Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 24, 1994 TAG: 9406290044
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MIAMI LENGTH: Medium
Don Wardlow sat at a microphone he couldn't see and made history.
The blind broadcaster and his partner, Jim Lucas, announced 1 1/2 innings of the Florida Marlins' 9-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs. Thursday's appearance by the two Class AA announcers on the Marlins' radio network was part of an office supply company promotion.
The first major-league broadcast was in 1921. The first broadcast by a blind announcer came 73 years later.
``The biggest day of our lives, bar none,'' said Wardlow, who was born without eyes. ``We'll be talking about it 30 or 40 years down the line.''
As far as Wardlow knows - and he has researched the subject - he is the first blind broadcaster to cover games in any sport.
``We're flying in the face of history itself,'' he said with a smile.
Wardlow and Lucas announce games for the New Britain (Conn.) Red Sox of the Eastern League. Lucas handles the play-by-play, while Wardlow provides background on the players and teams between pitches.
A listener would never guess Wardlow is blind.
The two 31-year-old rookies were introduced to a major-league audience in the third inning by Marlins play-by-play announcer Joe Angel. Two dozen cameramen and reporters crowded into the announcing booth to document the moment.
The broadcasters also worked the bottom of the fifth and top of the seventh. They never mentioned Wardlow's blindness.
Because Wardlow can't describe game action or second-guess umpires, he compensates with meticulous preparation and a remarkable memory.
In one of the countless interviews he did this week, someone asked if he remembered the 47th game of the 1992 season.
``That would have been Chicken Night,'' Wardlow said. ``We beat St.Pete 5-1. We had about 5,000 in Fort Myers that night.''
They spend hours in preparation before a broadcast. At Joe Robbie Stadium, Wardlow sat in the dugouts, rubbed his shoes on the warning track and ran his hand along the outfield wall from one foul pole to the other.
``You never know what you're going to be able to work into a broadcast,'' he said.
``We'll try to figure out where the manager sits in the dugout, and then we'll walk to the mound and Don will know it's 42 steps to the rubber,'' Lucas said. ``So if the manager comes out, Don can say, `Those are 42 of his longest steps.'''''
A blind man with a vision, Wardlow wants a major-league job.
``I'm a Double-A announcer,'' Wardlow said. ``But I'm going to improve.''
Keywords:
BASEBALL
Memo: longer version ran in the State edition