Associated Press - August 29, 2009 2:24 PM ET

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - A Lawrence man has taken on major roles in beep baseball after an injury left him blind in 1981.

John Parker was serving an official at a soccer league game when a ball hit him squarely in the face.

Since the injury, Parker has played 20 years of beep baseball, a sport created for the visually impaired.

He was also elected the first president of the Kansas Association of Blind Athletes.

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