MY SPORTS HERO'S

It was intended as a sort of substitute for baseball, a way of keeping in shape during the winter months. While forms of the game achieved some popularity, they were of minor importance compared with the widely played outdoor game of modern
softball. Such names as kitten ball, army ball, mush ball, indoor-outdoor, recreation ball, and playground ball were given to the relatively unorganized sport.

Early in the 20th century interest grew in playing softball outdoors as well as indoors. In 1908 the National Amateur  Playground Ball Association of the United States was organized to promote outdoor play with the larger ball. In 1923 the National Recreation Congress appointed a committee to standardize the game, and in 1926 the name "softball" was applied  to it, although not officially.

During the depression years the game made further strides, in part because it was less expensive to play. In 1933 world championships were held under the auspices of the Amateur Softball Association of America, which has since been the major ruling body in the United States. The first men's champions were the J. L. Gills of Chicago, and the first women's champions the Great Northerns of the same city. Though teams competing for the championships are amateurs, they are usually sponsored by industrial organizations. Since 1933 softball has been the official name of the game.

In 1934 a Joint Rules Committee was formed for further standardization of the game. There have been rule changes since that time, notably in 1946, when teams were reduced from 10 players on a side to 9. The former tenth player was the short fielder, who roamed in shallow outfield territory behind the infield. In 1950 the distance between the pitcher's plate and home plate was increased for men, from 43 feet to 46 feet (13.114 meters).

In number of participants, softball had become a major team game. Smaller dimensions made more fields available. Women, as well as men, play. Furthermore, men beyond their athletic prime of life can enjoy informal play at picnics and outings without undergoing the conditioning and practice routines necessary for similar participation in baseball.

In the 1960's some 125,000 teams were registered with the Amateur Softball Association of America, which promoted six national tournaments each year. This did not include members of both sexes who played the game informally. Softball is also highly popular in many countries where baseball has a following notably Canada, Mexico, Cuba, and South America.
In 1949 a Canadian team, Toronto's Tip Top Tailors, won the men's world championship conducted annually in the United States by the Amateur Softball Association. In the first truly international world championship for men, held in 1966 under the sponsorship of the International Softball Federation, the United States defeated Mexico in the finals. Australia won the first international championship for women in 1965.

Softball is, by general agreement, not as spectacular to watch as baseball when played by topnotch professionals, because of the slower ball and the shorter distances involved. However, when played well, it is an extremely skillful game, and a number of major league baseball stars have graduated from softball ranks.

Rules

Actually the name "softball" is somewhat of a misnomer. The modern softball, unlike the earlier big indoor baseball, is nearly as hard as a baseball. Its larger size, however, tends to cause fewer finger injuries. In informal play, fielders can handle it without gloves. When batted, a softball does not consistently travel as fast and far as a baseball.

The ball is filled with fiber kapok, wrapped with twisted yarn covered with latex or rubber cement. The outer cover is of chrome tanned cowhide or horsehide. The ball is between 117/8 inches and 121/8 inches in circumference, as against between 9 inches and 91/4 inches for a baseball. It weighs between 6 and 63/4 ounces, compared with between 5 and   51/4 ounces for a baseball. In total area the softball is about twice that of the baseball, but it is lighter in proportion to its size.

The softball bat is restricted to a maximum of 34 inches in length, as against a permissible 42 inches in baseball, and the diameter at the largest part may not exceed 21/4 inches as against baseball's 23/4 inches. Shorter bats than 34 inches are used by most players. The rules for gloves and mitts roughly parallel those for baseball. Softball permits the wearing of mitts only by the catcher and the first baseman, but other players may wear gloves. Masks are mandatory for catchers, and body  protectors likewise mandatory for female catchers in formal adult play. The uniform is similar to that for baseball, except  that longer trousers are worn.

The larger ball and the rule requiring underhand pitching might give the impression that the batter in softball enjoys more advantages than in baseball. Precisely the opposite is true. The bat is narrower; and unless the larger ball is hit almost dead  center, an underhit "pop-up" or an overtopped weak "dribbler" is apt to result.

More important, the softball pitcher is 46 feet (14 meters) away from the batter, the baseball pitcher 601/2 feet (18.4  meters). This shorter distance is more important than might appear from the figures, and the fact is that a first-rate softball  pitcher scores many strikeouts and may hold the opposition run- less and sometimes hitless. In top-level play, softball is  consistently a more defensive lower-scoring game than baseball.

Although he throws underhand, a skillful softball pitcher achieves great speed and is able to throw curves. Change of pace alternating fast and slow pitches are also highly effective, because the shorter pitching distance gives the batter less chance
to anticipate the change.

  Pitching rules are complex, as in baseball, but the major difference from baseball is essentially as follows:

  "A legal delivery shall be a ball which is delivered to the batter with an underhand motion. The release of the ball and the  follow-through of the hand and wrist must be forward past the straight line of the body. The hand shall be below the hip and  the wrist not farther from the body than the elbow. The pitch is completed with a step toward the batter."

  The smaller softball field has been mentioned. In addition to shorter pitching distances (only 40 feet, or 12.2 meters, for  women), the distances between bases are 60 feet (18.3 meters) instead of 90 feet (27.4 meters). In some informal play for
younger participants these distances may be reduced further, such as 55 feet (16.8 meters). There is no 15-inch-high (381 mm) pitcher's mound as in baseball. The pitcher's plate, or "rubber," is set level with the ground. It and the home plate are of the same size and shape as those used in baseball.

.