For Zachary Ship, an autoimmune reaction that entered his central nervous system during a family vacation that eventually caused him to go legally blind was just another obstacle to overcome.
Ship, now 32 and two years removed from his diagnosis, serves as Director of Finance at Harry’s, Inc., which claims 25 percent of the U.S. non-disposable razor handle market. He also leads their Disability Advocacy Program. But that’s not even the best part — Ship is also a star player on his Blind Baseball league team as one of the top hitters and recently hit the only home run for Team USA in the 2024 International Blind Baseball Cup in the UK.
An athlete his whole life — varsity letters throughout high school and club level at NYU during college — the biggest challenge once he left the hospital was “a massive physical recovery.” The diagnosis of retinal ischemia that caused irreparable damage to the retina and optic nerve, plus other symptoms like hearing loss and tremors, meant he was now legally blind.
While Ship was undergoing rehabilitation and learning to perform basic life functions like walking all over again, he was fortunate to be connected to the renowned New York City non-profit Lighthouse Guild, which works with the blind and low-vision community. Vision impairment has a wide and diverse range; Ship has a blind spot in his central vision but has all of his peripheral vision, albeit blurry.
By sheer luck, Ship lived in the same building as someone else who plays in the adaptive baseball league, which had been mentioned to him by his connections at Lighthouse. Mike, who Ship calls his “first blind homie,” changed everything for him by essentially recruiting him to the league that played (intensely) at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan in the Upper West Side.
“Unfortunately, disability and blindness come with so much stigma and misconception. And so to me, so many ambitious and capable, independent, and high-achieving people? It was really special for me,” Ship told FanSided about his original foray into the league.
The league is co-ed, with all ages and skill levels.
The rules are modified, with the batter holding the bat in one hand and tossing the ball – which makes a loud repetitive noise – up in the air for themselves with the other, so there is no pitcher. They still play on a normal major league-sized baseball field; however, the whole game is played on the left side of the field. Everything to the right of second base is foul territory. Further, every person in the field, except those on base, is wearing an eye shade or a blindfold to account for the differences in visual impairment.
But for Ship and his teammates, the modified rules made no difference.
“It felt right. It made sense. The sporting factor immediately felt natural, and comfortable, familiar, and welcoming,” Ship says.
That means the game is very auditory. Each base makes a different noise, and starting at second base — first base doesn’t count — there is a coach with a noisemaker. The batter has to hit the ball to the ground before it gets to the base path between second and third. The second the ball is hit, first base starts beeping, the batter has to run to first, get around first so the beeping stops, and then to second base (where a coach is using a clapper) before one of the five defensemen throws the ball to second.
Fielders have their work cut out for them, too. They have to listen for the ball and try to block it with their body — there’s a lot of diving in Blind Baseball — and then accurately throw it to the defenseman on second or third base, calling out for the ball.
Once the ball is put in play and crosses the base path between second and third, it’s deemed a fair ball. There are three outs, and three strikes equals an out. A swing and a miss is a strike, as is a foul — foul territory is left of third or to the right of second.
Ship picked up Blind Baseball so well that he played on Team USA at the WBSC Blind Baseball International Cup 2024 at Farnham Park outside of London, England, in September 2024. It was the largest ever blind baseball competition. In the final match, Cuba defeated the defending champions, Italy, 2-1. Pakistan secured the bronze medal by beating Great Britain 6-0 in the third-place game.
“It was very much the beginning of a dream come true,” Ship said. “Our aspirations are to become a Paralympic sport.”
Blind baseball is a curated safe space that promotes competition and community for people who previously felt as if their vision loss excluded them from the game," said Kiana Glanton, Development & Special Projects Manager at Lighthouse Guild and Co-Captain of the Lighthouse Guild Lightning blind baseball team. "Now that blind baseball has officially been sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation and is under the oversight rules and regulations of the International Paralympic Committee, it is more important than ever to put energy and development behind this sport. Zach represents potential and excellence among athletes who can shape the Paralympic landscape in the future."
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