The advice for players in an upcoming ball tournament is simple: Keep your ear on the ball.
Still, teams of players with visual impairments have been training since early spring for the event, which uses a ball that emits beeping noises and bases that loudly buzz.
The 17th Annual Bolingbrook Lions Club Beep Baseball Tournament begins with an 8 a.m. first pitch Saturday. Four games are scheduled over the course of the weekend.
The game uses 16 inch softballs with noisemakers installed in them, as well as 4-foot tall cylinder bases that buzz loudly, making it possible for athletes with visual challenges to hit, run and play the field.
Richard Schultz, of Hickory Hills, says he will play where ever he is needed, but his favorite position is in the outfield. Why? “More freedom to move and a lot more ground to cover” said the 35-year-old.
Schultz, who has been blind since birth, has been playing for the Chicago Comets since 2007. Schultz describes himself as an athlete and said he wrestled while he was a student at Shepard High School in Palos Heights.
He has been practicing hard during spring training and is eager for this weekend’s tournament. Schultz, who has been playing for the Chicago Comets since 2007, said the entire Beep Baseball experience gives him “a thrill.”
“If I’m not doing something physical, there is an empty spot,” he said.
JT Herzog, who has been coaching the Chicago Comets since 2003, said Schultz’s reaction is typical of the 16 players on his team and likely the experience of the 350 or so players in the league.
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“I love this game and the players who play it,” Herzog said.
Aside from the noisy equipment, the game plays much like conventional baseball. Other modifications include using only first and third bases, fielding six players on defense and allowing four strikes per out. As players have varying degrees of impairment, most players are blindfolded, Herzog said. The pitcher and the catcher, both who are typically not visually impaired and who don’t wear blindfolds, are on the same team as the batter.
Bill Landram, of Joliet, is in his seventh season playing for the Chicago Comets. The opportunity to play Beep Baseball came, he said, during a “bad time” in his life. Landram, now 37, lost his sight when he was 19 as a result of a genetic mutation, he said.
Landram said he had been active in sports for most of his early years, and was searching for an outlet for his athletic ability. Landram’s wife, Laura, learned of an opportunity and soon Landram was in contact with Herzog and scheduled to begin batting practice.
“It’s all history from there,” Landram said.
Coach Herzog said his team, with players ranging in age from 14 to 58, practices for four hours every Saturday during the regular season. Players work to develop their listening and tracking skills, as well as “running with total abandon to get to the base on time.”
Herzog got involved with Beep Baseball with his son John, who has been blind since birth. Now an adult, John Herzog graduated from law school and is working as a product engineer.
About 130 athletes representing eight cities will play in this weekend’s tournament in Bolingbrook. Games are set for 8 and 11 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday at the Bolingbrook Recreation Aquatic Center, 200 Lindsey Lane.
Herzog said not only is the game fun to play, it’s fun to watch.
“I guarantee you will leave with a smile,” he said.