ALTOONA, Pa. (WJAC) — For a long time now, the Miracle League of Blair County has been providing a space for the community to play baseball. Saturday, they honored their fallen teammates with a statue.
"Especially to the Miracle League players we have lost over the years, five of them have passed on, and we wanted to remember them today," said founder Joe Reed.
Reed told us the Blair County Miracle League has been running the bases for 15 years now. He said it took them at least a couple years to raise funds for the statue, which features three crisscrossed baseball bats, a hat, and a mitt.
The Miracle League, which is for those with special needs, has different rules than other baseball leagues. As center-fielder Connor Smith, who has autism, broke it down: "No strikeouts or even no balls or no outs. Everybody pitches and hits. And then...we play two innings. Everybody wins."
"I got [the league] started because I was visiting a friend in Alabama at a picnic," Reed recalled. "And as I was leaving, he said, 'You wanna see our Miracle League field?' Which didn't mean a thing to me then."
Now, it means everything to him and the whole community.
"I've been doing Miracle League since I was, like, five," said shortstop Aaron Eiman, in his wheelchair, "and I've been enjoying it ever since and I hope to continue doing it."
Eiman, a volunteer fireman for Phoenix Volunteer Fire Company in Hollidaysburg, told 6 News he has a special connection to the statue.
"It feels good because I [played with] everyone on that statue," he said. "I knew a couple kids that I went to school with, a couple kids that died."
"They're honorable and we're very sad to hear about one of our kids passed away," said Smith.
The Miracle League of Blair County is always looking for more volunteers and players. If you'd like to join, you can check out their website.
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