![]() Today, the World Series includes about 25 teams from the US, Canada and Taiwan.īeep baseball teams are open to all ages and genders, from kids, all the way up to seniors. A decade later, the National Beep Baseball Association was founded, and the first World Series was held. It was a pitcher pitching me the ball.Įthan: And it was really awesome just to experience hitting the ball and running the base and scoring and playing defense.Įthan quickly fell in love with the sport, and his new teammates were happy to have him.Įthan: My team was excited because I was a young, hungry, passionate athlete because I found an adaptive sport, and so they were excited to have me on their team.īeep Baseball was created in the mid sixties, when a telephone engineer designed the first beeping baseball. It was a modified version called Beep Baseball, a real competitive sport, with its own unique set of rules.Įthan: It was definitely exciting, because I was really swinging a bat hard as I can. The best part about it, I have a lot of brothers and sisters so we were always on the same team, so they'll say, "Ethan, ball on the right." And I can see light in color, so we always played in the morning when the sun was bright.Įthan: And so the white ball on beautiful green grass, I could see it if it's four, five feet away from me.Īfter he graduated from high school, Ethan moved out west.Įthan: I signed up to go to the Colorado Center for the Blind and there I met one of my teammates by the name of Demetrius and he told me, "Do you want to join a baseball team?" And I said, "Baseball team for the blind?" He's like, "Yeah." I was thinking in my head, "How does that work? You know, are you going to put the ball on the tee, hit it, and then go sit down and you're going to get a lollipop for it?" I wasn't sure.Įthan’s friend explained that this wasn’t traditional baseball. But his partial blindness made playing them really difficult.Įthan: I played soccer and just typical club soccer back from like fourth grade all the way to eighth grade, but obviously that wasn't adaptive so it was hard. These sports are built around the experience of hearing, and during a game, players have to be hyper aware of every sound around them.Įthan: My name is Esubalew ‘Ethan’ Johnston, and I am a blind athlete.Įthan was born in Ethiopia, but grew up in Missouri. In these games, players are totally reliant on sound to know where they are in relation to the ball, to the field, and to each other. Whether it’s a roaring crowd, a referee's whistle, a shouting coach,, or a blaring goal horn, sound is a crucial part of basically every major sport out there.īut there are some sports where sound does more than just call out a foul or ring in a goal. You’re listening to Twenty Thousand Hertz. Visit /hertz to download the Zocdoc app and sign up for free Get your free business banking account at /hertz. Get 10% off your first month of BetterHelp at /20k. To get involved with beep baseball, check out To learn more about how to get involved with goalball, visit ![]() ![]() If you know what this week's mystery sound is, tell us at .ĭownload the Be My Eyes mobile app for iOS or Android. Featuring beep baseball player Ethan Johnston and goalball coach Keith Young.įollow the show on Twitter, Facebook, & Reddit.īecome a monthly contributor at 20k.org/donate. ![]() Instead of using their eyes, these players rely on their ears to hit a pitch, block a throw, and charge across a crowded field. But it turns out, there are blind athletes all around the world doing exactly that. Playing a sport without sight might sound impossible. This episode was written and produced by Jack Glover.
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