()

R.J. Oriez ©Stars and StripesCamp Zama, Japan, May 5, 1989: Eddie Feigner, right, gets some last-minute guidance in locating home plate as he prepares to pitch blindfolded — one of his trademark routines —during The King and His Court's exhibition softball game against the Zama All-Stars. Organized in 1946, Feigner's four-man team was to softball what the Harlem Globetrotters are to basketball — very talented performers who also kept the crowd laughing. Few opponents had much to laugh about, though; Feigner's fastball was once clocked at 104 mph, and he reportedly struck out 141,517 batters — 8,698 of them while pitching blindfolded — during his career.

RELATED MATERIAL: Stars and Stripes' 1989 story about The King and his Court.