Clayton Koff
Staff Writer
Until they talk to author David Wanczyk, people don’t typically hear the words “blind baseball.”
The lifelong baseball fan and non-fiction writer, who came to ISU last week for several literary events, quickly clued them in.
Beep baseball is a game that can be played by the visually impaired. The sport gets its name from a beeping modified softball, which allows players to locate, catch and throw it on the field.
Wanczyk introduced the game to many in the ISU community during several events centered on his book “Beep: Inside the Unseen World of Baseball for the Blind.” The events were hosted by the Department of English and Philosophy and the student literary magazine Black Rock & Sage.
One event, held Nov. 7 at the Bengal Cafe, was a public reading, where the author told the story of his inspiration for the book, explained what beep baseball is and discussed his own experience playing the sport.
In 2012, on his way to Pocatello from Ohio, Wanczyk took a quick detour to Iowa to watch the world series of beep baseball. The sport completely enthralled him.
Immediately following the event, Wanczyk knew he had to write about it.
Originally, it was going to be an article, but the project eventually turned into a full-blown novel.
“The very first thing I experienced when writing this book is that writing a book is hard,” Wanczyk said. “I learned a lot about myself in the process.”
Wanczyk conducted hands-on research for the project, including playing beep baseball.
In the sport, each team consists of six players. Unlike regular baseball, however, the pitcher and batter are on the same team. They coordinate with one another to hit the ball and retrieve it.
In regular baseball, there are four bases. But this is not the case in beep baseball. Instead, the batter-runner tries to make it to two five-foot-tall buzzing bases before the buzzing ball is secured by the opposing team. This is how points are scored.
Wanczyk explained how the players bring their social lives onto the field.
The sport, as well as Wanczyk’s book, are about more than being able to play despite a physical disability.
Beep baseball revolves around a need to belong, to test skills and push limits, and even talk some well-earned smack.
For some players, it was the very first opportunity to be on a team. One player, at the age of 40, said beep baseball allowed him to be a star.
“At first, I thought I was only after the next story, and I was not willing to report on some things because I thought I didn’t have the authority to make declarations about people,” Wanczyk said of writing the book. “I owed these people the truth. I had to put it all out there without watering it down.”
