The cracks of bats, the roar of a crowd and base-running calls from coaches are all familiar sounds at Fenway Park, home of Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox. But on April 12, 2026, a different Boston baseball team was responsible for those acoustics, with the addition of a pulsating beep from a one-pound ball the size of a grapefruit.
The Association of Blind Citizens Boston Renegades played — and won — that day. The Renegades play Beep Baseball, a specialized adaptation of the national pastime designed for the blind and visually impaired.
Renegades Head Coach Rob Weissman, who has full vision, has been involved with the team since 2001 and joined as full-time coach in 2003, helping to establish a competitive culture that has since become a powerhouse in the National Beep Baseball Association (NBBA).
Weissman says the event at Fenway Park — which was years in the making to coordinate — was a dream come true for his players and for himself, who grew up a huge Red Sox fan.
“It was a lifelong dream for many of our players and coaches and probably our best attended event that we’ll have in a while,” he said. “You got the 20-year-olds and close to 50-year-olds competing, and they’re both living the dream on that field. They were so excited to just be able to say, ‘Hey, I got a hit and I scored at Fenway Park.’”
How Beep Baseball Works
Beep Baseball is a modified version of baseball played primarily by sound. Since the athletes have varying degrees of vision loss, the playing field is leveled by every player wearing a blindfold.
Equipment is specifically designed for auditory tracking:
- The Ball: Weighing approximately one pound and appearing slightly larger than a softball, the ball contains electronics that emit a pulsating beep that alerts hitters when it is close.
- The Bases: Only two bases exist — first and third — located 100 feet from home plate. The bases are five-foot-tall padded pillars that emit a constant buzzing sound.
The game functions as a race between the runner and the defense. A sighted pitcher and catcher work on the same team as the hitter. The goal is to throw the ball where the blindfolded hitter has the best chance of making contact.
Once contact is made, a sighted base operator activates one of the two bases to buzz, and the hitter must run that direction (left or right). Runs are scored if the hitter runs to the correct base and touches the buzzing pillar before a blindfolded defensive player fields the ball. If the latter occurs first, it’s a recorded out.
Two sighted “spotters” or “callers” assist the defensive players to locate the ball, shouting a number between one and six to represent a specific zone on the field.
“The blindfold is the great equalizer, because it puts everyone on the same playing field,” Weissman said. “It’s amazing to watch some of these kids grow into amazing athletes. So the younger they can get involved, the quicker they can develop the skills.”
Using Video Analysis to Coach Blind or Visually Impaired Baseball Players
As a volunteer-driven organization, the Boston Renegades and other NBBA teams rely on innovative technology to bridge the gap between sighted coaches and visually impaired athletes.
Weissman uses the Onform video analysis platform to provide high-level technical feedback, a task that requires significant adaptation depending on the player’s level of vision.
“It really tests your communication skills. They aren’t able to see the same things I see in video playback, even if they have partial vision and have to enlarge the screen a lot,” he said. “It’s a challenge to make sure that what you’re saying is perceived the way you want it to be. You have to be crystal clear in the way you explain things.”
For Weissman, a volunteer coach who played baseball growing up, Onform provides a useful tool to analyze players, provide feedback and breakdown the nuances of Beep Baseball that his eyes can’t decipher in real-time.
“What’s great for me from an Onform perspective is I can almost be in two places at once,” he said. “I can be coaching the defense and then when I get home later at night, I can turn around and look at people’s swings and call them.”
The Road to the World Series
While the game in Fenway Park was a highlight, the Renegade’s season is only beginning. The team is currently preparing for a rigorous summer schedule, including an eight-team invitational tournament in Indianapolis that will serve as a high-level warm-up against some of the top teams in the country.
In July, the Renegades will compete in the “Best of the East” regional tournament in New Jersey before heading to Aurora, Illinois, for the NBBA World Series in August. The World Series remains the ultimate goal for the roughly 25 teams active in the league, which includes programs across the United States and international teams from Taiwan and Canada.
As the sport continues to grow, Weissman and his staff of around 25 volunteers remain focused on the local mission of making every athlete the best version of themselves.
“I love it when my athletes want to learn,” Weissman said. “They’re not just out there to play. It’s rewarding to know that these athletes love it, not just for the few hours of a game or practice, but they’re talking about it and thinking about it throughout the week. It’s a huge part of their lives, and that’s special.”