Miracle League Baseball
Posted at: 08/14/2012 5:06 PM
| Updated at: 08/15/2012 11:20 PM
Chase Firn of Duluth loves everything about baseball, except the challenge of trying to navigate the diamond on wheels.
"The last time I was playing on a regular field, I wasn't actually playing baseball we were just playing catch and batting, but my heart was racing after I ran the bases, it was so big," Firn said. "I never went back to that field again."
Kids like Chase now have another place to play, their very own "field of dreams." This is the Miracle League. They have a special field that gives children with disabilities a chance to bat, play outfield, and run the bases.
"It's soft and there's no rocks basically, so if I fall it's soft," Firn said.
Brock Olson is the Duluth Miracle League director and gets to see their joy firsthand.
"Just seeing the smile on their face, it makes it worth it coming here every Saturday," Olson said. "It's a league that there's nothing like it."
"It's a really neat thing to see kids like Madison participate in everyday sports like other kids," said Kim Dosan, a parent.
Dosan comes to watch her daughter, Madison, do something once thought to be impossible.
"When she was born, we never thought that she'd be playing baseball, and here she is," Dosan said.
Some of the kids were a little apprehensive at first, but now they're eager to take their place on a field all their own.
"If i was able to use this field again, or any field, I would pick this one," Firn said. "My mom would pick it to because it's safe. But anyway, I would pick it too."
It's a simple game that excites, inspires, and offers a lesson about overcoming the odds.
"They come out here every week, give it their all," Olson said. "They have physically limitations, but it's great to see them out here every week playing."
"It means a lot to me," Firn said. "Like I said, I'm a really big fan of baseball, and it means a lot to me that I can actually play."
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