WEBVTT 00:00.667 --> 00:03.801 (soft acoustic music) 00:04.868 --> 00:06.601 - [Narrator] Sometimes along the road of life, 00:06.701 --> 00:12.100 you get some advice along the way. 00:12.200 --> 00:13.133 You certainly will, 00:13.234 --> 00:15.434 if you're traveling the steep winding road 00:15.534 --> 00:20.601 that leads to Mark Wetzel's home. 00:20.701 --> 00:21.701 - [Mark] My dad, his favorite one was 00:21.801 --> 00:22.801 "No Hill for a Climber," 00:22.901 --> 00:25.367 so I put that one at the top of the hill. 00:25.467 --> 00:26.901 And then I knew, 00:27.000 --> 00:32.067 "The smooth, straight path seldom leads anywhere," 00:32.167 --> 00:33.601 "Don't quit on the first bump on the road," 00:33.701 --> 00:35.734 I, thought, well, I'll just put these on my road. 00:35.834 --> 00:37.334 Because I've got a bumpy road, I've got a hill, 00:37.434 --> 00:40.400 I've got a fork in the road, smooth path. 00:40.501 --> 00:44.300 I'll just put these on the road. 00:44.400 --> 00:46.834 - [Narrator] Mark has had his own share of hills to climb 00:46.934 --> 00:48.868 and bumpy roads to navigate. 00:48.968 --> 00:50.400 The 72 year old coach works 00:50.501 --> 00:52.601 out of an indoor batting facility 00:52.701 --> 00:56.734 just steps from his home in Omaha. 00:56.834 --> 00:58.767 He's known nationally for the work he's done 00:58.868 --> 01:00.601 over the past four decades, 01:00.701 --> 01:04.734 helping young baseball and softball players hit the ball. 01:04.834 --> 01:06.667 - Good, good good good. 01:06.767 --> 01:11.067 One year, a few years back, I had these nine All-Staters, 01:11.167 --> 01:14.000 baseball players in Nebraska, 01:14.100 --> 01:16.767 six of them were coming out here on a weekly basis. 01:16.868 --> 01:17.968 That was a great year for us. 01:18.067 --> 01:19.033 I'm throwing the bat on the inside of the ball. 01:19.133 --> 01:20.234 (bat hits floor) 01:20.334 --> 01:23.067 Last year I had some people come from Oregon twice. 01:23.167 --> 01:25.934 I get people come from Colorado, Oklahoma, 01:26.033 --> 01:27.501 a majority of them from right here in this area of 01:27.601 --> 01:31.200 Western Iowa, Omaha, Lincoln area. 01:31.300 --> 01:33.033 Now get out of your comfort zone! 01:33.133 --> 01:34.100 - [Narrator] Mark has a knack 01:34.200 --> 01:36.934 for helping his hitters see the ball better. 01:37.033 --> 01:38.400 That despite the fact, 01:38.501 --> 01:40.467 he doesn't see very much of anything. 01:40.567 --> 01:42.300 - Let the bat lay on the ball as long as it can. 01:42.400 --> 01:43.501 Okay, buddy? 01:43.601 --> 01:45.934 - [Narrator] Mark is legally blind. 01:46.033 --> 01:48.567 He started losing his eyesight at the age of 11, 01:48.667 --> 01:51.701 and by age 14 had to quit playing baseball, 01:51.801 --> 01:52.968 the game he loved. 01:53.067 --> 01:56.033 - Let's keep our back heel a little closer to the ground. 01:56.133 --> 02:00.300 (somber piano) 02:00.400 --> 02:02.501 - So it got to the point where I went from the best, 02:02.601 --> 02:06.634 to average, to sitting the bench my last year. 02:06.734 --> 02:09.167 (music continues) 02:09.267 --> 02:12.567 - [Narrator] Medically, his blindness is due to a rare 02:12.667 --> 02:14.434 juvenile onset of macular degeneration. 02:14.534 --> 02:16.100 Something that doesn't affect most people 02:16.200 --> 02:17.934 until they're much older. 02:18.033 --> 02:21.000 Mark has been living with it most of his life. 02:21.100 --> 02:22.234 Couple more and we'll get Mr. Kozol 02:22.334 --> 02:24.300 in there for a few more. 02:24.400 --> 02:28.133 - Well, most of my center vision has gone. 02:28.234 --> 02:31.167 It really accelerated the last two or three years here. 02:31.267 --> 02:34.501 Like right now, I can't see your face. 02:34.601 --> 02:36.834 My mother, if she were to walk in here today, my wife, 02:36.934 --> 02:38.534 I don't know them by face. 02:38.634 --> 02:41.701 I gotta hear them walk and talk. 02:41.801 --> 02:42.868 Better, much better! 02:42.968 --> 02:44.767 Much better. 02:44.868 --> 02:46.801 - [Narrator] Yet, despite being legally blind, 02:46.901 --> 02:49.734 Mark is able to dissect the smallest movement 02:49.834 --> 02:52.234 in a player's swing, that can make the difference 02:52.334 --> 02:56.400 between a good hitter and a great one. 02:56.501 --> 02:57.367 - You're going to come out of the dugout 02:57.467 --> 02:58.634 when you're ready to bat, right, buddy? 02:58.734 --> 02:59.467 - Yeah. 02:59.567 --> 03:00.901 - [Mark] I can't see their face, 03:01.000 --> 03:04.400 but I can see their outline, see with peripheral vision. 03:04.501 --> 03:07.167 I can see their outline and their movements. 03:07.267 --> 03:09.467 I can see the weight shift. 03:09.567 --> 03:10.567 I can see if they let the bat 03:10.667 --> 03:12.701 lay on the ball naturally long enough. 03:12.801 --> 03:16.167 I can see if their knees started behind their hands, 03:16.267 --> 03:21.300 stuff like that. 03:21.400 --> 03:24.200 I think maybe it's a gift that I can see the whole body 03:24.300 --> 03:26.400 work as one, you know, 03:26.501 --> 03:28.167 my eyes are just, I can see your whole body. 03:28.267 --> 03:30.167 what it's doing in one swing 03:30.267 --> 03:33.968 instead of noticing you've got freckles. 03:38.567 --> 03:40.400 - [Narrator] Mark has worked with thousands of hitters 03:40.501 --> 03:41.567 through the years. 03:41.667 --> 03:43.267 He even developed a friendship 03:43.367 --> 03:45.567 with one of the greatest hitters of all time, 03:45.667 --> 03:48.100 hall of famer, Tony Gwen. 03:48.200 --> 03:50.033 That started with Mark telling him 03:50.133 --> 03:52.534 what he saw in his swing. 03:52.634 --> 03:56.367 Mark's been featured on ESPN and interviewed by Paul Harvey. 03:56.467 --> 03:59.100 Along the way, he became known in baseball 03:59.200 --> 04:02.868 simply as "The Blind Guy". 04:02.968 --> 04:04.801 And I thought, right there, my name is now The Blind Guy, 04:04.901 --> 04:06.033 because you know what? 04:06.133 --> 04:07.601 You'll never forget The Blind Guy. 04:07.701 --> 04:09.501 "Oh, I go to some hitting coach out Calhoun, 04:09.601 --> 04:13.133 "what's his name? John Smith or something? Oh, yeah, oh." 04:13.234 --> 04:13.968 Well, The Blind Guy! 04:14.067 --> 04:14.868 Okay! 04:14.968 --> 04:16.434 Nobody ever forgets the blind guy. 04:16.534 --> 04:19.367 So, it's been a benefit. 04:19.467 --> 04:20.434 Might as well be up front with it. 04:20.534 --> 04:23.334 I don't want to fool you. (laughs) 04:23.434 --> 04:30.200 (onlookers chanting and clapping) 04:30.300 --> 04:31.634 (metal bat hits ball) 04:31.734 --> 04:33.467 Good! 04:33.567 --> 04:34.801 Do about three apiece. 04:34.901 --> 04:36.267 - [Narrator] Mark says it may take him a while 04:36.367 --> 04:37.968 to develop trust with his hitters, 04:38.067 --> 04:40.434 but most quickly become believers. 04:40.534 --> 04:42.334 Mark Pearson is one of them. 04:42.434 --> 04:44.601 He took lessons from the coach as a kid, 04:44.701 --> 04:47.033 and now he's bringing his two daughters and son to him. 04:47.133 --> 04:49.400 - The front foot's not going to move. Take your back foot. 04:49.501 --> 04:51.000 - I don't know how he sees things, but he's, 04:51.100 --> 04:53.133 he'll be over here, and he'll see something over there. 04:53.234 --> 04:55.267 And I think he even hears things. 04:55.367 --> 04:56.801 He can tell, by the way the ball is hit, 04:56.901 --> 04:58.334 on whether, you know, good contact, 04:58.434 --> 05:01.734 how they missed it, or where they missed it. 05:01.834 --> 05:04.734 - [Narrator] For the players, they see results, 05:04.834 --> 05:08.200 not a blind hitting coach. 05:08.300 --> 05:11.767 - I was, like, surprised when I heard, but I didn't, 05:11.868 --> 05:13.200 I didn't even notice. 05:13.300 --> 05:17.734 Like, it felt the same as someone that can see fine. 05:17.834 --> 05:21.000 - I didn't even know when I first got here. 05:21.100 --> 05:22.601 We were driving home, my dad tells me, 05:22.701 --> 05:24.834 and I'm like, "I didn't know that." 05:24.934 --> 05:27.200 Like I couldn't even tell. 05:27.300 --> 05:28.868 - I want to make darn sure that her barrels 05:28.968 --> 05:29.901 come across her here, 05:30.000 --> 05:32.300 because she was under the ball right here. 05:32.400 --> 05:34.868 - [Narrator] And that's just the way Mark likes it. 05:34.968 --> 05:36.334 - [Mark] Alright. 05:36.434 --> 05:37.767 Well, there's people that come in, 05:37.868 --> 05:39.434 and they're pretty skeptical. 05:39.534 --> 05:41.767 Wait, wait a minute. 05:41.868 --> 05:43.067 A blind guy teaching hitting? 05:43.167 --> 05:45.367 And then they just watch the difference 05:45.467 --> 05:46.667 I can make in a few swings, 05:46.767 --> 05:48.868 and I talk to them and tell them what I see. 05:48.968 --> 05:51.400 And, you know, what in the world? 05:51.501 --> 05:52.968 Mentally, you've got to get out of your comfort zone 05:53.067 --> 05:55.334 and look a little higher. 05:55.434 --> 05:56.968 Attaboy, head down. 05:57.067 --> 05:58.801 - [Narrator] Mark plans to keep working with his hitters 05:58.901 --> 06:00.534 for as long as he can. 06:00.634 --> 06:02.567 Like his signs on the wall, 06:02.667 --> 06:04.000 he's got plenty more advice 06:04.100 --> 06:06.601 for those who want to listen. 06:06.701 --> 06:09.234 It could make them a better hitter, 06:09.334 --> 06:13.367 or just better at the game of life. 06:13.467 --> 06:14.634 - It's pretty simple. 06:14.734 --> 06:16.834 You're going to get knocked down about every other day, 06:16.934 --> 06:18.067 just plan on it. 06:18.167 --> 06:19.667 Don't let it surprise you. 06:19.767 --> 06:21.601 But just get back up. 06:21.701 --> 06:22.701 You're going to strike out, 06:22.801 --> 06:24.834 just get back up, just keep swinging. 06:24.934 --> 06:26.567 Great job. 06:26.667 --> 06:28.133 You're going to have bad days, 06:28.234 --> 06:31.100 we all do, but just keep swinging. 06:31.200 --> 06:33.200 Good job! Next hitter. 06:33.300 --> 06:35.200 - [Narrator] That, from a legally blind guy, 06:35.300 --> 06:39.167 who sees things pretty clearly. 06:39.267 --> 06:41.734 - Good effort! 06:41.834 --> 06:42.634 Beautiful! 06:42.734 --> 06:44.033 Give me a couple more of them. 06:44.133 --> 06:45.133 Beautiful.