In Tampa Bay, a man named Enrique Oliu provides the color commentary for the Devil
Rays. The fact that he reels off his play-by-play in Spanish is interesting,
but what’s far more remarkable is that he does it without actually seeing
a single pitch, spotting a single fly ball, or catching even a glimpse of a runner
stealing a base. Enrique Oliu, you see, is legally blind, and has been since
birth. But as New Florida learned, that’s only helped to give him a unique
vision of the game.
Lowery Ballew may not wear a team uniform, but he plays every single game. He
can send 65,000 fans jumping to their feet, but he’s never hit a homerun.
He’s known for his pitch, but he’s not a pitcher. What kind of
ball player is Lowery Ballew? He’s the ballpark organist for the Florida
Marlins. New Florida catches a show.
Bake sales, raffles, car washes … there are lots of ways for a little
league team to raise funds for new uniforms or a road trip. But in Wellington,
Florida, the Warriors have come up with a new way: bats as art. New Florida tags
along with the team to see if their scheme to auction off painted bats will hit
a homerun.
At over 700,000 acres, it may seem odd that Big
Cypress National Preserve was named one of the ten most endangered parks
in the nation by the National Parks Conservation Association in 2001. But the
park’s fragile ecosystem is shared not just by panthers and bears, but
by off-road vehicles and even oil wells. New Florida visits Big Cypress to
see how people who use the park are striving to strike a delicate balance between
these alternative uses.
