How Was Softball Invented?

Introduction

     My favorite sport to play is softball. 

     Mostly I play pitcher and I love to strike people out, but when I'm not pitching I play third base and first base. I’ve always been curious about how the game of softball was invented. Keep reading to find out. 

How Softball Started

     Twenty men were listening to the Yale-Harvard football game on Thanksgiving Day in 1887. Yale won the game 18-7. 

     After the game, one of Yale's fans threw a boxing glove at one of the Harvard fans, so the Harvard fan hit the glove with a broomstick. 

     And this is how the game of softball started.

Inventing the Rules

    George Hancock was a newspaper reporter watching the football fans hit the boxing glove with the broomstick.

    George Hancock thought the game looked fun and interesting, so he made rules for his game based on the game of baseball. 

     The biggest difference is the size of the ball. Like the boxing glove, a softball is a lot bigger than a baseball. A softball is about 12 inches around and baseball is about 9 inches around.

     The game of softball was invented for baseball players to play both indoors and outdoors, and to sharpen the skills of baseball players when it was too cold or snowy to play baseball outside during winter.    

The Early Years

     At the end of the 19th century “Indoor-Outdoor Baseball’’ game really took off when the Minneapolis Fire Department got hold of the game.

     Lewis Rober was a Minneapolis firefighter. Thanks to Lewis Rober, the first outdoor league was started in 1895. Lewis named his first team the Kittens.

The Name “Softball”

     The "Indoor-Outdoor Baseball" game first became known as "Kitten Ball" because of the name of Lewis Rober's team. The game also became known by other names such as "Diamond Ball", "Pumpkin Ball", and "Mush Ball".

     The name "Softball" did not exist until the 1920's. Walter Hakanson was working for the YMCA in Denver, Colorado.  Hakanson was the first person to suggest calling the "Indoor-Outdoor Baseball" game by the name "Softball", and finally that name stuck. We have been using the name softball ever since.

Underhand Pitching

    In 1933 at the Chicago World's Fair the pitching was reported to be done underhand. This was the first time in history when a softball pitcher pitched underhand.

Why Softball Became Popular

     In the early 1900’s most sports were made only for men and boys. The only three sports for women were field hockey, rowing, and softball.

     Softball is similar to baseball but with a larger ball and the field is also smaller and the pitchers do underhand pitching.

Indoor or Outdoor

     Softball was made to be a safer and easier version of baseball that could be played indoors or outdoors. This helped more people enjoy it and made softball very popular.

     Cold winters made baseball hard to play. Softball could be played all year because it can be played indoors, so it became popular for people of all ages.

Fixing the Rules

     Over the years, each community would make up their own set of softball rules. As softball became popular and spread from place to place, standard rules needed to be written that all places could follow.

     A group called the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) was created to make the same rules for softball no matter where it was played.

Fastpitch and Olympic Softball

     Fastpitch softball was added to college sports program in 1972 as a baseball equivalent. 

     Today softball continues to be played all around the world by people of all ages, from  Little Leagues to high school and colleges to senior leagues.

      Softball has even been played in the Summer Olympics. The United States won the first ever gold medal in Women's Softball at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

     In 2028, softball will return to the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.

Author's Note

     I was inspired to create my website because softball is my favorite sport. I really wanted to know how it was invented and I learned a lot of stuff! I hope you did, too!