ARMOUR SQUARE — Before the White Sox invited her to U.S. Cellular Field to experience what it’s like to play baseball, Jasmin Washington had never set foot in a ballpark.
The 16-year-old visually impaired student sophomore from Curie Metropolitan High School had only heard games broadcast on the radio.
With a dozen visually impaired students from the Vision Resource Program at Curie at her side, Jasmin had one goal for the day:
“I want to hit a baseball,” she said.
By the end of day Wednesday, she not only whacked a ball thrown by White Sox reliever Nate Jones, she caught a ball, threw another an ran the bases.
Throughout the day, the students got to touch the infield grass, feel the bases and run them and attempt catches on the warning track.
Really cool stuff happening at U.S. Cellular Field today. #WhiteSox pic.twitter.com/wXWRn3ly61
— Ed Komenda (@ejkomenda) June 8, 2016
In the outfield, a student asked White Sox shortstop Tyler Saladino a serious question.
“Can I have your autograph?”
“Yeah, sure,” Saladino said. “As long as I can have yours.”
Before he took the mound, Nate Jones asked for some mercy from the batters: “Try not to hit me too hard,” he said.
Jason Benetti, the on-air White Sox commentator, had another request.
“Somebody take him deep,” he said.
It was a day 17-year-old Javon Baker, a soon-to-be senior at Thornwood High School, will never forget.
“I think a lot of us, being visually impaired, would never have had the chance to do something like this,” he said. “This is something everyone should get to experience.”
Baker had a short streak of bad luck when he took the plate — until Benetti told him he was swinging too early.
Baker took another swing and missed.
“You were late,” he said, and Baker laughed.
Two pitches later, Baker cracked a ball down the third base line and took his lap around the bases.
“You really did crush that one,” Saladino said.
The event was part of Sox Serve Week, a community outreach program running from June 6-12.
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