Baseball squad for the blind makes its home in Watertown

Watertown hosted a very special event with some very special people last Saturday. The Boston Renegades, a beepball team sponsored by the Association of Blind Citizens Inc., held an intra-squad game at Filippello Park, displaying the camaraderie, spirit and enthusiasm that you wish every organized team possessed.

  Audio slideshow: Baseball squad for the blind in Watertown

Beepball, a game created for the blind and visually impaired back in the 1960s, is similar to baseball and softball. Players attempt to hit a pitched ball and run to bases. However, the ball is unique. At $38 a ball, it would have to be.

“It is basically an oversized softball,” John Oliveira, the president of the Association of Blind Citizens and owner of the Renegades, said of the yellow-colored ball. “The stitches of the ball are broken and electronics are inserted into the ball, and then the ball is re-stitched.”

The balls contain a pin. Once it is removed, the beep ball emits a continuous sound. When the ball is hit, the bases, which contain a locater tone, become activated so that the blind player can hear the buzzing sound that occurs and run toward the base. There are two bases, one on the third-base side and one on the first-base side, each 100 feet away from home plate. The base for which the batter must run is chosen at random by the base operator, and should the batter reach base before the opposing fielders get possession of the ball, then it is a point for the offense.

If the ball is possessed before the runner reaches his base, an out is recorded. The bases are four-foot padded cylinders with speakers.

There are six position players on each team. The pitcher (for the Renegades, it is usually head coach Rob Weissman) and the catcher are sighted volunteers for the offensive team.

“This is because the object of the game is to allow the players to hit the ball,” Oliveira said. “And someone from your own team knows where the batter wants the ball.”

Similar to Little League, each game is six innings long (extra innings if necessary) with each team allowed three outs per inning. Each batter, though, gets four strikes and is allowed only one ball not to swing at. As difficult as it may appear, these individuals do a remarkable job making contact at the plate.

One of the main purposes of the National Beep Baseball Association is to educate the public regarding the abilities of the blind and visually impaired, and one can become very impressed with these athletes by watching a game.

“The support and encouragement from teammates also helps the players get better,” Oliveira said. “This really is a great game because it is the only team sport blind people can take part in. There are lots of individual sports like cross-country skiing, sailing and canoeing, but because beepball is a team game, the people learn a lot about character and a lot of great friendships are developed. We travel to a lot of places, and everyone gets to know each other and form team-building skills.”

When Oliveira was a kid at a child camp for the blind, he participated in beepball; years later, when he saw it being played at a company picnic, the president of the Blind Citizens Association came up with the idea to bring a team to Massachusetts. By 2001, he helped create the Boston Renegades.

Since becoming a squad in the NBBA, the Renegades have been improving year in and year out. Each year, a World Series tournament is held in a different state giving 16 beepball teams a chance to win the title. Beepball teams appear in such places as Chicago, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma City, Kansas, Cleveland and Indianapolis, to name a few, but the last three years, a team from Taiwan has captured the title.

Later this month, the Renegades will travel to Rochester, Minn., and attempt to earn their first championship. This season, the Renegades have played some quality ball, finishing with a 5-5 record.

“Our defense is getting stronger and our offense is getting better,” 25-year-old Renegade member Luis Marquez said during Saturday’s intra-squad game. “We have a chance at the World Series.”

Marquez lost his sight as a youngster when he was hit with a bat, but never let anything stop him from playing sports. Like all other members of this team, he goes all-out and is admired for his enthusiasm of the game. He first participated in beepball as soon as he could, and has been a valuable member of the Renegades for more than four years now.

“I liked this game right away,” he said. “It is really neat. I enjoy everything about this game, but you know, the best part is the feeling you get when you realized you have just hit the ball hard.”

Marquez was the first batter in the intra-squad game, and after barely missing his first three swings, connected mightily on his last attempt and darted toward the first-base cylinder before the defense possessed the ball, thus scoring the first point of the game.

Another player scoring a point for her team was KaeAnn Rausch, who hustled mightily down the first-base line just before the defense gained control. The Revere resident is one of two women on the team, and in years past has been the only female member. However, she is the first to point out that gender doesn’t matter on this team. It hasn’t in the six years she has been a part of the squad. 

“I just feel like one of the guys,” she said. “I love being on this team because the guys are just great people. Even the coaches (Watertown resident Bryan Grillo among them) are terrific.”

Rausch said another reason she loves the game is because of the challenge of learning to work together. She said this is the only game that allows her to be involved in a competitive sport.

“Every year I am picking up new skills,” she said. “But each year is always a lot of fun.”

One of the volunteers/coaches agrees that nearly everyone enjoys being a part of this team.

“Mostly everyone comes back,” said volunteer Nick Bobas, who also serves as the team’s hitting coach. “They wouldn’t if it didn’t mean a lot to them.”

Because it means a lot to the members of this team and because the sport costs $22,000 per season, there are many fundraisers held. On July 26 at Watertown’s Hibernian Hall, 295 Watertown St., the Renegades will sponsor a pizza party hoping to earn some money toward the team’s expenses. Another way the organization raises money is that for $5, they put blindfolds on sighted people and let them attempt to hit the beepball.

“It is very expensive to keep a team,” Oliveira said. “Traveling fees and hotel fees are high, and we usually spend about $1,200 on the balls alone.”

The Renegades, which began playing their home games in Cleveland Circle in Boston, have now made Filippello Field their home park and no doubt, once the people in Watertown get a glimpse of this squad, they will feel very fortunate to have them here.

The members of the Renegades include Darren Black, Joey Buizon, Larry Haile, Sengil Inkiala, Luis Marquez, Joe O’Neill, Joe Quintanilla, Kae Ann Rausch, Evan Silver, Dino Vasile, Tom Walsh, JJ Ward and Guy Zuccarello. 

The Association of Blind Citizens Inc., a membership organization of blind people, sponsors several innovative programs, including adaptive recreational programs, a national assistive technology fund, a national scholarship program, sponsors camp scholarships for blind children, funds production of Braille books, produces Internet programming for the blind community, develops accessible social and cultural events, and publishes a news letter.

For more information regarding the Boston Renegades, visit www.NBBA.org.