Baseball was founded in the 18th century and was derived from the European game of cricket. By the time the American Revolution began, contrasting variations of baseball were played nationwide. In September 1845, a group of men founded the New York Knickerbocker Baseball Club. One of these members, Alexander Joy Cartwright, is responsible for creating the modern-day rules of baseball. The Knickerbockers started the first official game of baseball in 1846 against a team of cricket players. On the other hand, softball was first developed on Thanksgiving Day 1887, while several men were awaiting the outcome of the Yale vs. Harvard football game in a Chicago boat club. When Yale was announced as the winner, a Yale alumni member playfully threw …show more content…
ESPN’s television series called Sports Science addresses the aspects of speed in fastpitch softball. According to Sports Science, from the release of the pitch, a 70 mile per hour softball can reach home plate in as little as .35 seconds. When the pitch is released, a 100 mile per hour baseball can reach home plate in .38 seconds. The softball batter must decide to swing in as little as .025 seconds. The baseball batter must decide in .055 seconds if he should swing. Also, since the size of a softball field is smaller, the offense gains an advantage. In baseball, since the size of the field is larger, the defense gains an advantage. As two of the most difficult sports, softball and baseball are often misunderstood for each other, although, their similarities make mistaking the sports easy to do. Through the differences in regulations, pitching, and offense, fastpitch softball is proven to be more difficult than baseball, even though the sports are quite comparable. Now when baseball players believe that their sport is more demanding, they can be proven
As a pitcher, Jennie has few peers. She has five pitches—rise-ball, curveball, screwball, drop-ball and changeup—and can throw all with great control. Jennie regularly hits 70 mph on the radar gun, which from 46 feet is comparable to a Nolan Ryan fastball—with a lot more movement. One the keys to her success is the ability to deliver her changeup with the same arm speed as her hard stuff. Intimidation is another weapon. Some hitters (including a few big leaguers) are actually scared to stand in the batter’s box against her.
Softball was developed as an indoor game in 1887 by George W.Hancock in Chicago. He used a 17-inch ball with outward turned seams. In the Spring of 1888, Hancock’s game moved outdoors. It was played on a small diamond and called indoor-outdoor. In 1889 Hancock published the first set of rules because of such high popularity in the sport. In 1895 a fire department officer with the name of Lewis Rober decided that he needed an activity to keep the firefighters active during their free time. Rober was unfamiliar with Hancock’s version of the game and in 1895 adapted the game for outdoor play. Rober used a 12-inch ball with a cover like a baseball. In 1900, Rober named the league Kitten League Ball.
The rules of baseball and softball are extremely complex, so only the basics are necessary to distinguish the sports. In both sports the primary rule is to advance the runner around the bases to home plate when the ball is hit. In baseball stealing the bases is another way to advance the runner, but this is not permitted in softball because the ball must be hit before a runner can leave the base. Baseball requires nine innings to complete a game, and softball only requires seven. The softball player is out if the last hit is a foul ball, while the baseball player stays at the plate until another strike is called or hits successfully. As one can see, a player that switches games must familiarize himself with the difference in the rules to succeed.
“Batter up!” the umpire yelled from behind home plate on the diamond-shaped field for the inning to begin. Adrenaline rushed through the players’ veins as the crowd cheering echoed from the bleachers to the outfield. Softball and baseball are team sports which both require an umpire and a diamond shaped field. All players are important. Most aspects of the games are the same. Each team has only nine players on the field at nine different positions. Each inning ends when there are three outs. Baseball generally consists of nine innings, whereas softball usually is played in seven innings. People think that softball is not as tough as baseball because they think that softball is a soft sport. I have been playing softball for about ten years, but prior to that I played baseball. However, the game of softball is on a whole different level. Softball plays require much more speed, and there is a greater possibility of getting injured. The game of softball is more hazardous and fast-paced than baseball.
Softball Softball, what is it for people? Most people see it as just a game, others a way of life and many others believe in something else. Even if you don’t play softball or any sport for that matter. We can all agree that when we find our passion, we find meaning in it. It can impact your life in a good or bad way.
Like many sports the rules of softball have changed threw out history. Anyone who plays softball knows mother nature has a huge role in the game. We play outside on a field so rain, lightning, and thunder don't always get along with the game schedule. When softball was first thought of this was not a problem as the game was played inside. It was originally used for baseball players to
The first component we can look at is the pitching/hitting element of the two. In baseball (pro, college and high school) the distance from the pitcher’s mound to home plate is 60 feet 6 inches. In softball, college level is 43 feet from the mound to home plate, and high
Though the practices performed within softball literacy do not immediately seem as if they should be considered a literacy practice, according to two of the six propositions about the nature of literacy, it is. Not only does it involve the physical performance from a play, but also includes formal writings, new rules and regulations, and offer different rules in different countries. I think softball should be counted as a literacy practice because it appeals to Barton and Hamilton’s propositions and includes artifacts that make it a community and artifacts that provide the players with essential people skills.
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Major League Baseball, much like the majority of other American institutions, was racially segregated. A color barrier was implemented during baseball’s infancy in order to separate people of different race to cater to the white American players. The color barrier was an unofficial “rule” that hindered those with dark skin from playing baseball for Major League teams. The color barrier was enforced by preventing any teams with a colored player from competing at the professional level. Many team owners, umpires, and players justified their opposition to allowing blacks to play by declaring that only whites could uphold the "gentlemanly character" of professional baseball. Others argued that excluding blacks would prevent future racial resentment between the ethnicities, as players of different races would be competing for the same job opportunities.
The first reason is, softball players have less time to react to the ball while batting and fielding. Softball fields are closer and smaller than baseball fields. Baseball infields are 16,700 feet and softball infields are only 7,200 feet. This leaves softball players in the infield, outfield and the batters with less time to react to a pitch or a hit. The distance from home plate to the pitcher's mound in softball is 43 feet while in baseball it is 60 feet. Sarah Trifoso plays for the Niagra Purple Eagles
Impact: Alexander Cartwright’s changes made the game faster-paced and more challenging while setting it apart from games like cricket and rounders. In 1846, the Knickerbockers (Cartwright’s team) played the first official game of baseball against a team of cricket players, beginning a new, uniquely American tradition. In a matter of years, baseball became a professional
Other than statistics math is constant being used with in every play. Reaction time is where it all starts, with the simple equation of Time = Distance / Velocity. I know hitting a baseball isn't the toughest thing in sports. But hitting a softball just might be. The reaction time to hit a softball is less than hitting a baseball. When counting in milliseconds, 20-20 vision isn't enough. For example Jennie Finch toured the country striking out Major League Baseball players such as Pujols and Piazza who have less reaction time against her 60 mph pitch from 43 feet (0.350 sec) than they do against a 95 mph baseball pitch from 60 feet 6 inches (0.395). Many don’t realize how much more mathematical softball is but now I can say it a lot more than just putting that jersey on and balling
Over the past fifteen to twenty years women's fastpitch softball popularity has continued to grow and spread internationally. By the mid-1990s it was played in more than 85 countries under the eye of the International Softball Federation (ISF). It has become increasingly popular among women at the youth and collegiate levels. More than 630 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) member institutions sponsor women's softball programs, and national championships for women are held in all three NCAA sports divisions (Encarta, 1998). In 1991 women's fastpitch softball was selected to debut as a medal sport in the 1996 Olympic Summer Games in Columbia, Georgia. The U.S. won the gold medal in the 1996 Olympic Games due to a good defense and great hitters on the team. Even though defense and pitching are critical and vital parts of the game, a successful team must have an effective offense to win the game. Among all the standout hitters on the U.S. Olympic team, two of the best are Dot Richardson and Lisa Fernadez. Both Lisa and Dot have picture-perfect swings, which have made them very productive throughout their careers. Today there is a women's professional fastpitch softball league. Interest in the Women's Professional Softball League (WPSL) has been increasing for the last three years and continues to grow each year.
The big question for people who don’t play this question is really, what is softball? Softball is a little bit more modified version of baseball but softball is played on a smaller field,with a larger ball, played with 7 innings instead of 9 and with underarm pitch in a circular motion. Now that we know what the basic part of softball is let’s talk about the equipment. The equipment used to play softball is a bat about waist level give or
Americans began playing baseball on informal teams, using local rules, in the early 1800s. By the 1860s, the sport, unrivaled in popularity, was being described as America's "national pastime." Alexander Joy Cartwright of New York invented the modern baseball field in 1845. Alexander Cartwright and the members of his New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club devised the first rules and regulations for the modern game of baseball.