Big League thrill

Mike Sciacca

Vic Allen didn’t need to see home plate to know that he had thrown a

strike.

The crowd’s cheers at Edison International Field of Anaheim let

the blind athlete from Huntington Beach know that he had successfully

found his target.

“It was awesome,” said the 46-year-old who threw out the first

pitch at last week’s Texas Rangers-California Angels game.

Angels utility player, Benji Gil, caught the pitch from Allen who

won the honor in a raffle.

“I could hear the crowd cheering me on,” Allen said. “There were

30-some people that I knew who came to see me and I could hear them

screaming for me in the crowd. Then, as soon as I heard the words,

“let’s play ball,” that was my cue to throw out the first pitch.

“I started yelling toward Benji to find out where he was, and he

answered me back, telling me just where he was. Then, it went dead

silent. It was like everything was in slow motion. I just reared back

and fired the ball.”

The pitch, Allen was told, was “perfect.”

Gill in fact, didn’t move his glove.

A longtime Angels fan, Allen says he’s rooted for the

Anaheim-based team for more than 40 years, suffering, he said, along

with the franchise as it toiled through several years of futility.

He was also with the team -- although a bit removed -- when it

celebrated its most successful season in 2002 by winning its first

World Series championship.

“I wasn’t in the ballpark for that title-clinching game of the

World Series, I was in the parking lot, rooting them on and

celebrating with other fans,” Allen said. “That’s as close as I could

get to the stadium without having a ticket to the game.”

But last week, he was just wasn’t in the stadium, he was the

center of attention on the playing field.

Allen threw out the first pitch with his seeing companion, Zeke, a

10-year-old yellow Labrador by his side.

His son, Vic Jr., 18, guided Allen to the mound and squared him

toward home plate. Several Texas Rangers players were so impressed

they stood, clapped and some shouted, “sign him up, sign him up.”

“I could hear them from the mound and it was just awesome,” he

said. “This certainly was a once-in-a-lifetime deal for me.”

Allen’s big thrill came about when he attended an Angels World

Series luncheon on the opening day of the season. He had spent $25 on

a ticket for a chance at the grand prize -- throwing out the first

pitch at an Angels game.

“It was like hitting the jackpot,” Allen said. “I was about to

leave the luncheon, thinking I didn’t win it, when they called out my

name. Needless to say, I was stoked.”

Allen, a 1974 Marina High graduate, lost his sight nine years ago

due to a medical mishap that involved a bad contact lens, he said.

He had previously punctured both eyes in a car accident at age 28,

losing the sight completely in one eye.

While at the San Diego Center for the Blind and Vision Impaired,

Allen, who had run track and cross country at Marina, learned again

to ski.

“I had skied my whole life but when I was told about this, I said,

‘blind people race on skis, too?’” he saidAllen, a father of five,

has never been impaired by his blindness; in fact, he’s quite open

and good-natured about it.

“I enjoy it -- except not being able to drive,” he said, adding

with a chuckle, “everything looks good to me.

“Actually, you’ve got to have a sense of humor about something

like this, instead of giving up. I guess it has gotten to me at

times, like waiting for the bus, but I get along just fine.”

He met his wife, Tammy, when he hired her to be his personal

driver.

“We started dating shortly thereafter and that was it,” said the

quick-witted Allen. “By marrying her, I didn’t have to pay her

anymore.”

Tammy Allen drove her husband to the stadium for his first pitch

experience.

“It never ceases to amaze me what he can do,” she said. “He’s got

a backbone made of steal. He’s very aggressive, highly competitive

and tenacious. For him, losing his sight just created a new path to

travel.”

Since losing his sight, Allen has skied on the U.S. Blind Ski

Team. He first became the U.S. blind ski national champion in 1999

and has held that title four times, overall.

He’s skied at the 1999 European Championships and won three silver

medals and one bronze.

Allen also has competed in Beep Baseball and played left field for

the West Coast Dogs that won three World Series titles between 1999

and 2001.

Beep Baseball is a form of baseball adapted for the visually

impaired. The game is played with standard baseball bats, a 16-inch

circumference ball with emits an audible beep tone and two bases --

first and third -- which emit an audible buzzing sound.

Each team consists of six players, all of whom are blindfolded to

equalize each player’s degree of visual impairment. Teams also may

use two sighted “spotters” when playing defense and a sighted pitcher

and catcher when batting.

Umpires -- both behind the plate and in the field -- also play an

important role in the game and give verbal commands to assist

players.

“I’ve always loved baseball and being a part of the West Coast

Dogs has been a lot of fun,” Allen said. “It’s been challenging but I

love it.

“I guess if I had to give advice to anybody who is legally blind

or visually impaired, it would be to not give up. It’s a challenge at

first but how you adjust and how you live your life is totally up to

you.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.