Sounds of Silence

Today's post features an article from the Indianapolis Star The story speaks for itself.

Center fielder excels in silence

The crack of the bat. The ball popping a mitt. The umpire bellowing a third-strike call.
Baseball has many unmistakable sounds.
Norwell High School center fielder Scott Woodward wouldn't know. He is almost completely deaf.
Norwell will play Jasper Saturday in the Class 3A state high school baseball finals.
Woodward, a junior honor student, leads the Knights in many offensive categories.
He tracked down several fly balls and hit a two-RBI double that gave Norwell the lead in the Knights' state semifinal 7-1 victory over West Lafayette.
"Scott does a lot of things for us," coach Kelby Weybright said. "He has the tools to play at the next level."
A severe case of meningitis nearly killed Woodward when he was 14 months old. The disease left him deaf in one ear, and he has just 20 percent hearing in the other when he wears a hearing aid.
"With his impairment, you would think that he would stay secluded," pitching coach Kurt Gray said. "That is the opposite with Scott. The kids absolutely love him."
Woodward's condition affects him little on the baseball field, his coaches said. On defense, the speedy outfielder calls for any ball within his range. Left and right fielders know to back off.
"Scotty takes everything," Gray said. "He takes anything he can get, and the two guys beside him know it. His peripheral vision is so good, he knows what is coming at him."
In special circumstances, the coaching staff uses signals to help Woodward. When Woodward leads off second base, for example, a coach will use an arm signal if the shortstop is creeping up behind him for a pickoff play.
The signals are more important on the football field, where Woodward plays cornerback, receiver and place-kicker. Players make eye contact to relay a signal at the proper time, said Tom Neuenschwander, Norwell's director of football operations.
"They just know to look at each other," Neuenschwander said. "It's hard to describe, but they grew up with him. They know where he is going to be."
Baseball is Woodward's passion, his father, Kevin Woodward, said. Several Division I teams are interested in him.
"We are very fortunate to have Scott because, for all purposes, he died when he was 14 months old," Kevin Woodward said. "He has been a blessing.

By Mike Rasor, Indianapolis Star mike.rasor@indystar.com, June 16, 2006

The point is simple. Despite the depth of your handicap, and we all have something, don't we, you are still responsible to get back up and go. Don't make excuses, get after it.