The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-06-07
BLIND SCHOOL | TEACHES BOYS TO PLAY BALL
|iame Played By Sound
 Is introduced in Cleveland
BY CHARLES F. MCMAHON United Press Stan Correspondent

United Press Stan Correspondent)
 Cleveland, O., June - (U. P)- The sun was bright glare riding Thigh over the grandstand in old League park and shining down on fthe emerald green patch of the in- hheld with its brown outlined base Apaths. but the ball players saw none hof the radiance.
 They listened il1tently for the tiny tinkle of a little bell. There were no cheerS. just quiet intentness. Spec tators leaned forward hushed and with their ears straining.
 The pitcher in a blue Sateen shirt and cap drew back little unstead- lily and let go with the first pitch and the game began in darkness though the sun still sent down sharp, burning streaks of white- hess.
 All the players were blind.
 The ball, large soft ball with Q bell in it, rolled and bumped along the ground, ringing jerkily on its bath to the batter.
 Swings and Misses
 A small lad in a red shirt and cap to match was at bat. He cooked his head as he heard the ball, swung and missed. The bat flew out of his hands. He stood there and waited quietly. A man walked out, picked up the bat and placed him in the proper position at the plate.
 He hit the next pitch and the small crowd screamed shrilly. The lad scrambled down a three-foot rubber lattice toward first base.
 The fielders couldn't hear the bell because of the sudden pent-up shout of the crowd. It rolled be- tween two of them and stopped, its pelf silenced. An umpire retrieved it.
 The blind call this unique game sound baseball. It is played on a field B feet square. The nine play prs in the field kneel on a contin- nous pad three or four feet behind the baseline, an equal distance hpart, their arms spread out along the ground to keep the ball from going through.
 Pitcher Not Totally Blind
 Only the umpire and pitcher can Bes-the pitcher only partly. The pitcher throws to his own team, but after the ball is in play he is not permitted to touch it. The umpire Btands of to one side of home plate with his fingers on an electric con. trol board. By various buzzer sig nals and bells he indicates strikes, balls and base-hits.
 The batter and base-runner may advance only one base at a time. The bells tell the runner when to advance. The runner is out when a helder gets his hands on the ball hnd throws it between the runner hrd base toward which he is run- hing, or hits him with it. The bat Is regulation hockey stick.
 Young men and boys from the Ohio School for the Blind played fhe first blind baseball game here. Although the players had been practicing for only two months, they were remarkably accurate in locating the position of the ball and getting around the bases. Infre- huently runner would get of the baselire rubber track and had to be guided back,
 The game which was a choose &lp' one found the Reds defeating the Blues, ' to 2, in three innings. rhe Lions Club of Ohio sponsored the game and some of the members donned blindfolds and played the blind boys for one inning. They lost B to 0. The sightless lads also de- feated local high school track team, 2 to 0.