The following a guest post from long-time RAB reader and commenter Rich Iurilli (@richardiurilli on the Twitters), highlighting another great Kickstarter project that benefits a wonderful cause.
Last week, Hannah wrote about the Eephus League Baseball Scorebook Revival Project, which, at the time, was trying to raise $10,000 to produce a simple, easy-to-use scorebook in an attempt to rekindle interest in the dying art of baseball scorekeeping. Early Thursday morning, that project reached its $10,000 goal, and as I write this, it has raised $11,636, in part due to the generosity of River Ave. Blues readers.
Today, I would like to bring to your attention another baseball-related project on Kickstarter. Ed Lucas, a blind sports writer who used to cover the Yankees, is trying to raise $15,000 in pledges to produce a professional-quality oral history of baseball, as told through the 292 plaques at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. As wonderful as these plaques are, there are countless baseball fans who are unable to experience them due to blindness and other visual impairments, which are expected to affect almost one third of the American population within the next decade, according to the project description. This project seeks to remedy this by providing descriptions of every plaque in the Hall of Fame.
For Yankee fans, there is more to this project than just the ties to baseball history. Lucas has covered New York-area sports, particularly the Yankees, since 1964, despite losing his vision at just twelve years of age to retinal detachments suffered while playing baseball. After this unfortunate event, Lucas befriended Phil Rizzuto and developed a good relationship with the Yankees organization. In 2006, Lucas was the first person to be married at home plate in Yankee Stadium, and George Steinbrenner covered the entire cost of the ceremony. In a 2007 interview with the New York Times, Lucas said, “Baseball took my sight away, but it gave me a life.”
Now, Lucas is trying to give that life to an entire generation of blind or visually-impaired baseball fans. If the project meets its fundraising goal, it will be produced as both a CD and an app for mobile devices, both of which will be made freely available to anyone who wants them. In addition to the obvious benefits for blind or visually-impaired fans, the project could also be used by visitors to the Hall of Fame, which does not currently have an audio tour available. For the project to be produced, Lucas is looking to raise $15,000 by April 7, 2011, of which $3,005 has been pledged at the time of this writing.
As is the case with most Kickstarter projects, there are a number of rewards for backers to choose from depending on the amount of their pledge. These rewards range from an official non-autographed baseball souvenir and a CD copy of the project for a pledge of $10 to lunch or dinner with a Hall of Famer and a day at the ballpark with Lucas for a pledge of $5,000. Of course, pledges of any amount are welcome and bring this wonderful project a little bit closer to fruition.
To learn more about the project or to make a pledge, you can visit the project page on Kickstarter, or to learn more about Ed Lucas, you can visit his website.
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