Beep Baseball World Series returns to Aurora for 50th anniversary
Aurora hosts 50th Beep Baseball World Series
This week, the annual Adaptive Baseball World Series is happening in Aurora! Created for blind and visually-impaired athletes, Beep Baseball relies on sound, not sight.
AURORA - The 50th Annual Adaptive Baseball World Series is taking place this week.
Created for blind and visually-impaired athletes, "beep baseball" relies on sound — not sight.
Beep Baseball World Series returns to Aurora
The backstory:
The National Beep Baseball Association World Series, running Monday, Aug. 3, through Saturday, Aug. 8, will bring together more than 500 visually impaired athletes from across the country.
The athletes represent 21 teams that will compete in more than 100 games throughout the week.
The National Beep Baseball Association was founded in Chicago in 1976, making the Chicago area a fitting location for this milestone tournament.
Beep baseball features a 16-inch softball with a small beeping device inside, along with four-foot-tall foam bases that buzz. After hitting a pitched ball, athletes race toward a buzzing base while defenders track the beeping ball and try to record an out.
Sound guides the athletes through every play, making it a fast-paced game built around competition, teamwork and trust.
"Beep baseball means so many different things to so many of us, but it gives us a time to be competitive on an equal playing field and also to be respected as a true athlete," said Richie Flores, president of the National Beep Baseball Association. "This game has changed my life and given me an opportunity to be a leader. Some of us learn how to captain a team, how to work together with someone who is culturally different than us in size, shape or race, and it means so much to us to be able to win together, but also lose with grace, and always learn from our losses, but also celebrate together as a league."
The Chicago Comets are among the teams competing in the tournament. Chicago remains the only city to have had a team represented at every NBBA World Series since the inaugural tournament.
What's next:
Games are scheduled throughout the week at the Stuart Sports Complex in Aurora.
The community is invited to attend. In addition to the competition, families can enjoy food trucks and other activities.
To learn more about the National Beep Baseball Association, which is headquartered in Glenview, or to support the nonprofit's efforts, click here.
The Source: The information in this article was reported by FOX Chicago's Kasey Chronis.