oldtimefamilybaseball:

There are a lot of things I take for granted every day, chief among them that I can see, allowing me to do important things like read Internet memes. But in Italy, there’s a baseball league for the blind: 

“Teams are formed of five blind or visually impaired blindfolded players, a sighted player and a sighted defensive assistant. The two sighted members serve as base coaches.

There are fewer innings in a game, and no pitchers or catchers. Instead, a batter throws and hits the ball, a regular-size baseball with five holes and two sleigh bells inside. Fielders must hear where it lands (which must be within the diamond). The sighted players clap paddles at second and third base to orient runners. First base is a beeping mat.”

Which is not only amazing in that it allows the vision impaired to play baseball, but it sounds like a hell of a thing to play, too. The league exists primarily due to the contributions of one anonymous female baseball fan, but Matteo Briglia, a vision-impaired software developer, has now come to America in hopes of giving the league wings in the States. Which would be an undoubtedly cool development. 

(h/t BBTF)