Who Says Blind People Can’t Get Foul Balls? Three Parks, Three Years, Three Souvenir Balls
by Rose Warner
From the Editor: As this issue of the Braille Monitor goes to press, pitchers and catchers are preparing to report for spring training. Although it seems like the last one only just ended, a new baseball season is upon us, and this prospect fills many of us with nothing less than joy. One of these joyful fans is Rose Warner, who is well on her way to visiting every major league ballpark in our great nation and has one of the best kinds of baseball souvenirs from three of them. Some wrongly believe that, for blind people, baseball cannot be an interesting pastime, and the idea of any of us going after foul balls that fly into the stands may strike some as ridiculous or even dangerous. But armed with our radio headsets, monoculars, and other aids, many of us do enjoy the game, and we are working to educate Major League Baseball and other sports leagues on how they can make the experience even more accessible, and thus more magical, for us. And there’s no reason we shouldn’t be willing to take the same risks, for the potential of receiving the same rewards, as other fans. Here’s Rose’s story of snagging souvenir balls without so much as a scratch:
My husband Kyle and I are on a quest to visit all thirty MLB ballparks. During our quest, we have received a few free souvenirs along the way.
Back on August 21, 2015, before we officially began our quest, we visited Kyle’s family in Denver, Colorado. While there, we attended a Rockies night game at Coors Field. Kyle’s parents treated us to nice seats in the front row of the upper deck along the first base line. Very early in the game, Yoenis Céspedes, a New York Mets outfielder, came up to bat with the bases loaded. He took the count deep, and before I knew it I heard the crack of the bat. Although I didn’t see it, the ball was coming our way. It was going straight for the people sitting behind me, who at that very moment were returning from the concession stand double-fisting beverages. They had no chance. They missed the ball, and it ended up bouncing on the rail in front of me and right under the seat next to me. I got it! After the excitement, we looked up and the bases were empty. Had the inning ended? No. Céspedes had hit a grand slam. We didn’t even notice!
My next “foul ball” didn’t come until August 12, 2023, when Kyle and I went to see our Baltimore Orioles play in Seattle, making T-Mobile Park our twenty-fourth ballpark. We splurged on nice seats, a few rows behind the visiting Os’ dugout. It happened to be a sold-out game that night, and there were not many Os fans at all. By using my monocular, I noticed that after the end of the inning, the first base coach for the Os had the ball. I stood up and tried to make eye contact to express interest in the ball. To my surprise, he threw it to the empty seat right next to me! It was mine.
On Sept. 25, 2024, I attended a Washington Nationals game against the Kansas City Royals with some of my coworkers. One happened to use a walker, so we had accessible seats behind home plate—prime foul ball territory. One of my sighted colleagues said to me and my blind colleague, “If I say duck, I mean it!” In the fourth inning or so, I went to get a hot dog. When I came back, my coworker said, “Hey Rose, can I borrow your cane?” I thought that was a pretty odd request, but trusting my colleague, I said, “Sure!” She was hanging out behind our seats with two big guys. The next thing I know, they have my cane sticking straight up in the air poking around an inaccessible area above our heads that has gates so that pigeons and other birds can’t get in there. Lo and behold, with the assistance of my cane, a baseball that had been fouled off earlier came out! My coworker insisted it was hers, and she promptly gave it to me! The perfect souvenir to an otherwise forgettable Nationals loss, 0-3.
As of writing this article, Kyle and I have made it to twenty-eight ballparks. Just Atlanta and San Diego remain. We hope to finish this year. Who knows what souvenirs may be in our future!