Hitting a baseball blindfolded
Beep Baseball is fun and exciting adaptation of America's pastime
Not to brag, but I hit a softball last week while blindfolded during each of my three at-bats. It has been at least 20 years since I took a swing in a batter’s box.
Turning those contacts into acutal hits was a different thing. I never made it to first base because I literally couldn’t find it. That’s another reminder of how difficult it is to play Beep Baseball.
The event was part of a celebrity exhibition hosted by NewView Oklahoma that included Democratic governor candidate Cindi Munson, Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Canaan Duncan, former Oklahoma State University basketball player Marcus Dove and Channel 2 KJRH Sports Anchor Dan Lindblad.
Beep Baseball is played just how it sounds. A ball that is slightly larger than a regular softball beeps as it’s pitched, hit and thrown. The bases have a different beeping tone to serve as a guide to players.
The Lookouts is Oklahoma’s team sponsored by the nonprofit NewView Oklahoma, which provides more than 7,000 services a year to blind and low-vision Oklahomans. Those services include eye exams, adaptive sports and services related to daily life, mobility, enrichment and veterans. Those programs serve people across all 77 Oklahoma counties.
In Beep Baseball, fielders are blindfolded to ensure an equal playing ground between players of partial and total vision loss. Only the pitcher and catcher are sighted to help batters make consistent contact.
The Lookouts have an edge with pitcher Tim Hibner, who was put into the National Beep Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. Between Hibner and head coach Mark Ivy, it’s no wonder the team is quickly making a name for itself.
When I got up to the plate, the pitcher gave directions where to stand, counted off to the pitch and told me when to swing. Most of the time, batters missed. It is still hard to connect even with specific, real-time instructions.
But when that contact is made, it’s a beautiful sound. Only after feeling that solid connection with the bat and hearing a simultaneous “crack” sound did I know to run. Then came the hard part of finding a base.
The crowd is told not to celebrate and cheer like in usual games. The players need silence to hear the ball and bases.
The bases are tall cylinders that emit a beeping noise. I felt like I was running (well, slowish speed walking) into an empty field. After being called out, I took off the blindfold. I was never close to a base.
When it came to fielding, forget about it. None of us could stop a simple grounder. The Lookouts would win a game against us with just their defense.
The Lookouts formed in 2023 through NewView Oklahoma. Since then, the ball team has only gotten better each year.
In the first year, the Lookouts finished 15th at the Beep Baseball World Series and improved to 12th the following season. Last year, they finished the season 5-4 and 6th at the world series.
This past week, NewView Oklahoma hosted the Sooner State Classic Beep Ball tournament in Tulsa at the Mohawk Sports Complex, 3500 E. 56th St. North. Teams came from as far as Austin, Chicago and New Orleans. The Lookouts will be headed to Chicago in August for the world series.
The little time spent blindfolded on the field helped in gaining an appreciation for the athleticisim required for the game. It was fun to play and brought out the competitive spirit in all of us. Even without that experience, watching Beep Baseball is a good way to pass an afternoon.
With the way the Lookouts are improving, expect to hear even more about them in years to come.