Podcasts about Beep baseball

If you love great storytelling, you'll connect with this conversation. I sit down with Walden Hughes, a man whose Unstoppable passion has kept Old Time Radio alive for decades. As the voice behind YESTERDAY USA and a driving force with REPS, Walden has dedicated his life to preserving the art, sound, and soul of classic radio. We talk about what made those early shows so timeless, the craft of the actors, the power of imagination, and how simple audio could create entire worlds. Walden also shares how modern technology, archives, and community support are bringing these programs to new audiences. This conversation is about more than nostalgia. It's about keeping storytelling alive. Walden reminds us that great radio never fades and that imagination will always be Unstoppable. Highlights: 00:10 – Discover why Old Time Radio still captures the imagination of listeners today. 01:19 – Hear how the end of an era shaped the way we think about storytelling. 02:32 – Learn what made the performances and production of classic radio so unique. 04:25 – Explore how legendary shows left a lasting influence on modern audio. 05:16 – Gain insight into what separates timeless audio drama from today's versions. 08:32 – Find out how passion and purpose can turn nostalgia into something new. 12:15 – Uncover the community that keeps classic radio alive for new generations. 16:20 – See how creativity and teamwork sustain live radio productions. 24:48 – Learn how dedication and innovation keep 24/7 classic broadcasts running. 33:57 – Understand how listener support helps preserve the magic of radio history. 37:38 – Reflect on why live storytelling still holds a special kind of energy. 41:35 – Hear how new technology is shaping the future of audio storytelling. 46:26 – Discover how preservation groups bring lost performances back to life. 50:29 – Explore the process of restoring and protecting rare audio archives. 55:31 – Learn why authenticity and care matter in preserving sound for the future.     About the Guest: From a young age, Walden Hughes developed a lifelong love for radio and history. Appearing in documentaries on “Beep Baseball,” he went on to collect more than 50,000 old-time radio shows and produce hundreds of live nostalgic broadcasts. His work celebrates radio's golden era through events, celebrity interviews, and re-creations performed nationwide. His deep family roots reach back to early American history — from a Mayflower ancestor to relatives who served in major U.S. wars — shaping his respect for storytelling and legacy. With degrees in economics, political science, and an MBA in finance, he built a successful career in investments before turning his passion into purpose. As general manager and producer for Yesterday USA and longtime board member of SPERDVAC, he's preserved classic entertainment for future generations. Honored with awards like the Herb Ellis and Dick Beals Awards, he continues to consult for icons like Kitty Kallen and the Sinatra family, keeping the voices of radios past alive for audiences today.   Ways to connect with Walden:   Cell:  714/454-3281 Email:  waldenhughes@yesterdayusa.com or www.yesterdayusa.com Live shows are Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights beginning at 7:30 PDT.     About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. Wherever you are listening from, we're really glad you're here, and we are going to have a guest who we've had on before we get to have him on again, and we're going to grill him really good. I want you to remember that a few weeks ago, we talked to Walden Hughes. And Walden is a collector of old radio shows. He's been very involved with organizations that help promote the hobby of old radio shows, and old rate Old Time Radio, as I do, and I thought it would be kind of fun to have him back, because there are a number of events coming up that I think are very relevant to talk about, and so we're going to do that. So Walden, welcome back to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're here. Michael, been such a long time, and glad you invited me back. Well, I know it's been so long well, so tell me, let's, let's go back again. You know, radio people talk about the golden days of radio, or the time of old radio. When do we think that? When do we say that officially ended, although I think it went beyond   Walden Hughes ** 02:29 it. I though I jumped 30th, 1962, I'm, yeah, I I think the style changed a little bit, I'm probably a romantic somewhat. I love the style of old time radio. I love how it sound. Yeah, I think in in the 3040s and 50s, the studios and the theater that they use sounded great for radio, and it disturbed me, and I bet you have the same feeling, Michael, that when you get new production and new the new studio, it just doesn't sound right. I feel the equilibrium is not quite the way. I love old time radio. I think Old Time Radio A prime web. I think a lot of new productions out there that, you know, release their podcasts and things on a weekly basis. I think they're handicapped. They just don't have the budget to really create and build a studio the way I think it should be, that if they have, it sound just natural and just right.   Michael Hingson ** 03:43 And I think that's part of it, but I think the other part of it is that people today don't seem to know how to act and create the same kind of environment with their voice that Old Time Radio actors did in the 30s, 40s and 50s and into into the early 60s, even we had Carl Amari on several weeks ago. And of course, one of the things that Carl did was, did complete recreations of all of the Twilight Zone shows. And even some of those are, are they sound sort of forced? Some of the actors sound forced, and they they haven't really learned how to sound natural in radio like some of the older actors do.   Walden Hughes ** 04:34 Yeah, and I know Bob we call did it for a bike I get thrown off when he generally way. Did have the highway stars remote end, and he had a Stock Company of Chicago after, and I could hear the equilibrium just not quite right. That bothers me. I don't know if the average person picks up on that, and you're right. I don't know if. Is it the style of acting that they teach in film and TV? It needs a radio acting different in a lot of ways, and you got it as you point. It's got to be realistic into the environment. And actors don't get that for radio,   Michael Hingson ** 05:25 yeah, and you talked about the last day for you of real radio was September 30, 1962 and we should probably explain why that is   Walden Hughes ** 05:36 diet throughout the CBS your Troy John and suspense as the two main keys of old time radio. And that was the last day of old time radio out of New York. And I hardcore Lacher sister. Think that's one radio Shane died per se   Michael Hingson ** 05:58 Gunsmoke and Have Gun Will Travel were gone, right,   Walden Hughes ** 06:01 and the soap operas ended in November 2560 I like soap operas. I know a lot of people do not, but there's something can't there's something campy about it that I like. I would, I would like, I prefer to listen to somebody also proper than do some of the new production and make sure the acting style,   Michael Hingson ** 06:27 but I think there's a lot to do with it that that makes that the case. And I think you're absolutely right that so many things are different, but at the same time, radio did sort of continue. And there was, there were some good shows zero hour, the Hollywood radio theater that Rod Serling did later. And of course, NPR did Star Wars.   Walden Hughes ** 06:58 And I like that I did.   Michael Hingson ** 07:02 Yeah, I think that was done pretty well. And what do you think of CBS mystery theater? Honestly, CBS mystery theater, I thought that generally, CBS mystery theater had some good actors, and they did a pretty good job. I I can't complain too much about that, and it was on for a long time.   Walden Hughes ** 07:18 But what do you think of the script, though?   Michael Hingson ** 07:22 Well, part of the problem for me and CBS mystery theater is, and I'm sure it was a cost issue. There weren't very many people in most of the scripts. There was like two or three or so and and that was a problem. But I think that that the scripts suffered because there weren't more people in the scripts to really make it again sound pretty natural. I think that was a problem.   Walden Hughes ** 07:52 Yeah, Hyman Brown really knew how to crank it out. I think it has a good, solid B production, you know, the scripts. And I think the scripts are quite hampered. You couldn't, actually couldn't knock the actors. I thought the actors were Mercedes McCambridge and all those were terrific actors, but you're right. Sam dam wrote a lot of them, yeah, and things like that. But I   Michael Hingson ** 08:21 think, I think they would have been nicer to have more people in the scripts. But I understand that, that that probably was more difficult to do just because of union and scale and the cost. But gee, I think it would have made a big difference in the shows. But Hyman Brown really knew, as you said, How to crank them   Walden Hughes ** 08:39 out. Yeah, that's why, in some ways, I think the series, radio theater, the way 70 is a it's a terrific series. Didn't have the financial backing to make it last longer than the two years I was   Michael Hingson ** 08:52 on. Now, one show I really liked on in PR later was alien world, which I thought was good. I'd never heard any of them, so they were good, yeah, yeah, okay. I'm very happy with alien worlds. There were some actors from radio and in early television and so on. Hans con read, for example, was on some, yeah, I thought alien worlds went really well. I guess we're gonna have to get you some and get you to lose, Okay, interesting.   Walden Hughes ** 09:21 I just got done taking a eight week course on entrepreneurship for disabled people, and my idea is to pitch that we should be doing audio theater as a podcast. I think if it's big enough, it attracts national sponsors. And if you look at the numbers, everybody podcasting, 135 million people in the USA download a podcast once a week. Revenue, $2.46 billion yeah. Worldwide, 5 billion people download a podcast once a week. Revenue, three. $4 billion and so she had a well known he had a podcast with well known stars. I think she could get that 1% in that market, and then you can generate between the 24 to 40 million, $40 million in revenue a year. That would easily sure be a good financial model, and that's what I'm pitching. But when I went to the court, they asked me what to analyze, what's wrong with my what obstacles I have. And one of the things I put down is besides the studio we talked about and the acting, which a really good actor, actress, everybody, like a Beverly Washburn can pick up a script and knock it out of the park right away. Most actors are not able to do that. That's a real gift, as Michael was pointing out. But the other thing most scripts are written for film and TV, which is a verbal which is a eye medium, and a radio script is written for the ear, and I have produced enough the ear is faster than the eye. If you take like a TV script and a book and read it out loud, the mind wander. It has to have a faster pace for the ear. And I don't think more people notice that when they're analyzing a script,   Michael Hingson ** 11:31 yeah, but you you're sort of treading around the edges of something else. I think that is fascinating, that we can start to talk about one of the things that has occurred some over the past few years, and whether it be with a podcast or even just with the mechanisms we're using today, is there are some attempts to recreate some of the old radio shows and and you and I have both Well, we Have to get you acting in one of those shows, Walden. But I have, I've acted in the shows Walden works behind the scenes, and there are a number of people who have been involved with him. And you really can tell some of the good actors who performed in old radio as you said, Beverly Washburn, Carolyn Grimes and others. Carolyn, of course, is Zuzu from It's A Wonderful Life, and by the way, she's going to be coming on unstoppable mindset in the not too distant future. But, but the point is that you can tell those people because they've done it, and they're very comfortable with it, and they know how to make it come across really well. So for example, you're the president of the radio enthusiasts of Puget Sound. Now you're down here in Southern California. How did you work out being the president of reps?   Walden Hughes ** 13:01 Why my closest friends a hobby, Brian Haygood, and Brian's been one of the big movers and shakers of reps over the years. And when the founder, Mike Sprague, decided to step down, they were looking for new people to run showcase back in 2007 so Brian asked me, because I'm the one that has the contacts, you know, I'm the one booking guests for y USA rep, I'm sure the go to person with contacts and phone numbers, everybody. And so I just wound up doing the CO produced showcase back in 2007 with Brian. So that's been one of the things I wound up doing.   13:50 I produce   Walden Hughes ** 13:52 almost 30 923, or four days events of All Time Radio around the country. So tell us about showcase, showcase. It will be September 18, 19/20, 21st is a big event for us, for reps, and we got funding thanks to Ford culture and the state of Washington to do this. And it's free. You can go to reps online.org, and RSVP and come. And people that you get to see this time around are Beverly Washburn from Star Trek, when the bear ministry shows, yeah, when, when the bear man a good, solid voice actress, and also is a coach. Carolyn Grimes, as you mentioned, Margaret O'Brien, of course, you know Margaret from Oscar war winner from meet me in St Louis, Gigi Perot, and she goes back to the 40s and 50s. And did the belly hunting TV show, Tommy cook and Lacher Riley, a radio show. Ivan Kirk. Troy. Bobby Benson. Bill Owen, who you had on ABC TV announcer, author of The Big broadcast, Ron cocking. He and his great wife, Gloria Macmillan ran acting school for children.   Michael Hingson ** 15:15 Bill Ratner Miller, of course, is famous for radio.   Walden Hughes ** 15:18 Right arm is Brooks. Bill Ratner from GI Joe. Bill Johnson, who does Bob Hope around the country. John provoke to Timmy Lacher. Chuck Daugherty, the announcer for second announcer for Sergeant president of the Yukon King and discover the Beach Boys. David Osman from fire sign theater. Phil prosper from fire sign theater. John Iman, who was from the TV show Lacher. And there was Larry Albert and John Jensen, the big band Lacher. John Laurie gasping, and Dan Murphy used to be the program director ki Xi out in Seattle. And so that's gonna be a great weekend. We'll produce close to it, I think, 1819 radio recreation that's still negotiating. And we have several interviews and panel. It's all free. So you can go to repsonline.org, and that's one of our two major events, the other major events at the Christmas show in December, the first week in December. I'm hoping Mike can make it up that   Michael Hingson ** 16:31 weekend, I was hoping to be able to come to the Showcase. And one of my favorite shows, and Walden and I had talked about doing it, is Richard diamond private detective. And I actually asked to be cast as Richard diamond, but then a speaking engagement came up. So unfortunately, rather than being in Washington, I am going to be in Minnesota, I'm sorry, in Pennsylvania, speaking. So I won't be able to be there, but we'll do Richard diamond. That's gonna be a fun show one of these days. We'll do it.   Walden Hughes ** 17:06 We'll put we put it aside. So when Mike can can do it, we can do it so but no, really blessed to have the financial grants to keep audio theater live on a nonprofit basis, and that that that's a great board, and cannot every group's had that financial abilities right now to do that, and it's so expensive around the country to do it, terms of airfare, hotel commitments and Just meeting room costs, I mean, for people who may or may not know, when you go to a hotel a live event now, a lot of hotels expect that that meeting room needs to generate at least $10,000 of income per day. That that's a lot of money. And so we have a place that doesn't, that doesn't do that, and we're able to produce that. And so rep definitely focus on the live, live audio theater part, and also has a large library, like 33,000 shows I heard where we have so people can download, and we're also aggressively buying discs and things to add to the library. And I remember spur back I part of and I'll tell you some of the latest news and that when we talk to that topic, but it's just old time radio is in really good   Michael Hingson ** 18:41 shape at the moment. You mentioned Larry Albert, and most people won't know, but Larry Albert's been in radio for what, 40 years, and has played Detective Harry Niles that whole time, and he's also Dr Watson on Sherlock Holmes again, there are some really good professionals out there, which is cool, yeah, yeah, who understand and know how to talk in a way that really draws people in, which is what it's all about,   Walden Hughes ** 19:15 absolutely. And considering Larry and a co founder, they run all vacations, sure, the after of imagination theater. Sure they carry the banner up in Seattle, and it's pretty amazing what they're able to produce.   Michael Hingson ** 19:32 Yeah. Now, in addition to the Showcase and the Christmas show that reps is going to be doing, reps also does some other shows, don't they, during the year for like veterans and others up in the Seattle area, Tulsa, right?   Walden Hughes ** 19:46 We I thought that idea down here at spur back in 2017 the Long Beach Veterans Hospital, they still have the original theme. Leader, Mike, that Jack Benny and Bob Hope did their shows in front of the Vets at Long Beach. And I know you and I have radio shows from the Long Beach Veterans Hospital. Yes, and the stage is still there. It's the biggest stage I've ever seen. Mike, the seating area is mobile, so that way they can bring patients in who are wheelchairs or whatever, or in bed. They still have the 1940 film projectors and booth up above that they want to run movies in there, and it's just a remarkable feeling to be on stage that Bob Hope and and Jack Bailey did a show, and then the famous broadcast were Ralph Edward consequences, yeah, the Hubert Smith, who was A patient at the hospital and and so in 2017 we did. It's a Wonderful Life. And we had a gigantic crowd. I think it was almost 200 people came to that. And I was for the public and people inside the hospital. And it was, it was a exciting event to have deluxe version of It's a Wonderful Life, which was the 70th anniversary of the broadcast, right? And so I decided to take that concept and take up to Seattle and start performing shows inside the VA hospital system in Seattle. It took a while. It's hard, it's hard to get into the VA, VA system to put on shows, because you got to talk to the right people, and you gotta get a hold of PR and not always easy. So I found the right contacts, and then the state awards, and then has a grant for for veterans or veteran family member to be in shows, and so we're able to get some funding from the state for that so, and then we will also encourage them to come to showcase in September so. But no, that's that's another program we got going for that,   Michael Hingson ** 22:20 someone who I unfortunately never did get to meet, although I heard a lot of his shows, and he helped continue to bring memories of radio to especially the military. Was Frank brazzi, who was around for quite a while, and then he he was also on yesterday USA, a lot. Wasn't he sure where he's   Walden Hughes ** 22:46 from, from 1993 until 2018 so he had a good 25 year run on why USA, Frank and I co host the Friday night show for many years, until he passed away in 2018 show from 2000 to 2018 Frank was amazing guy. He was. He owned his own radio station in South Carolina, South Carolina Island. When he was 19, he had to form the first tape course in Hollywood show Bob Hope would hire him, and he would record all Bob stuff at Paramount Studio and sit to radio station and travel with Bob to record his radio Show. He also was Jim Hawthorne producer for television, Frank wound up developing board games a pass out sold 6 million copies in the new wedding the dating game. He had a company that got gift for game shows on television. He also set up a brother in a company to monitor when commercials were run on TV. Frank also produced record albums every day. He had Walter Winchell record the life of Alex joelson. Met with Jimmy Durante, had Jimmy Durante do an album, Eddie Cantor and so frank is one of these great entrepreneurs that was able to make a lot of money and spend a lot of it on his love for radio. He was the substitute for little beaver, for example, on Red Rider so and he loved doing the show the golden days of radio, which started in 1949 and from 1967 on, it was part of the Armed Forces Radio Service, which was put on 400 stations. And I'm the, I'm the care caregiver, caretaker of. All that items. So I have all the shows and getting them transferred and play them on y USA and Frank wanted to make sure his entire collection was available to collectors. So we want to make sure things were copied and things like that for people to enjoy. But no big part of old time radio, in a lot of ways, not behind the scene a little bit. You know, wasn't a big name person during the golden days of radio, but afterwards, wound up being a major person that carried the fire Troy, full time radio.   Michael Hingson ** 25:35 I know we talked about a little bit, but talk to us about yesterday, USA, that has been around quite a while, and in general, for those who don't know, yesterday, USA is an internet radio station, actually two, if you will. There's a red and a blue network of yesterday USA, and they both stations broadcast to old radio 24 hours a day, although conversations and up to date conversations are interspersed, it still primarily is a a vehicle for playing old radio shows, right?   Walden Hughes ** 26:13 Yeah, been around since 1983 founded by its start. Yeah. Founded by Bill Bragg, Bill started the largest communication museum in the world back in 1979 in Dallas, Texas, and he had a film exchanger. And there was a TV station called a nostalgia channel, and it had these films of old TV shows, but they didn't have the media to transfer it, and so they contacted Bill. Bill agreed to transfer the film. He asked what it is exchanged for him. They said, we can give you an audio channel on satellite. And they gave that to him. And so he tried to decide what to do. So he started a broadcast Old Time Radio over satellite, and he was over the big C span satellite   Speaker 1 ** 27:12 until Oh into the 2005   Walden Hughes ** 27:16 era or so. Wound up being the audio shop carrier for WGN got it high in 2000 at the third most popular internet broadcast site in the world, behind the BBC and CNN around the Lacher saw around 44 that's not too bad, with 15,000 stations online.   Michael Hingson ** 27:41 I remember, I remember it was probably like 1998 or so, maybe 97 we were living in New Jersey, and I was doing something on my computer. And I don't even remember how I discovered it, but suddenly I found yesterday, USA, and at that time, yesterday, USA was one channel, and people could become DJs, if you will, and play old radio shows. You could have an hour and a half slot. And every other week you updated your broadcast, and they put on your shows at different times during the the two week period. But it was a wave that, again, a lot of people got an opportunity to listen to radio, and I'm sure it was very popular.   Walden Hughes ** 28:32 Yeah, yeah, if they'll to Lacher show, we don't, we don't get 40,000 to 60,000 listening hours a month, with it a lot, because a lot, maybe some people might listen to seven minutes, some might people listen to a half hour and all that accumulative, it's almost 60,000 hours a month. So that's a lot of hours that people are accessing in it, there's something nice about being alive. I don't know what you think Mike, but doing something live is pretty special, and that's, that's the nice thing about what yesterday USA can provide, and we can talk, take calls, and then, you know, in the old days, you have more and more people talk about Old Time Radio. No doubting, but a lot of new people don't have those memories, so we we might do some other things to keep it interesting for people to talk about, but it's still the heart and soul. Is still old time radio in a lot of ways, and we're definitely the fiber, I think for new people to find old time radio.   29:43 How did you get involved with it?   Walden Hughes ** 29:47 I became aware of it in the early 80s when sperback mentioned it in the news trailer, so I knew it's out there. And I called, and Bill returned my call. I said, I would like my cable TV. A company to play it, and I contacted my cable TV. They couldn't get to that channel that was on the satellite, so they put big band music on those dead on the community board. And so at the same time as you about 1998 I had a good enough computer with a good enough sound card I could pick up yesterday, USA. I was aware of it. It started on the internet in 1996 I started to listen, and then I would sort of call in around 2000 they would ask a question Bill and Mike and not really know the answer, so I will quickly call and give the answer, then leave. Eventually, they realized that I knew kitty Cowan, the big band, singer of the 40s and 50s. They asked me to bring on and do the interview, which we did September 17 of 2000 and then they asked, Could I do interviews on a regular basis? And so when a kiddie friend who I knew, Tess Russell, who was Gene Autry's Girl Friday, who ran kmpc for the audience, that was the station with the stars down the road, easy listening music,   Michael Hingson ** 31:21 golden broadcasting, and that was the station Gene Autry owned, yep.   Walden Hughes ** 31:26 And I think everybody in the music business but the old touch rush all favor. So she she hooked up, she signed up. She gave me set book 17 guests for me, right away from Joe staff or the Troy Martin to Pat Boone Patti Page, who wrote them all out. So I had a major start, and then I started to contact people via letters, celebrities and things. And I think it's a really good batting average. Mike, I had a success rate of 20% Wow. Wish it was a person that didn't I had no contact with that I could turn into a guess. I always thought I was a pretty good batting average. Yeah, and I got Margaret Truman that way. I mean, she called me, said, Wong, I forgot I did this radio show with Jimmy Stewart. She did jackpot, you know, the screen director of Playhouse. And we talked about her time on The Big Show with Tallulah Bankhead. They said, a big help with Fred Allen to her. She we talked about she hosted a show, NBC show called weekday with what the weekday version of monitor was, Mike Wallace. And she talks about how Mike had a terrible temper, and if he got upset with the engineer, she has to grab his jacket and pull him back in his chair just to try to cool them off. And so we had a great time with Margaret O'Brien, Margaret Truman, but, but I always thought that would a pretty good bat Navy getting 20% and in those days, in early 2000 a lot of celebrities would be were willing to interact with the through the website, with you, and so I did that. So I booked hundreds of celebrity interviews over the years, and so it's been a, I think, an important part what I do is trying to preserve people's memories, right that way we have the recordings.   Michael Hingson ** 33:43 And so how long was Bill with yesterday, USA.   Walden Hughes ** 33:49 I passed away in 2019 so Bill from 83 to 2019, to us, 10 years or so of his wife, though he had   Michael Hingson ** 34:05 Alzheimer's and dementia, and so you could tell he was he was sounding older, yeah, and   Walden Hughes ** 34:11 he wasn't behind the scene. He was really erratic in a lot of ways. So Kim, Kim and I wound up his wife, and I wound up running the station for the last 10 years, behind the scene, okay, Bill wasn't able to do it, and so I would be the one handling the interaction with the public and handling the just jockeys, and Kim would do the automation system and do the paperwork. So she and I pretty much ran the station.   34:43 And now you do   Walden Hughes ** 34:45 it, I do it, yeah, and so I think Bill always had in mind that I'd be the one running the station in a lot of ways. And think to the listeners, we've been able to pay the bills enough to keep it. Going, I would love to generate more income for it.   Michael Hingson ** 35:03 Well, tell us about that. How are you doing the income generation? And so most of it is through   Walden Hughes ** 35:09 a live auction that we have in November this year, will be on Saturday, November 22 and people donate gift cards or items, and people bid on it, or people donate, and that money we basically use to help pay the monthly bills, which are power bills and phone bills and things like that, and so, which is a remarkable thing. Not every internet radio station has a big enough fan base to cover the cost, and so all the internet stations you see out there, everybody, the owners, sort of really have to pull money out of their own pocket. But why USA been around long enough, it has enough loyal following that our listenership really kicks in. I mean, we built a brand new studio here with the with the audience donating the funds, which is pretty remarkable. You know, to do that,   Michael Hingson ** 36:16 yeah, you got the new board in, and it's working and all that. And that's, a good thing. It really is. Well, I have been a listener since I discovered y USA. When we moved out to California for a while, I wasn't quite as active of a listener, but I still worked at it as I could. But then we moved down here, and then after Karen passed, was easier to get a lot more directly involved. And so I know I contribute to the auction every year, and I'm gonna do it again this year.   Walden Hughes ** 36:49 So would you, when you were after what you knew, why you said, Did you did you come with your question still quite a bit when you were working and traveling all the time over the years.   Michael Hingson ** 37:01 Oh, yeah, yeah, oh, I did a lot of times, and still, do I listen to some internet radio stations? Why USA among them when I travel, just because when I go to a new hotel, sometimes I can make the TV work, and sometimes I can't, but also sometimes finding the stations that I want to listen to is a little bit more of a challenge, whereas I can just use my my smartphone, my iPhone, and I've got a number of stations programmed in the only time I have had A little bit of a challenge with some of that is when I travel outside the US, sometimes I can't get direct access to some of the stations because of copyright laws. They don't they don't allow them to be broadcast out of the US, but mostly even there, I'm able to do it. But I do like to listen to old radio when I travel, typically, not on an airplane, but when I when I land, yes, yeah.   Walden Hughes ** 38:08 I think that's one thing that they ended up taking over. I think a lot of people grew up listening to the radio. Enjoy the uniqueness of radio station had. I don't know if you see that today, but I think the internet have replaced that.   Michael Hingson ** 38:24 Well, somewhat, I've seen some articles that basically say that there is a lot more shortwave listening and actual radio listening to radio stations than there is through the internet, but there is an awful lot of listening to the radio stations through the internet as well, but people do still like to listen to radio.   Walden Hughes ** 38:50 What do you think podcast? How you think podcasts fit in? I mean, you'd be hosting your own show. How you think that fit into the overall consumer questioning habit?   Michael Hingson ** 38:59 Well, I think then, what's going on with podcasts is that, like with anything, there are some really good ones. There are a lot of people who just do do something, and it's not necessarily really great quality. They think they're doing great, and they maybe are, but, but I think that overall, podcasting is something that people listen to when they're running, when they're walking, when they're doing exercising, when they're doing something else, running on a treadmill or whatever, a lot More than listening to a radio program that probably requires a little bit more concentration. But make no mistake about it, podcasts are here to stay, and podcasts are very dominant in in a lot of ways, because people do listen to them   Walden Hughes ** 39:56 a niche audience. So you find you find your audience who. Are looking for that particular topic, and so they tune into that their favorite podcast that they knew there really might be covering that topic.   Michael Hingson ** 40:07 Sure, there is some of that. But going back to what you were talking about earlier, if you get some good audio drama, and I know that there are some good podcasts out there that that do some things with good drama, that will draw in a wider audience, and that gets to be more like radio and and I think people like radio. People like what they used to listen to, kids so much today, don't but, well, they never heard old they never heard radio. But by the same token, good acting and good drama and good podcasts will draw people in just like it always has been with radio.   Walden Hughes ** 40:54 What I'm also noticing like the day the disc jockeys are, they somewhat gone. I mean, we grew up in an era where you had well known hosts that were terrific Dick jockey that kept you entertained. And I make it, I don't listen to too much because, for example, everybody the easy listening big band era, pretty much not in LA in the La radio market right now, right and I missed it.   Michael Hingson ** 41:23 I miss it too. And I agree with you, I think that we're not seeing the level of really good radio hosts that we used to there are some on podcasts. But again, it is different than it used to be. And I think some podcasts will continue to do well and and we will see how others go as as time passes, but I think that we don't see a Gary Owens on television on radio anymore. We don't see Jim Lang or Dick Whittington and whitting Hill and all those people, we don't see any of that like we used to. And so even Sirius XM isn't providing as much of that as as it used to.   Walden Hughes ** 42:20 And so what do you think AI is going to fit? I was listening to, I'm a sport fan, and Mike is a sport fan, so I like listening to ESPN and Fox Sports Radio.   Michael Hingson ** 42:32 And I was listening to a discussion over the weekend that they are, they are working some of the immediate it to replace the play by play announcer they're working with. Ai, can I figure eventually that can be a caution. It to do away with all announcers. I'm not sure that's going to happen, because I don't know. It doesn't seem like it could. I'm not sure that that will happen. I think that even if you look at the discussions about audible and other organizations providing AI voices to read books, what people say, and I'm sure over time, this will change a little bit, but and I'll get back to the button in a moment, people Say, I would much rather have a human narrated book than an AI narrated book, and the reason is, is because AI hasn't captured the human voice. Yet you may have somebody who sounds like an individual person to a degree, but you don't have the same pauses, the same intonations, the same kind of thing with AI that you do with humans. Now, will that get better over time? Sure, it will. But will it get it to be as good as humans? I think that's got a long way to go yet, and I don't think that you're going to see AI really replacing people in that regard. I think AI's got a lot that it can do, but I actually had somebody on the podcast last year, and one of the things that he said is, AI will never replace anyone. People will replace people with AI, maybe, although that may or may not be a good thing, but nobody has to be replaced because of AI, because you can always give them other jobs to do. So for example, one of the discussions that this gentleman and I had were was about having AI when you have autonomous vehicles and you have trucks that can drive themselves, and so you can ship things from place to place, keep the driver in the truck anyway. And instead of the driver driving the vehicle, the driver can be given other tasks to do, so that you still keep that person busy. And you you become more efficient. And so you let i. I do the things that it can do, but there are just so many things that AI isn't going to do that I don't think that AI is ever going to replace humans. The whole point is that we make leaps that AI is not going to be able to do.   Walden Hughes ** 45:15 Yeah, I think a good example in the audio book field, a really great reader can give you emotion and play the characters and make it realistic. And I don't know AI ever going to reach that point to bring emotions and feelings into a reading of story   Michael Hingson ** 45:32 not the same way. And as I said, I've been involved or listened and watched discussions where people say, for example, I might use AI to read a non fiction book because I'm not really paying so much attention to the reader and I'm just getting the information. But when it comes to reading a fiction book, and when it comes to really wanting to focus on the reader, I don't want AI is what I constantly hear. I want a person, and I understand that,   Walden Hughes ** 46:00 yeah, I think what you'll see AI, especially, take over the drive thru when people go to a fast food place. I can see AI replacing the interaction and trying to get those things corrected. I can see that   Michael Hingson ** 46:14 maybe, maybe, I mean, you know some of that to a degree, but I think that people are still going to rule out in the end, for quite a while. Well, you know, in talking about all the different radio organizations, I know we talked about a little bit last night last time, but tell me about spurt back.   Walden Hughes ** 46:36 Yeah, I can give you some new updates. Spoke actually been around to 1974   Michael Hingson ** 46:42 I remember when spurred back began a person who I knew, who was a listener to my radio program, Jerry Hindi, guess, was involved with with all of that. My problem with attending spurred back meetings was that it was they were way too far away from me at UC Irvine to be able to do it, but I joined by mail for a while, and, and, and that was pretty good. But by the same token, you know, it was there,   Walden Hughes ** 47:11 it was there. And spur back. Have honored over 500 people who worked in the golden days of radio. A lot of district donated. They had the meetings in the conventions now we're evolving very quickly this year into more preservation work. So we have bought over $10,000 in computers here recently. We bought and we donated, actually, we won a prize, although the first Lacher disk turntables from Japan, which is over a $10,000 turntable, we'll be using that to help dub disc. And the board is just voted in. It's going to increase the board to at least 11 people next year who will have a carryover of the seven board member and we want to have no new board members. So maybe you and I can talk about that Mike for you to be on for next year, because we'll be definitely expanding the board with 11 one. So I think it'd be really strong in the preservation stuff, because perfect got 20 to 30,000 deaths that need to get out there. And with all your new equipment, it's amazing how full time radio sounds so good today terms of the new technology, and compare where I started collecting the 70 and I ran into a lot of even commercial stuff really muddy in those days. Mike, I bet you did too, and it's a remarkable difference. Spur back is planning to be at the Troy Boston festival next April, what does spread back? Stand for the society to preserve and encourage radio drama, variety and comedy. And you can go to spur back.com Join. You can go to repsonlect.org to join. And we then mentioned yesterday, USA. Yesterday usa.com or.net and can go there and listen away and participate in the auction, which will be coming up November 22 Yeah, very important to do as well. But anyway, I really think full time radio is in a really good spot. Mike. I think if it was for the internet, I don't know if we would find all the young people who are interested in it. I think it then it been a double edged sword. It knocked out a lot of dealers. You know, they used to make money selling their tapes and CDs and everything, and I bought a lot. I know you did too over the years, but those days are pretty. Pretty much done, and but if found a lot of new younger people to find the stations or find podcast and they get to learn about yesterday USA and Old Time Radio, and all the different radio ones more and all the different internet station are playing it until they can expose and I don't think that would have happened before the internet, so I think it'll always have it created a whole new listenership.   Michael Hingson ** 50:30 I am still amazed at some of the things that I hear. I remember once when somebody found a whole bunch of old Petri wine sponsored Sherlock Holmes with basil, Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. They were horrible quality. Was it Chris who   Walden Hughes ** 50:50 found? Yep, Chris one best founded me up and found me a bookstore.   Michael Hingson ** 50:55 And the quality wasn't wasn't good at all, but they were remastered, and they sound incredible. They do how they do it, because I'd love to be able to do that with shows that I have, and like to remaster them.   Walden Hughes ** 51:13 Yeah, what happened was, you know, they were two writers, green and Boucher, Lacher, Lacher, right, and Boucher was a famous bachelor Khan. The famous mystery convention is named after him. And Dennis Green was an actor on radio, and he was also a historian. He knew, like all everything about Sherlock Holmes. And so they created the new venture who saw a comb based upon maybe a scene from a previous right story and gets expanded upon it. And so when it when one of them passed away, the collection wound up in a bookstore in Berkeley, California, and crystal investor found out. And so there became a buying group led by John tough fellow, Kenny Greenwald, Dick Millen, Joey brewing and others, got in a bidding war with the Library of Congress, and they outbid and won. They paid $15,000 for the sets of Sherlock, Holmes and so and Shirley Boone was an NBC audio engineer and chief film engineer. He really knew how to dub, and so they they did a terrific job. And then they decided to put out a record album on their own with the first two episodes. And then after that, they decided to market it to Simon Schuster, and they decided to do small vignettes. They could copyright the vignette. These were quite three minutes introduction, so they would get Ben Wright, who wanted to always Sherlock Holmes and Peggy Webber in order to reminisce and or create little scenes to set up the stories that way they could copyright that part. They couldn't copyright the show because they fell in the public domain, right? But they wound up paying the estates of everybody anyway. But that's what how they all came out, and they were hoping to do Gunsmoke. We talked to Kenny Greenwald and others, but that never, that never came off and but that's part of the remarkable thing that Karl Marx done. He's been able to get into CBS, and I think he's working on NBC, and he licensed them, so he'll be able to get into the vault and get more stuff out for all of it to enjoy. And that's an amazing thing that Carl drives for the hobby is to get new stuff out there. It's been locked away for all these years.   Michael Hingson ** 53:53 I am just amazed at the high quality. I'd love to learn more about audio engineering to be able to do that, because I have a lot of recording I'd love to make a lot better than they are.   Walden Hughes ** 54:05 Yeah, Jerry Henry used to use a software called Diamond Cut, ah, and I would the those originally was used for the Edison solder records. And the guy who issued this, Joe, they developed the software. And that's where Joe, hi, who did so much transfer work, that was the program he wound up using to create good sound,   Michael Hingson ** 54:32 yeah, and, and did a lot of it,   Walden Hughes ** 54:36 yep, see there, see, there was a software, everybody, I think original is hardware. And I think originally almost was a $50,000 piece of equipment, harder before 2000 now it's gone to software base and a couple $1,000 that's another way. That's another program that people use to clean disk. Now. Crackles and pop out of the recording.   Michael Hingson ** 55:02 So but it's not just the snap crackle and pop. It's getting the the real fidelity back, the lows and the highs and all that you said, what was the one he used? Diamond Cut. Diamond Cut, yeah. Diamond Cut, yeah. But yeah. It's just amazing. The kinds of things that happen, like with the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and and others.   Walden Hughes ** 55:23 But you also have good ears for that. Because, yeah, I remember about 2025, years ago, it was serious. XM. Everybody has this stereo sound, I know, if you're shooting, has a certain ambiance about it. And there were companies that were taking old time radio and creating that same effect, and that could bug me. I was so used to listen to old radio show in an analog feel about it. And they when they try to put false stereo in a recording, yeah, oh my gosh. It just didn't sound right. And so they've gotten away from that pill, a lot of new dubbing. They do don't have that. So it sounds terrific now, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 56:15 sounds a lot better. What do you think is the future of the hobby?   Walden Hughes ** 56:19 I think more and more stuff are coming out. A lot of stuff that were with agreements to hold on to the material have disappeared, because a lot of it is passing from generation to generation. And so I think over the next 10 years, you see so much more stuff coming out. In some ways, that's sort of what you John Larry and I do. We collect almost everything, just because you got to make sure it's captured for the for the next generation, even though we might not be listening to it. There's so much stuff we don't listen to do everything. But I think we're, we're short of the wide billions of old time radio so we try to capture all of it and preserve it on hard drives, yeah, but eventually it'll go to future generations. But I really think more and more stuff are coming out. I think with the yesterday USA, more and more people will find it. And I'm hoping, with creating new audio theater, I would like to reproduce the great radio scripts we have no recordings for, like one man, family, I love, a mystery, all those things. That's sort of what I want to do, is one of my goals. And I think be great to hear stories that we've all collected, that we wonder about, and to get audio production behind some of these scripts. And I think it's in very good shape. It will all come down to money, Michael, as you know, you know,   Michael Hingson ** 57:58 but I also think that it's important that we, as we're recreating the shows, that while we can, we have people who understand what we really need for actors who are going to be recreating the shows, are able to find the right people to do it, train them how to do it. I think that's so important.   Walden Hughes ** 58:19 I think so. I think, I think you find a lot of young people who like theater, who are not necessarily radio fan, if they came, if the radio fan, like Brian Henderson and people like that, they become really good actor because they love to listen to the shows ahead of time. Yeah. Beverly Washburn does the same. She likes hearing the original performances that way. She get field for me to the show. And I think you and I think Larry does it that way. And you might not necessarily want to copy everything, but you got a benchmark to work from, and you sort of know what, with the intent when   Michael Hingson ** 59:01 you say Larry, which Larry? Larry Gasman,   Walden Hughes ** 59:03 great, yeah. And I think that's a great help to study and listen how people did it, because I think a lot of old time radio, it's like the prime rib. It was the best of the best of all time of radio drama, and it's a great way to learn the craft, by listening to it and absorbing it.   Michael Hingson ** 59:30 Well, if people want to reach out to you and maybe learn more about yesterday, USA or reps and just talk with you about radio, how do they do that, they can give me a   Walden Hughes ** 59:41 call at 714-545-2071, that's my studio number for the radio stations. Lot of times I can, I'll pick it up and talk to on air, off air. They can always drop me an email Walden shoes at yesterday. Us. Dot com and happy the answer, you can always call my cell phone at 714-454-3281,   Walden Hughes ** 1:00:11 you can chase me down at over, at reps, at reps online.org. You know, get forward to me or spur vac at S, P, E, O, D, V, A, c.com, or you can even get hold of Michael Henson and Mike.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:26 You can always get a hold of me. And people know how to do that, and I will get them in touch with you as well, you bet. So I'm glad to do that. Well, I want to thank you for being here, and I want to thank all of you for listening. I hope you've enjoyed this. This is a little bit different than a lot of the podcast that we've done. But it is, it is so important to really talk about some of these kinds of concepts, and to talk about old radio and what it what it still adds and contributes to today. So I hope that you enjoyed it. I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out to me. Michael H, i@accessibe.com that's m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, i, b, e.com, love to hear from you. Wherever you're listening, please give us a five star rating. We value that a lot, and I hope that you'll go listen to YESTERDAY usa.com, or.net then again, in both, there's the red and the blue Network, or repsonline.com, and we, we have a lot of fun. Every so often we do trivia contests, and we'll take hours and and gentlemen in New Jersey and his wife, Johnny and Helen Holmes, come on and run the trivia, and it's a lot of fun, and you're welcome to add your answers to the trivia questions, and you can come on in here and learn how to even do it through the chat.   Walden Hughes ** 1:01:51 But my kids watch this every Friday night on, why USA too?   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:56 Yeah, I get to be on every Friday night, and that's a lot of fun. Yeah. So we'd love to hear from you, and we'd love you to to help us further enhance the whole concept of old radio show. So I want to thank you again. And if you know of other people who ought to be on the podcast, Walt, and of course, you as well as you know, please introduce us. We're always looking for more people to talk to us about whatever they want to talk about. So I want to again. Thank you all and for being here. And Walden, thank you for being here as well.   Walden Hughes ** 1:02:27 All right, Mike, I'll be talking a little while.   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:33 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

The Big Noise remembers his South Texas roots today by resharing a conversation with the San Antonio Jet spotters and then newly elected board member David Smith.

Jared Woodard, Adam Rodenbeck, and Darnell Booker are champions once again, so we'd like to share this one from the vault. Once entitled: Take Me Out to the Beepball Game.

Brandon Chesser joins the Big noise of Beepball to breakdown the teams for the Ultimate Beep Baseball Tournament at George Mason University.

Walk-off Chad interviews the 2025 World Series Champions of Beep Baseball. Darnell Booker and Joel Tolby reprsent the Indy Thunder to recap their perfect season.

The Big Noise gets drafted. Walk-off Chad is a Coach? Jason Frazier hosts? It's the ultimate beepball tournament draft!

Walk-off Chad and the Big Noise of Beepball predict the world series final rankings

In this powerful episode of White Canes Connect, hosts Lisa Bryant and David Goldstein welcome Tanner Gers, founder of Access Ability Officer and Paralympian, for an inspiring and insightful conversation. Tanner shares the harrowing story of how a tragic car accident in 2004 left him totally blind—and how that life-changing event became the catalyst for a purpose-driven career in accessibility, advocacy, and entrepreneurship. Tanner discusses the evolution of Access Ability Officer. This digital accessibility consultancy not only works with government and corporate clients but also trains and hires blind professionals through its Certified Accessibility Tester (CAT) program. This rigorous 14-week training course equips screen reader users with the technical and professional skills needed to land paid work and even launch their own businesses in the booming accessibility space. The conversation touches on AI's role in the future of accessibility, the importance of inclusive design, and the potential for digital equity. Tanner also shares his love for beep baseball and why adaptive sports are essential for physical and emotional well-being. Whether you're an aspiring accessibility tester, advocate, or entrepreneur, this episode is filled with actionable insights and motivation. Show notes at https://www.whitecanesconnect.com/139   Links Mentioned Learn more about Access Ability Officer: https://accessabilityofficer.com/  Tanner Gers on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tannergers/  NABS Mid-Atlantic Student Seminar: https://nabslink.org/civicrm/event/register?reset=1&id=6  Have you checked out Federation Focus yet? https://www.youtube.com/@nfbofpa/  Tanner Gers and Access Ability Officer at National Convention Access Ability Officer is at table B25 in the Exhibit Hall. Start a Digital Accessibility Business session is in Studio 7 Wednesday, July 9 from 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM Accessibility Jeopardy in Studio 2 on Thursday, July 10 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Mid-Atlantic Student Seminar August 1 - 3 in Philadelphia The National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania is proud to support the National Association of Blind Students Mid-Atlantic Seminar taking place from August 1 through August 3 at the Hampton Inn at 1301 Race Street in Philadelphia. Register at https://nabslink.org/civicrm/event/register?reset=1&id=6. All of the hotel info is on that page. An Easy Way to Help the NFB of PA Support the NFB of PA with every purchase at White Cane Coffee Company by going to https://www.whitecanecoffee.com/ref/nfbp. When you use that link to purchase from White Cane Coffee, the NFB of PA earns a 10% commission! Share the link with your family and friends! Listen to Erin and Bob Willman from White Cane Coffee on episode 072 of White Canes Connect. Donate to the NFB of PA Like what you hear on White Canes Connect? Support us and donate to the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania, visit https://www.NFBofPA.org/give/. We Want to Hear Your Story Reach out with questions and comments, or share ideas! We want to hear from you. Call us at (267) 338-4495 or at whitecanesconnect@gmail.com. Follow White Canes Connect Find out why White Canes Connect is currently ranked at #13 of the 100 Best Visually Impaired Podcast. Find the show on: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/white-canes-connect/id1592248709  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1YDQSJqpoteGb1UMPwRSuI  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pablindpodcast 

2526 Encore of 1514 Beep Baseball (Jun. 25, 2025) Show Notes Beep Baseball is a variant of American baseball that has been adapted to be safe for its blind participants. Hosts Nancy and Pete Torpey speak with Blake Boudreaux and Stephen Guerra of the National Beep Baseball Association about how the game is played, what … Continue reading 2526 Encore of 1514 Beep Baseball (Jun. 25, 2025) →

** My new book, Paws for Thought (second edition) is now available as a print book, an e-book and in audio – grab your copy today! Order it at https://www.loisstrachan.com/shop/#acc-content In this episode, Lois chats with Joseph Fleeks, one of the hosts of the Blind Table Talk Podcast. At the age of 16, a drive-by shooting resulted in Joseph becoming blind. An active athlete when he was sighted, Joseph began exploring adaptive sports soon after his rehabilitation. In this conversation, we discuss two of his sports, Beep Baseball and Goalball. From there we discuss what Joseph sees as challenges facing the blind and visually impaired community, ending off with an introduction to the Blind Table Talk platform, which will be discussed in greater detail in an episode of the membership site of this show. Reach out to Joseph at the following links: e-mail: Joseph@blindtabletalk.com Web: https://blindtabletalk.com/ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@blindtabletalk?si=7gWmI0mwEl3HI68V Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/5346006688800340 Image description: The logo of the show, A Different Way of Seeing with Lois Strachan. The image features a styalised human figure with long hair and a white cane. On the right is an image of an eye, indicating vision or sight. The colours are shades of teal blue and grey. I'd love to hear from you – contact me at Web: https://www.loisstrachan.com/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lstrachan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loisstrachanspeaker This episode edited by Craig Strachan using Hindenburg PRO – find out more on Hindenburg.com Credits and music by Charlie Dyasi.

Jason Frazier of Minds Eye Radio announces a partnership with George Mason University to bring a new exciting beepball destination qualifier to our regional competitive circuit.

Tuesday Topics will once more take to the digital radiosphere and a bunch of other places for our last program about recreation. We expect to have 4 folks with us who can talk about a range of outdoor activities open to people who are blind. Actually at least two of the "sports" are indoor activities. We have looked at phone games, Lady a games, games that are not electronic and stand alone games that are. Now it's time to look at other games and sports that don't fit into these categories. Do you know what goalball is? Did you know there is a special game of Darts made for people who are blind or have low vision? How much do you know about the United States Association of Blind Athletes? Did you know there is such a thing as "blind tennis". We will talk about all of these activities and may well also have some folks who can tell us about skiing opportunities and other sports that are open to people who are blind. I forgot about Beep Baseball which we will certainly discuss. As Summer approaches it will be good to look at some activities that will get us outside and that can get us some of the exercise we perhaps did not get during the Winter. Special Note: You are cordially invited to join the new Tuesday Topics Discussion list. Simply send an email to Tuesday-Topics+subscribe@groups.io and reply to the confirmation email you will receive to activate your subscription. Please join us! Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

The Big Noise has made it big time and cannot host regularly so Chad Dillon will be taking the reigns and doing something with those reigns. He begins by talking world series with Jason Frazier and the new elected President of NBBA formally known as Big Noise of Beepball.

Two champs of the Philli Fire join the Big Noise to run down the good, better, and best parts to the world series of beep baseball.

CarneyShow 07.19.24 Tom O'Keefe, Ken Davis, Clementine's Ice Cream, Beep Baseball by

Jynelle rediscovers the joys of adventure through her mother's eyes; a moment with Arctic terns redefines Mark's understanding of perseverance; and Shannon steps up to the plate in a Beep Baseball showdown, where a rivalry ignites the field. Show you appreciate these extraordinary storytellers by making a donation in any amount at https://worldchannel.org/donate/stories/

CarneyShow 06.13.24 Beep Baseball, Marshall Brain, Brendan Wiese, Em Nguyen by

In episode 104 of White Canes Connect, hosts Lisa Bryant and David Goldstein sit down with Ed Plumacher from the United States Blind Baseball Association (USBBA). They delve into the inspiring journey of Ed, who was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at 15 and has since become a pivotal figure in adaptive sports. Ed shares his passion for blind baseball, detailing the foundational stages of the USBBA and his dedication to growing the sport in the U.S. He recounts his extensive career in professional sports broadcasting and how he adapted to vision loss by becoming an adaptive technology specialist at the Lighthouse Guild in New York City. The conversation explores the nuances of blind baseball, its differences from beep baseball, and the unique skills it requires. Ed also highlights the sport's international origins, its safety features, and the mixed-gender teams. He emphasizes the importance of team sports for physical and mental well-being, encouraging visually impaired individuals to stay active and social. Listeners are invited to learn more about blind baseball through the USBBA's social media pages and upcoming events, including skill development camps in Orlando. Ed's journey and commitment to blind sports are a testament to resilience and the power of adaptive sports to transform lives. Show notes at https://www.whitecanesconnect.com/104 Learn More About Blind Baseball Learn more about the U.S. Blind Baseball Association at http://www.usbba.us. Email Ed at Ed.Plumacher@usbba.us to get information on everything the USBBA is doing in Orlando during the NFB National Convention.  An Easy Way to Help the NFB of PA Support the NFB of PA with every purchase at White Cane Coffee Company by going to https://www.whitecanecoffee.com/ref/nfbp. When you use that link to purchase from White Cane Coffee, the NFB of PA earns a 10% commission! Share the link with your family and friends! Listen to Erin and Bob Willman from White Cane Coffee on episode 072 of White Canes Connect. Donate to the NFB of PA If you want to donate to the National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania, visit https://www.NFBofPA.org/give/. We Want to Hear Your Story Reach out with questions and comments, or share ideas! We want to hear from you. Call us at (267) 338-4495 or at whitecanesconnect@gmail.com. Follow White Canes Connect Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/white-canes-connect/id1592248709  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1YDQSJqpoteGb1UMPwRSuI  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pablindpodcast     

Beepbal Nation's busiest journalist joins the big noise to talk through the busy beepball season to-date.

Greg Roberts of the Tyler Tigers and organizing committee to the Texas Regional Beep Baseball Tournament breaks it down with the Big Noise. They pour one out for the San Antonio Jets, set us up on the who's who of Texas beepball for May18th.

David Sanchez and friends brought beep baseball to Puerto Rico. Let's learn what comes next.

Neal Mcdonald and Kendra of the Sirens play-by-play this instant classic between the Austin Blackhawks and the Philli Fire at in Vegase

On this episode of the Navigating Blindness podcast, members of the Indy Thunder beep baseball team speak about their new documentary Thunder Rolls, going for their six championship, and the role volunteers play in making the sport successful.

# Max Rodriguez, Manager of Government Affairs with the Center for Disability Rights joins Blaise for Trivia Tuesday. Did you play along? How well did you do? Let Blaise know, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and follow the show on Facebook/X @blaisinshows.Read transcript

Si eres una persona ciega y te encanta el béisbol como a mí, no debes perderte toda la información que trae la Federación puertorriqueña de Deportistas Ciegos. Ya no es un sueño poder jugar nuestro deporte favorito, es toda una realidad en nuestra isla. Síganme en las redes sociales. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aleydamariaoficial Instagram y Twitter: aleyda_oficial. No olviden buscar el podcast en su plataforma favorita y suscribirse. También pueden enviarme un correo electrónico con cualquier sugerencia, pregunta o comentario a rompiendolarutinapodcast@gmail.com

David Sanchez shares his blindness, beep baseball journey, and giving spirit with the big noise of beepball.

BRANDON CHESSER is the ONLY BLIND PLAYER in the BASEBALL HALL OF FAME! Listen to this fun conversation and you'll find out how Brandon made it to COOPERSTOWN and how the NATIONAL BEEP BASEBALL ASSOCIATION is making a difference in SO MANY LIVES!    YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/-VCio2NMuzc BEEPBALL WEBSITE: nbba.org    #HP5 #PODCAST #BrandonChesser #BeepBall #Baseball #MLB #HallOfFame #HOF #Cooperstown #Sports #NBBA #AdaptiveSports #BlindSports #BeepBaseball #MindsEye #NationalBeepBallAssociation #LoveBIG #LaughLOTS #ASmileForYourEars

David Wanczyk wrote Beep: The Unseen World of Baseball for the Blind--the most comprehensive piece on our sport. Everyone should read it and listen to whenever David talks beep baseball.

There are many reasons why folks love beep baseball. The Big Noise shares his top five thankful thoughts to beep baseball. Many others share their reasons for having gratitude for beep baseball.

The man, myth, the legend, Frank Mathenia--one of beep baseball's Hall of Fame pitchers joins the Big Noise of Beepball. They chat on the qualities it takes to be a good pitcher.

The Big Noise wraps up the mont of August from his perspective, salutes the 6 players who combined for ten homeruns this series, and proclaims the fantasy beep baseball champion.

NealDawg chats with Molly--pitcher for the Blackhawks, Justin--homerun hitter of the Indy Edge, and Deemo--board member and Gateway Archer about their World Series experience and expectations.

NealDawg hosts the second episode of Beep Baseball Talk--a project of the public relations committee featuring the unique voices, stories, and intersections of beep baseball in the lives of our players, volunteers, and followers. Molly Fleming--longtime volunteer for the Austin Blackhawks, Justin Holland of the returning champions the Indy Edge, and Dimitris Morro discuss what the world series means to them.

On this episode of the Navigating Blindness podcast, members of the Indy Thunder Beep Baseball team, talk with us about this modified version of baseball, and why they love the game.

It's time to play ball! Beep baseball that is. In this episode of White Canes Connect, we learn about the sport and the Philadelphia Fire of the National Beep Baseball Association from John Margist and Scott Hogwood. Scott tells us about the zones in the field where the defensive players are while John explains what the sighted spotters can and can't do. Scott and John stated that the team is ALWAYS looking for new players and volunteers. Show notes at https://www.whitecanesconnect.com/070    Connect with the Philadelphia Fire Beep Baseball Team Learn more about the team and watch their games on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063545075205. You can message the team there, too. You can also contact John Margist at (484) 988-2377. Learn more about where the team practices in the winter at https://www.southphillysportstraining.com/. Blind Sports Organization Information You can learn more about Beep Baseball and other sports for blind people, including youth sports, at https://www.blindsports.org/. You can also make donations for the Philadelphia Fire on this site by clicking the Donate button on the upper right side of every page. Give Us A Call We'd love to hear from you! We've got a phone number for you to call, ask us questions, give us feedback, or say, "Hi!" Call us at (267) 338-4495. You have up to three minutes for your message, and we might use it on an upcoming episode. Please leave your name and town as part of your message.  Follow White Canes Connect Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon | IHeartRadio  Listen on YouTube You can listen to episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@pablindpodcast. Connect With Us If you've got questions, comments, or show ideas, reach out on Twitter. We are @PABlindPodcast. You can also email us at WhiteCanesConnect@gmail.com.

David Wanczyk wrote The Beep Baseball book. Beep: Inside the Unseen World of Baseball for the Blind. Find this book everywhere books can be found including the Talking Book Program. He'll be breaking down the book chapter by chapter with the Big Noise of Beepball. They start off this book club session by getting to know the author and his call to writing this book on beep baseball. For more information: www.nbba.org

2304 Equipping Beep Baseball Worldwide (Jan. 25, 2023) Show Notes Learn how beep baseballs are made as well as about the surprising connection between beep baseball and the phone company when hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with John Cruz, lead volunteer for the group that assembles beep baseball equipment, and J Kelly, chapter president … Continue reading 2304 Equipping Beep Baseball Worldwide (Jan. 25, 2023) →

Mike Finn-fitness coach, Nester Gonzalez--parent of a blind child, Richie Flores--rehabilitation specialist are interviewed by Neal McDonald on the intersections of beep baseball and blindness.

Nester Gonzalez--parent of the youngest player in beep baseball, Mike Finn--all star player and fitness coach, and Richie Flores--rehabilitation professional discuss the intersections beep baseball has in the lives of our players and volunteers. Neal McDonald moderates. For more information visit: www.nbba.org

An interview with Jeremy Lopez, Rookie of the Year at the 2022 World Series of Beep Baseball. He shares how he got introduced to the sport, and what it means to be a sighted volunteer pitcher for the San Antonio Jets.

Baseball for the blind?? That's Beep Baseball and Jon & Kevin welcome Jason Esterhuizen to tell us all about this fantastic sport. Jason shares his incredible story with us along with his excitement for this growing sport. Thanks for any and all support at patreon.com/lackofgenius.

Kevin Barret informs beepballers on the Hall of Fame and Jim Quin programs. Respect and honor is given to the highest producers statistically and those who provide excellent and service for the NBBA. Learn of the integral and infamous people who have shaped this league.

We welcome Ted Fass on the show and he tells us all about Beep Baseball and why having teams like the Long Island Bombers is so important. And on Connecting The Dots, Jon tells us how sports has helped him in his life. 

Get ready to Join Angie and Kimberly along with the players of the Wichita FalconsL Ron, Ira, and AJ for a fun episode about Beep Baseball. Learn all about how beep baseball got started, how it differs from a typical baseball and more.Links and info:Wichita Association of Blind Athletes:wabanp.orgNational Beep Baseball Association:abba.org

https://pay.firstory.me/user/sophiefusionteahouse https://open.firstory.me/story/cku7od0t8gmti0976697391mt?m=comment Beep Baseball 【盲人棒球】初體驗 明眼人閉眼打球、接球，說的容易做的難 盲人棒球怎麼打，試了就知道 聽音辨位，蒙上眼睛打擊手，循著球音走就對了 小小義工，練習與盲人相處 天涯海角， 不論身在何處，能為故鄉人服務，僑胞義無反顧 何謂【 盲人棒球】 Music by JamesC小卷 Powered by Firstory Hosting

A conversation with a Coach of Beep Baseball. Rob Weisman of the Boston Renegades talks to us about how he found the game, uses a code of conduct to reinforce recreational verse competitive play, and celebrating all victories on the beepball field including, first contact, championship games, and being featured in a book called: (Beep: The Inside Look to the Unseen World of Baseball for the Blind) by: David Wanczyk. for more information contact: pr@nbba.org

June 25, 2021 edition of “In Perspective” Share this page: The post In Perspective, 211, Rob Weissman Talks About Beep Baseball appeared first on Branco Events. Source

June 25, 2021 edition of “In Perspective” Share this page: The post In Perspective, 211, Rob Weissman Talks About Beep Baseball appeared first on Branco Events.

SUPER BOWL 55 IS UPON US!!!! I'm joined this time around by my good friend Ricky Ruzicka to discuss all things Super Bowl. Ricky and I have been talking football for almost 20 years now and I couldn't think of a better man to have on for this. In addition to his prowess as a football analyst, Ricky is an accomplished blind athlete who has competed on a national level in Beep Baseball and Goal Ball. We break down both of those sports and how they're played (4:00 minute mark), the Super Bowl breakdown and SB history (24:00 minute mark), the Texans and their debacle of an offseason (42:00 mark), and much more!! Join in for the fun and knowledge!!!

On this episode of the Dented Puck we finally get Chicago Blackhawks Blind Hockey's Goalie, Bill Landram, on the show. After many technical difficulties we manage to put together an incredible episode! We got to learn about Bill's history as a minor league pitcher, find out more about Beep Baseball and learn what it takes to be a Goalie in Blind Hockey. It's been said plenty of times, but Goalies are a special breed, and Bill is a shining example of that. The Dented Puck is posted every Thursday on Anchor, Spotify, Google, and Apple Podcast. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thedentedpuck/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thedentedpuck/support

*Topics: *Today was a great day because I saw on the live stream the "Blind Tony" was in attendance.  I've known him forever and the legendary story popped into my brain about the day I met him when he was 6 years old.  Ladies and gentlemen...I give you, "The Beep Beep Baseball Incident." *An update on my pal Jeffrey and how he's doing with his new kidney.  He posted something awesome to Facebook. *The Great Food Give Away is getting close!  Thanks for the help!  You can still help, if you like... Great Food Give Away - Want to help? Send $ via Venmo to @GreatFoodGiveAway or Paypal search @DianaZeitunian *I update you on The Great Food Give Away.  This is going to be awesome!  Thank you again for following the story and supporting in any way you can. *Finally, a business that* *pivots* ( https://ericzaneshow.com/finally-a-business-that-pivots-rather-that-acts-like-assholes-when-faced-with-adversity-concerning-the-pandemic/ ) *rather that acts like assholes when faced with adversity concerning the pandemic. *The* *Tom Cruise flip out* ( https://ericzaneshow.com/tom-cruise-went-bonkers-on-the-set-of-mission-impossible-7-because-workers-on-set-werent-following-covid-protocol-rules/ ) *and reaction from* *George Clooney* ( https://ericzaneshow.com/george-clooney-reacts-to-tom-cruise-meltdown/ ) *.  Was Cruise justified?  Fuck yes, he was. *A player for your Detroit Lions has one of the* *worst soundings injuries, ever.* ( https://ericzaneshow.com/a-player-for-your-detroit-lions-has-one-of-the-worst-soundings-injuries-ever-yet-he-played-the-whole-game-hurt/ ) *Yet, he played the whole game hurt! *A story that proves that* *terrorism is alive and well* ( https://ericzaneshow.com/a-story-that-proves-that-terrorism-is-alive-and-well-and-that-we-as-americans-can-never-let-our-guard-down/ ) *and that we, as Americans, can NEVER let our guard down. *7 managers at a Tyson plant in Iowa are fired after* *placing bets* ( https://ericzaneshow.com/7-managers-at-a-tyson-plant-in-iowa-are-fired-after-placing-bets-as-to-how-many-of-their-workers-would-catch-covid-and-encouraging-people-to-come-to-work-sick-lawsuit-says/v ) *as to how many of their workers would catch COVID and encouraging people to come to work sick, lawsuit says. *A 104 year old Detroit doctor admits to* *providing his own fresh jiz sampl* ( https://ericzaneshow.com/a-104-year-old-detroit-doctor-admits-to-providing-his-own-fresh-jiz-sample-to-help-artificially-inseminate-women-may-have-thousands-of-children/ ) *e to help artificially inseminate women, may have thousands of children. * *Sponsors: * *Serra Honda Grandville* ( https://www.serrahondagrandville.com/ ) *,* *The Steffes Group of Keller Williams Realty* ( https://www.thesteffesgroup.com/ ) *,* *F45 Training Byron Center* ( https://f45training.com/byroncenter/home ) *,* *Shoreliners striping* ( https://www.shorelinersstriping.com/ ) *,* *Baldwin Ace Hardware* ( https://www.acehardware.com/store-details/10975 ) *,* *VanDyk Mortgage Mario Flores Lakeshore Team* ( https://marioflores.vandykmortgage.com/ ) *,* *Kent County Health Department,* ( https://www.accesskent.com/Health/WIC/ ) ** *Blue Frost IT* ( https://www.bluefrostit.com/ ) *,* *Prince Arming* ( https://www.facebook.com/PrinceArming/ ) *,* *A&D Cleaning* ( https://m.facebook.com/aanddcleaning2/ ) *,* *BK Guns N Stuff* ( https://www.facebook.com/bkgunsnstuffllc/ ) *,* *A&E Heating and Cooling* ( https://www.aeheatingcooling.net/ ) * Hey!  Business owner!  email eric@ericzaneshow.com and let me design a marketing plan for you.  It's easy and FREE. * *EZSP TikTok* ( https://www.tiktok.com/@ericzaneshowpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@ericzaneshowpodcast ) * Subscribe to my* *YouTube* ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJowaD7rKmHzN0cAIgU4jrw?view_as=subscriber ) *channel * *Hire me on Cameo!* ( https://www.cameo.com/ericzane ) * * *Tshirts available here* ( https://twistedbat.com/collections/eric-zane-show ) *Please subscribe, rate & write a review on Apple Podcasts* ** ( http://patreon.com/ericzane ) *patreon.com/ericzane ( http://patreon.com/ericzane )* * Instagram: ericzaneshow* *Twitter: @ericzaneshow*

What is Beep Baseball? We spoke with Jared Woodard from National Beep Baseball Association to find out about this version of accessible baseball from across the pond.  Jared spoke with RNIB Connect Radio’s Paulina Kuchorew. For more information about Beep Baseball visit: www.nbba.org (Image shows player Nick Mulherin batting during a game/ Photo Credit: Cassie Nipp)

Tanner's spouse experienced postpartum depression due to the physical hardship. Tanner was doing his best to support his extended family, work and attend graduate school. This put a lot strain on their relationship. They even considered divorce. Tanner shares these powerful nuggets of life wisdom: -our most precious asset is time - when you're feeling negative, take a deep breath, reflect on what you've done and refocus - come to the table with a clear conscience - remember how much you love someone - the work is all worthwhile - you are not alone - we are human and we make mistakes - step up - take responsibility - let it go - get centered Tanner Gers is a US Paralympian in Track and Field, 2X National Cycling Champion, and the greatest hitter in Beep Baseball (baseball for the blind)! He is a TEDx speaker, author, Executive Director of My Blind Spot, and has been known to be seen hanging out at the White House! Tanner teaches people inspiring methods responsible for him becoming a professional athlete, US Paralympian, successful published author, and business owner. You will takeaway exactly how to achieve success in life quicker, influentially lead with purpose, and dominate as the Super Hero of your own life. https://tannergers.com/ https://twitter.com/tannergers?lang=en tags:  Tanner, Gers, paralympian, track, field, cycling, champion, baseball, TEDx, speaker, author, executive, director, My, Blind, Spot, business, owner, storiesthatempower.com, stories that empower, empowering stories, empowerment stories, stories of empowerment, stories of empowering others, self empowerment stories, stories empower, inspire, inspiring, inspiration, uplift, uplifting, upliftment, hope, light, Sean

Today on the Salesforce Developer’s Podcast, I am happy to host Adam Rodenbeck, an accessibility specialist. Listen in as we talk about accessibility design and Adam’s journey to his dream job at Salesforce. Adam, who is blind himself, has professionally always been involved in either testing, developing, or designing systems for accessibility.  Together we discuss what exactly accessibility specialists do at Salesforce. Adam says they are like consultants as they work with the design process of Salesforce’s releases each year. In the beginning of a release, they work with the designers on their particular clouds on what’s going to be new. These specialists like to steer everybody from the start to reuse components that have been designed with accessibility in mind (i.e. Lightning Web Components). Our conversation also focuses on other applications and languages and their roles related to accessibility. Listen to this episode for an interesting conversation with Adam...and for some neat details on the sport of “Beep Baseball!”   Show Highlights: How Salesforce makes Dreamforce friendly and accessible Adam’s journey from working with Salesforce to working with Salesforce What the job of accessibility specialist actually does What ARIA is and how it holds up today Adam’s views about Flash applications Symantec HTML and their roles that are built-in Where a developer should go if they want to get into the details of accessibility design What the future holds for accessibility design Details on the fascinating sport of “Beep Baseball” Resources: Adam on github Adam on Twitter Adam on LinkedIn Get Started with Web Accessibility on Trailhead W3C Accessibility Guidelines   *** EPISODE CREDITS: If you like this podcast and are thinking of creating your own, consider talking to my producer, Danny Ozment. He helps thought leaders, influencers, executives, HR professionals, recruiters, lawyers, realtors, bloggers, coaches, and authors create, launch, and produce podcasts that grow their business and impact the world. Find out more at https://emeraldcitypro.com   

This week, Dakota and Gemma explore baseball outside of the Major Leagues. They delve in to Beep Baseball, a version of the game for the visually impaired, and learn about sandlot baseball in Austin, perhaps the chillest form of the sport ever played. They also talk about hot dogs around the country and make outlandish postseason predictions.

iHeartFestival Highlights; Over The Edge; Lost Dog; Cuffin Season; Did Ya See; More iHeartRadio Highlights; Beep Baseball; New Phone

iHeartFestival Highlights; Over The Edge; Lost Dog; Cuffin Season; Did Ya See; More iHeartRadio Highlights; Beep Baseball; New Phone

iHeartFestival Highlights; Over The Edge; Lost Dog; Cuffin Season; Did Ya See; More iHeartRadio Highlights; Beep Baseball; New Phone

Full Transcript Below Show Summary: Beep Baseball is an adapted form of Baseball and is played by Visually Impaired/Blind  players wearing “Sleep Shades” to level the playing field for everyone. The ball is a 16 inch round softball with a beeping sound that allows the defensive team locate the ball. Blind Abilities Logo 6 members field a team with a sighted picture pitching to their own team. The sport of Beep Baseball originated right here in Minnesota and we sat down with Doug Van Duyne, Manager of the Minnesota Millers. Doug tells us about the game, the history and an opportunity coming up in June for teens to learn more about Beep Baseball and get a chance to run, hit and participate in a fun filled day with others sharing their love of the game. The Minnesota Millers are already practicing and preparing for the big Bash in Chicago and their fund raiser is kicking off tomorrow to help support the teams travels and expenses. You can find out more about getting involved  and support the Millers on the web on the web at www.MNMillers.org Here is the information about the Miller’s Kids Beep Ball Day event: The Minnesota Millers Beep Baseball Team will be hosting a kids beepball day to teach the game of beep baseball to kids. Blind & Visually impaired kids, 15 and under are invited to participate & learn the game. It will be a modified version of the International game incorporating a T-Ball version of the sport. WHEN:   June 15th,  2019  WHERE:  Casey Lake Park—North St. Paul, MN. Middle Field behind main ball field  Time:   10AM—Noon  If the weather is hot, please bring a bottle of water. To sign up or get more information, visit www.MNMillers.org/kidsor email info@MNMillers.org Contact: Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Storeand Google Play Store. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Job Insights Support Groupand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.     Full Transcript Doug Van Duyne: What we're trying to do is reach out to kids that are 15 and under, boys and girls, that are blind or visually impaired and just introduce them to the sport. Jeff Thompson: Beep baseball. Doug Van Duyne: You've got some kids running around. Let them know it's okay to run, which is probably counter intuitive to anybody with a visual impairment. Jeff Thompson: Meet Doug Van Duyne coach of the Minnesota Millers Beep Baseball Team. Doug Van Duyne: We use a ball that's a 16-inch ball that's been modified. And the ball actually beeps. We want them to focus in on that cadence, which is kind of I'll clap with it, set, ready, pitch, swing. Jeff Thompson: Learn about the game. Learn about how you can help support the Minnesota Millers Beep Baseball Team. And you can find the Millers on the web at mmmillers.org. Doug Van Duyne: At the end of the day it's the ability, right? We don't focus on a disability. We focus on the ability. Jeff Thompson: Welcome to Blind Abilities. I'm Jeff Thompson. Beep baseball. It's a sport that is adaptive baseball for people who are blind. And I got the manager of the Minnesota Millers in the studio today, Doug Van Duyne. How are you doing? Doug Van Duyne: I'm great. Thanks for having me on. Jeff Thompson: You bet. This is really cool because it's a really neat sport and you got a big event coming up in June that a lot of people can learn about it. Youth can learn about beep baseball. Doug Van Duyne: That's correct. We're pretty excited about that. What we're trying to do is reach out to kids that are 15 and under, boys and girls, that are blind or visually impaired throughout the whole state. Our initial effort has been to reach out through mobility and visual teachers in the state and just introduce them to the sport. So it'll be a very low stress kind of situation. An introductory thing. Get some kids running around. Let them know it's okay to run, which is probably counter intuitive to anybody with a visual impairment. It's a completely safe environment and it's a great way to get some fresh air in your lungs. Doug Van Duyne: I meet some other folks that might share in some of the same struggles and tribulations that the community deals with probably on a daily basis. Jeff Thompson: Since we're talking about people learning about beep baseball, why don't you give us a brief description of what it is. Doug Van Duyne: That'd be great. It's a modified version of America's national pastime. We use a ball that is a 16-inch ball that's been modified by the Pioneers, which are the retired folks from the telephone company. And the ball actually beeps. What we do is we play ball. The pitcher and the catcher are actually on your team and they're trying to get you to hit the ball. And once the ball's put into play under the national rules, the bases are 100 feet away. There's first and third and one of those two will start emitting a buzzing sound. You have to run to either first or third, whichever one is activated and get to that base before one of the six fielders playing defense takes possession of the ball. And it's pretty straight forward. There's no throwing the ball after the fact. The field is divided up into zones and there are folks that can see, that have vision, that's what we call spotters. And they will yell out one-time what zone that ball is in so that the defenders have the opportunity to get a jump start to that area and try to get the ball in their possession before the runner gets to the buzzing base. Doug Van Duyne: I should also add the pitcher and catcher are sighted. That helps. And that's pretty much it. It's pretty exciting. The teams that we play from across the country are extremely competitive. A lot of athletes have lost either their total vision or partial vision for any number of reasons but take this extremely seriously. But here's the greatest part of the whole sport, on the field we're extremely competitive, but the minute the game is over it's one big happy family. And that's really the essence of sports and the way I think of sports. Jeff Thompson: Can you describe the equipment that each player is expected to have or that they use during a game? Doug Van Duyne: Sure. So every player, whether you're on defense or at bat, is actually wearing a blindfold. So those that have some vision, whatever that is, the field is completely level. You can't see anything. So, that's the one piece of required equipment that is a must. And the umpires will and expect to make sure there's no cheating. Unfortunately, there are some that try to get an edge. And there's a softball bat. And that's really the only equipment. You can wear a glove if you're in the field, but actually most of the players find that the glove is a hindrance as opposed to just using your hands, being very tactile, and cradling the ball with their hands versus trying to get it in a glove. Other than that a good pair of shoes is always great. Some folks wear knee pads because there's a lot of diving on the ground. Doug Van Duyne: I should also mention that we always play on 100% grass. So it's not even played on a baseball field. Most of the games are played on a soccer field that has been marked off in accordance with the field dimensions like a baseball field with 175 feet being a home run. So if you hit the ball in the air 175 feet, it's an automatic home run, which gives you two points. The ball does have to travel 40 feet for it to be considered fair. The pitcher's 20 feet away, pretty close, but there's really no other specialized equipment other than those buzzing bases and the beeping ball. Jeff Thompson: So you kind of key in, when you're up to bat you kind of keying in on that beep. And do they say pitch or anything when it's released? Doug Van Duyne: No. Jeff Thompson: Okay. Doug Van Duyne: That's a great question. So the pitcher does use a cadence. And there is required verbiage that's used. And it's either set, ready, pitch or set, ready, ball. Pitch or ball are the only two words that are interchangeable, but that sequence has to be the same. So when the pitcher says set, that lets the defenders know something's about to happen. The batters don't really key in on the beeping of the ball. In fact, in our batting practices we use a dead ball. And we want them to focus in on that cadence, which is kind of, I'll clap with it, set, ready, pitch, and on the fourth one they, we want them to swing. That's the rhythm of our cadence. Set, ready, pitch, swing. The beeping is really for the defenders to try and find the ball once it's in play. Jeff Thompson: So you just get that rhythm down and boom, boom, boom, swing. Doug Van Duyne: Yup. And as long as they swing consistently our pitcher will put the ball in the strike zone based on that person's swing. Jeff Thompson: Well that's kind of sweet! Now you're talking about it's a big family after the game. And that might explain why you're going to Bolingbrook, Illinois for a Beep Baseball Bash. Doug Van Duyne: Yeah, that's probably the closest tournament to us. There've been a couple already down in Texas. There's a couple coming up in Indiana, but Chicago, it's a six-hour drive, but it's the closest tournament to us. The Lyons of that community, Bolingbrook and the surrounding communities, do a great job in putting that on. There are eight teams and it's always probably the top seven teams that go. We are kind of in the middle of the pack in terms of ranking naturally, but these are all the top 10 teams for sure. And we like it because they're good teams. So that really, early on in the season, allows us to see what we have to work on prior to the World Series. Doug Van Duyne: It is a family atmosphere. Everybody looks forward to seeing each other down there in Chicago. Pretty much it's the same teams that come. And then the World Series, which we'll probably talk about a little bit, is a week-long. And so many families take that as their vacation just to reconnect with people from all over the country. There's a team from Canada, a team from Taiwan. Don't know that the team from the Dominican Republic is coming this year, but there are teams from all over that come for that week-long tournament at the end of the summer. Jeff Thompson: So you're the Minnesota Millers, but you get around. I mean Chicago to Oklahoma, playing teams from out of the country. That's quite a festive type of deal. I can see why people would want to use a vacation because ... You've been in this for a few years, so you probably know a lot of people that'll be attending. Doug Van Duyne: Yeah. And like I say when we're playing, they're probably not my best friend. But once the games are over for those of us that are able to have adult beverages, we'll be yucking it up in the bar and we're just one big happy family. It’s just a really unique thing. I've been coaching since I've been 17 years old. I've coached a lot of sports. And I've seen a lot of ugly in sports. There's none of that in this program. Jeff Thompson: That's really cool. How many years has the Minnesota Millers been in existence? Doug Van Duyne: Oddly enough the sport started in Minnesota back in the late 70s. And at that time there were four teams in Minnesota. And it kind of grew, but I would say in the early 90s the programs in Minnesota fell apart and that we resurrected it. Our first World Series was in 2010. We were able to get enough people together that really wanted to play. So, since 2010 we've been playing. So, this will be 2019, nine years. Jeff Thompson: Wow! Time flies when you're having fun, right? Doug Van Duyne: Exactly. Exactly. Jeff Thompson: So what kind of arrangements do you have? Spring comes, you have spring training, practices. You get together and see how the team's doing, see how everybody's interest is in it. And of course, you're going to interest a lot of youth here by having your event here. I think it's June 15?  Doug Van Duyne: Yup. That's right, June 15th. We try to get indoors. It's Minnesota, right? And like this year there was snow on the ground not too long ago. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, it could be tonight. Doug Van Duyne: Exactly. So, we try to get indoors and do some batting. Just get people loosen up a little bit. See who's coming back. Making sure there's no injuries and just starting to get loosened up. We had our first practice two weeks ago outside. It has really good. We had one last Saturday. This Saturday we'll be doing our fundraiser, but then we'll practice again the following Saturday. So up until June 9th or 7, 8, 9 actually is the Chicago tournament. We have a lot of weekends. And we have people from, throughout the metro area. A lot live in the Twin City metro area. Few come up from Rochester. I have one of the players out by Waconia. So, as you can imagine logistically pulling people together can be daunting at times because everybody, of the most part, needs a ride of some sort. Jeff Thompson: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Well that's quite a commitment. I mean people are committed so they must be enjoying it to keep coming back. Doug Van Duyne: I think so. One of the unique things ... We have a player from Hudson. Todd Paulson is his name. Great guy. Has been losing his vision due to a virus that he had. It was a cold or pneumonia. And this was going back several years. An avid softball player all his life. Found out about us. Came over. Been a great asset to the team not only in terms of a player, but as a person. But through beep ball has connected with a young lady and they're engaged now. So how cool is that? I mean it's not just a sport. It transcends into life and life skills and relationships and things of that nature. Jeff Thompson: Well it's really neat that it's a sport. It's an activity. And it's a passion once you get a taste of it. Doug Van Duyne: Yeah, if you don't me putting a shameless plug in. Jeff Thompson: Oh no, plug away! That's what it's all about. Doug Van Duyne: Nice. So, this Saturday at Tom Reid's Hockey City we have our fundraiser. It the Minnesota Millers Beer Bash/Silent Auction. And that runs from 1:00 to 4:00. You can buy a mug online for $15. It's a Minnesota Millers collectable mug. And then you get to drink free until the keg runs out. Or you don't have to drink beer and you can just come on down and put in some bids on some pretty nice items. Package from the Twins Diamond Club and all kinds of good stuff. Jeff Thompson: There you go. So, I suggest anybody that's listening check it out. Check them out this Saturday at Tom Reid's. That's Saturday, what is that? 1:00 to 4:00 right? Doug Van Duyne: Yeah, 1:00 to 4:00, correct. Jeff Thompson: Another opportunity in June, the 15th, for the youth to come out there. But if you're interested just to go out there to check it out, talk to everybody. Seems like a friendly bunch. Doug Van Duyne: Yeah, we get along pretty good. We have a good time. We like to keep it loose. We don't get too serious about it. Of course, nobody goes out to lose, but at the same time it's all about building confidence in a variety of levels. And building successes. Doug Van Duyne: Our website is mmmillers.org and we try to keep that up to date so there's a ton of information on there if anybody wants to check that out. We post our practices there. We post our events on there. It's a good way to keep in touch. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, I really like the name because my dad used to watch the Minnesota Millers back in the day. Was it the Minneapolis Millers or Minnesota Millers? Doug Van Duyne: Minneapolis Millers, yup, back in the day. You bet. Well maybe we'll have to get you out there Jeff. Jeff Thompson: That sounds like fun. Doug Van Duyne: We'll slap a blindfold on you. No commitment on your part but check it out. See first-hand. Jeff Thompson: No reason not to show up on Saturday either to support the team and get my mug. Doug Van Duyne: There you go! Jeff Thompson: And you can do that in advance. Someone can go on the website, mmmillers.org right now and order a mug. They're only $15. Doug Van Duyne: Yup. And then it gets you all the beer you like to drink till the keg runs out. And if you're not a beer drinker you could put pop in it. Nobody will give you a hard time. Jeff Thompson: There you go! And supporting this, this will help you get to the World Series down in Oklahoma for the big games. Doug Van Duyne: Yup. And that's exactly why we do it. All the money that we generate minus whatever the cost is goes directly to the players. A lot of the players have limited income, just cost. But it roughly costs everybody about $5000 to participate in the tournaments and the World Series between travel and lodging and all that stuff. Every dime we get we put right back into the players to help them offset any costs. Jeff Thompson: Yeah, I mean even taking a van or getting transportation in Chicago or anywhere. That's all you guys putting this together because of your passion, your love for the game. And it costs money to do all that. So, if anybody's listening, wants to help support this great sport go ahead. That's mmmillers.org. Doug Van Duyne: Yup. There's a donate now button on there too. So, they don't even have to buy a mug. And like I say, a dime at a time works for us. Jeff Thompson: But the mug's pretty good. I guess it's a frosted glass with two baseball bats on an X. Well you describe it. Doug Van Duyne: Yeah, it's actually our logo that we have temporary tattoos for and the like. But it's kind of a tribal look. It's a home plate, two bats crossed over it with a ball in there and some tribal scribing that doesn't translate to any significant meaning. And with the word Minnesota over the top and Millers under the bottom in a Nordic font to it. Jeff Thompson: There you go. Well Doug, good luck with all your games this year. Hopefully people come out, check them out. I hope they do because it's been around for a while. And I remember we practice beep ball a long time ago. And that beep, beep, beep, but no one told me about that cadence. That makes sense now. We were just listening for the beep. I like that. Boom, boom, boom, swing. Doug Van Duyne: It is kind of addicting whether you're sighted or not. When you see the game, everybody is just amazed at the level of activity. And really at the end of the day it's the ability, right? We don't focus on a disability. We focus on the ability. Jeff Thompson: Great. That's awesome. Well Doug Van Duyne, thank you for coming on to represent the Minnesota Millers and good luck this weekend. Doug Van Duyne: Thanks a lot Jeff. We appreciate the opportunity to spread the word and we'll have a beer together this weekend. Jeff Thompson: All right. That's Tom Reid's, 1:00 to 4:00. Get your mug. We'll see you there. Doug Van Duyne: Thanks. Jeff Thompson: For more podcasts with the blindness perspective check us out on the web at www.blindabilities.com. On Twitter, @BlindAbilities and download the free Blind Abilities app from the App Store and on Google Play. That's two words. Blind Abilities. You can also enable the Blind Abilities Skill on your Amazon device. Just say enable Blind Abilities. Jeff Thompson: A big shout out goes out to Chee Chau for his beautiful music. And you can follow Chee Chau on Twitter @LCheeChau. [Music]  [Transition noise]  -When we share -What we see -Through each other's eyes... [Multiple voices overlapping, in unison, to form a single sentence] ...We can then begin to bridge the gap between the limited expectations, and the realities of Blind Abilities. Jeff Thompson: For more podcasts with the blindness perspective: Check us out on the web at www.BlindAbilities.com On Twitter @BlindAbilities Download our app from the App store:  'Blind Abilities'; that's two words. Or send us an e-mail at: info@blindabilities.com Thanks for listening. Contact: Thank you for listening! You can follow us on Twitter @BlindAbilities On the web at www.BlindAbilities.com Send us an email Get the Free Blind Abilities App on the App Storeand Google Play Store. Check out the Blind Abilities Communityon Facebook, the Blind Abilities Page, the Job Insights Support Groupand the Assistive Technology Community for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

March brings spring, bluer skies and beep baseball season for many teams around the league. Take30 is following the stories you want to hear about as teams are ramping up for Tulsa later this year. In this episode, we bounce from Indiana to Illinois to Texas as we talk to players about why the game […] The post Behind the Scenes on Saturday Morning Beep Baseball, Spring Training, Home Runs and Mentorship appeared first on National Beep Baseball Association.

Tune in, turn up and take note of the buzz around the wide world of beep baseball. This month’s installment of Take30 takes us to Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania with several stories of success, spirit and strength. Here’s a taste of what we covered in this month’s episode of Take30. (Don’t forget, we want […] The post Beep Baseball on MLB Network, National Fitness Challenge and Greg Gontaryk – Take30 for February 2019 appeared first on National Beep Baseball Association.

Life After Blindness welcomes back Maria Johnson from GirlGoneBlind.com to discuss the weeks news. The unintentional theme of this weeks news is all about children.… Read moreNews about Kellogg’s Rice Krispies and the NFB, the Toddler Cane and Blind Triplet Eagle Scouts with Maria Johnson. Interview with Darnell Booker from Beep Baseball World Series Champion Indy Thunder. New features in Android Pie. The post News about Kellogg’s Rice Krispies and the NFB, the Toddler Cane and Blind Triplet Eagle Scouts with Maria Johnson. Interview with Darnell Booker from Beep Baseball World Series Champion Indy Thunder. New features in Android Pie. appeared first on Life After Blindness.

Today, we take a look at the adapted sport of Beep Baseball through a new book on the subject; Beep Baseball: Inside the Unseen World of Baseball for the Blind. I speak with the author @davidWanczyk, some @NBBA players and learn about the NBBA World Series coming up later this month. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Play, Sound Cloud, Stitcher or Tune In Radio. Visit reidmymind.com Follow @tsreid on Twitter.

Author and Ohio University professor David Wanczyk shares Beep Baseball, the fascinating sport played by the blind. John Broich, of Case Western Reserve University, shares the story of the British Royal Navy squadron that set out to end the African slave trade.

We learn about Beep Baseball in this episode of Speaking Out for the Blind.

We learn about Beep Baseball in this episode of Speaking Out for the Blind.

We learn about Beep Baseball in this episode of Speaking Out for the Blind.

My special guest on the podcast this week is Maria Johnson from Girl Gone Blind. Congratulations to the Indy thunder beep baseball team for winning… Read moreLABCast #15: Beep Baseball, Accessible Appliances, Intervals App and Group Fitness with Maria Johnson The post LABCast #15: Beep Baseball, Accessible Appliances, Intervals App and Group Fitness with Maria Johnson appeared first on Life After Blindness.

Remember the Juice? News News News: Tim Tebow Hitting Really Well Since Minor League Promotion, Tom Herman Wants Players to Feel Like Losers. Interview: 90's Adam Sandler Talks About the New O.J. Simpson Trial. Wide World of Weird Sports: National Beep Baseball Association.

K-Salk and Fons interview L-Train on Beep Baseball!   Yes, baseball for the blind.   Bind Triathlon?  Yep, that's a thing, too.  We went all the way to Brussels to get a world class blind triathlete.   This is a "Can't Miss" episode!!".   Also, More shananigans from the hosts.

Gold Medalist Tanner Gers discusses Beep Baseball and how he is trying to get it into the Paralympics and why he believes it is so important to do so

1514 Beep Baseball (Apr. 1, 2015) Show Notes Beep Baseball is a variant of American baseball that has been adapted to be safe for its blind participants. Hosts Nancy and Pete Torpey speak with Blake Boudreaux and Stephen Guerra of the National Beep Baseball Association about how the game is played, what special equipment is … Continue reading 1514 Beep Baseball (Apr. 1, 2015) →