History of Softball

“Pain is Temporary, Pride is Forever.”

Although many people assume that softball was derived from baseball, the
sport’s first game actually came about because of a football game. The history of
softball dates back to Thanksgiving Day of 1887, when several alumni sat in the
Chicago, Illinois Farragut Boat
Club, anxiously awaiting the
outcome of the Yale versus
Harvard football game. When
Yale was announced as winner,
a Yale alumnus playfully threw
a boxing glove at a Harvard
supporter. The Harvard fan
swung at the balled-up glove
with a stick, and the rest of the
group looked on with interest.
George Hancock, a reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade, jokingly called out,
“Play ball!” and the first softball game commenced with the football fans using the
boxing glove as a ball and a broom handle in place of a bat.
Due to the initial excitement surrounding the game, the Farragut Boat Club
decided to officially devise their own set of rules, and the game quickly leaked to
outsiders in Chicago and,
eventually, throughout the rest
of the Midwestern U.S. As the
history of softball shaped itself
over the next decade, the
game went under the guise of
“indoor baseball,” “kitten
baseball,” “diamond ball,”
Lewis Rober, Back Row 1st on the right “mush ball,” and “pumpkin
ball.” In 1926, Walter
Hakanson coined the term “softball” while representing the YMCA at a National
Recreation Congress meeting, and by 1930, the term stuck as the sport’s official
name.
Leo Fischer and Michael Pauley decided to organize softball on a more
national basis. They brought thousands of softball teams together into state
organizations and from there into one national organization. In 1934 membership
on the Joint Rules Committee added the Amateur Softball Association. This helped
to cement softball and its rules. The formation of the ASA gave softball the
foundation it needed to develop. Pauley and Fischer visited many of the states,
inviting teams to participate in the tournament at the World’s Fair in Chicago. On
the opening day of the 1933 tournament, the Chicago American said, "it is the
largest and most comprehensive tournament ever held in the sport which has
swept the country like wildfire."70,000 people saw the first round of play. Chicago
teams won the three divisions of play with Softball Hall of Famer Harry (Coon)
Rosen leading the J.L. Friedman Boosters to the men's title.
In 1935, the Playground Association Softball Guide, wrote: "the years of
persistent effort, constant promotion and unchanging faith of believers in softball
proved to have not been in vain, for in 1934 softball came into its own. All over
America hundreds of leagues and thousands of players enthusiastically accepted
this major team game.” "The promotional activities
of the ASA played an important part in stimulating
the interest that has been developing for many
years. The battle for recognition of this splendid
game is over. Softball has won a place among
America's foremost sports."
The All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball
League was founded by Phillip K. Wrigley. It was in
existence from 1943-1954, and was started to keep
the public eye on baseball after the majority of men
were overseas fighting in WWII.
The first four players to sign with
While the sport was originally advertised as an the indoor
AAGPBL:game for Schillace,
L-R: Claire baseball
Ann Harnett and Edythe Perlick.
players looking to maintain their dexterity during the off season, it gained so much
Seated: Shirley Jameson. Photo
popularity and recognition that it quickly became itscourtesy
own official sport. InIndiana
of Northern 1991,
women’s fast pitch softball was added to the roster Center for
of History Collection.
the 1996 Summer
Olympics—a landmark many people recognize as the ultimate success of a sport.
Although softball was later dropped from the 2012 Summer Olympics lineup, the
game is still one of the most popular participant sports in the United States and 113
countries have officially joined the International Softball Federation since the
organization’s formation in 1952.
According to the official rules developed early in the history of softball, and
eventually defined by the International Softball Federation, there are nine players
on the field at a time. The players take the positions of pitcher, catcher, first
baseman, second baseman, shortstop, third baseman, and outfielder. Usually,
there are three outfielders holding the positions of right fielder, left fielder, and
center fielder. However, slow pitch softball allows for a fourth person in the
outfield. Similar to baseball, the team with the most runs at the end of the seventh
inning is named the winner. However, if the teams are tied at the end of the
seventh inning, the game can go into extra innings, until the tie is broken.
Today, softball is one of the most popular sports in the country, and an
estimated 40 million Americans engage in at least one softball game each year.
Because it can be played on either a field or an indoor arena, softball games are
played year round and involve teams with players as young as 8 years old and some
players over 60 years in age. Softball is sometimes played by co-recreational
leagues, where both women and men play on the same teams, but the rules are
generally modified to reduce physical inequalities between the sexes. Often,
companies and organizations form amateur coed teams to play for benefits and
charity fund-raiser events.
The history of softball is still unfolding, and the game has undergone
numerous modifications since its creation in 1887, but it is still one of the most
preferred sports games in the country and has developed a following in several
countries throughout the world, especially in Australia, China, and Japan. Loved by
amateurs and professionals of all ages and athletic backgrounds, the world can only
anticipate what is in store for the future of America’s other favorite pastime.
Dot Richardson, Jennie Finch and Jessica Mendoza are some of the
prominent players in softball. Dot Richardson is the most popular of them. Dot
Richardson began receiving attention for her softball skills when she was just 13
years old. The youngest player at the Women’s Major Fastpitch National
Championship, her ensuing career spanned over 25
years. First, she competed at Western Illinois and
UCLA. Then, she played on many pro teams, most
with the Raybestos Brakettes in Stratford,
Connecticut.
Richardson won two gold medals in the 1996 and
2000 Olympics, respectively. Her success at
shortstop was legendary, but she was also known for
her lightning-fast pitching. Since playing, Richardson
has focused not only on coaching but a career in
medicine.