Blind Baseball has been improved, maybe

If you're not familiar with Beep Baseball (also known as blind baseball), let Deadspin refresh you. But it's been improved on, and what makes this new version even better is it comes from Italy! Uh, ok. Sweet. Anyway, instead of swinging at a beeping ball coming at you - which must have caused some major problems - you now get to hold the ball in your hand and swing for the fences. That at least helps even the playing field a bit, right? Well, at least until the ball is in play, then things get a bit more complicated than the old Beep Baseball rules, which just required you to gain possession of the ball while someone was off of a base to record an out. Here are the new rules:

Each team consists of five blind players, one sighted player and one defensive assistant. The sighted defensive player and the defensive assistant also serve as base coaches at second and third base when their team comes to bat.

The defensive field of play is the area beyond the line between second and third base.

And here's the fun one - Second base is the base of origin for the defense. All defensive eliminations are recorded at second base.

Yikes, so now you're having blind people throw to a base they can't see? I guess you just throw the ball in the general vicinity of wherever you think second base is, even if that happens to be the parking lot. I think more improvements may be necessary before this sport hits the big time.

Blind people, you deserve better than this.

-WCK