunity to play the game while educating others about blindness and the abilities which lie within all of us," said Ted Fass of Rockville Centre, executive director of the Bombers.
The team, founded in 1997, requires that its members be legally blind. Other teams, however, allow the players to wear blindfolds if their vision is only partially impaired.
"I think it's great," said Howard Rebenstock of North Woodmere, vice president of the Men's Club at Temple Hillel, about playing the Bombers. "We've played them a few times. I think they're really good. They always win, but we try really hard. The guys have a great time doing it."
Other athletes on the Temple Hillel squad include Vinny Aquino of West Hempstead, Keith Drayer and his son Joel of North Woodmere and Mike Oshinsky of North Woodmere. Keith Drayer's reaction to his son's participation in the event was that "he's more aware of different disabled people playing games and enjoying leisure and recreation like anybody."
A Beep Baseball game is six innings long. Although some of the game's rules are similar to traditional baseball, Beep Baseball has many unique ones. According to the rules posted on the Bombers' Web site, there's no second base. First and third bases are made of four-foot padded cylinders, and there are speakers 100 feet apart. In the interest of preventing collisions, players don't run to different bases. When a batter hits the ball, one of the bases is randomly activated with a buzzing sound, and the batter must run to whichever base is making the sound. If the batter gets to the base before the ball is fielded, the batter scores a run. If the defense gets possession of the baseball before the batter touches the base, the batter is out.
The batter is allowed four strikes and only one ball. Each team has a pitcher and catcher who are not visually impaired. Even though the ball has a beeping sound, the pitcher must say "ready" before each pitch, and "pitch" or "ball" when the ball is released. The batter tries to hit the ball by swinging a split second after the pitcher makes his final sound.
The defensive team out on the field numbers just six players. Most teams use a numbering system for each position. The first baseman is 1, the right fielder is 2, the middle fielder is 3, the left fielder is 4, the third baseman is 5 and the back fielder is 6. There is a spotter on either side of the field who is allowed to call out one number in the direction the ball is going.
The Bombers, who are quite adept at hitting the ball, start practicing indoors in January, even though their 10-game season doesn't begin until June. They have played teams from the New York Jets and the Islanders - neither of which has ever defeated the Bombers.
Throughout the season, the Bombers prepare for the National Beep Baseball Association World Series, which was held in Houston this year. The team didn't win, but made it to the semifinals. "The team has had a great season, and I'm completely inspired by the players' devotion and dedication," said Lloyd Tepper, a volunteer coach.
Many of the players weren't born blind, and developed a love of the sport when they were younger. "This is the closest thing to feeling like I'm playing baseball," Fass said. "The first time I played, I thought I was back in Little League."
Roni Mathew of Elmont, a member of the Bombers, said, "It's a great opportunity to meet different people with vision impairment as well as an opportunity to educate the public and even ourselves about the abilities and dreams people can have regardless of disability."
The Bombers' pitcher, James Sciortino of Franklin Square, summed up the value of Beep Baseball by saying, "The game shows the ability rather than the disability. It gives these athletes a chance to play in a truly competitive sport. It's real competition!"
Photos by Rebecca Lopatin/Herald
Comments about this story? JLipton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
