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Sound of silence: Isotopes play silent inning during ASL night
Imagine the pitcher delivers a fastball the batter can’t catch up to. THWAP! The ball hits the catcher’s mitt.
Next, the pitcher goes with a change-up, but the batter isn’t fooled. CRACK! It’s high enough. Is it long enough? YyyyyyeeeEEAAAAHHHH! The crowd crescendos into a frenzy as the ball exits the playing field for a home run.
Most of you can hear the ballpark in this scenario. Maybe there’s a vendor coming down the aisle. POPCORN! GET YOUR POPCORN! The public-address announcer has an update. THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSOR FOR THEIR DONATION AFTER ANOTHER HOME RUN. The organ player gets the crowd to respond, CHAAAARGE.
For the deaf community, however, the sounds of the game are nonexistent. What’s it like to experience the ol’ ballgame in silence? For one inning at Friday’s night’s Albuquerque Isotopes game against the Las Vegas Aviators, the crowd got to experience this. No PA address, no music, no one speaking up.
It was all part of American Sign Language Night at Isotopes Park. Also, ASL interpreters from the Albuquerque Sign Language Academy were stationed throughout the ballpark, the Isotopes wore jerseys with their team named spelled out using ASL and figurines with Isotopes’ mascot Orbit signing “I Love You” in ASL were given to the first 3,000 fans.
For the record, the Isotopes and Aviators played to a cheerless 0-0 draw in silence during the sixth inning and the Isotopes went on to win 8-7 in front of 5,848 fans.
