Softball

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This article is about the sport. For other uses, see Soft ball (disambiguation).

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Softball

Highest governing body

International Softball Federation

First played

United States, 1887

Characteristics

Team members

2 teams of 910

Softball is a variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented in 1888 in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground, softbund ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' baseball. The name softball was given to the game in 1926. A tournament (1933) at the Chicago World's Fair spurred interest in the game. The Amateur Softball Association of America (founded 1933) governs the game in the United States and sponsors annual sectional and World Series championships. The International Softball Federation regulates rules of play in more than 110 countries, including the United States and Canada. Women's fast-pitch softball became an Olympic sport in 1996, but it (and baseball) was dropped in 2005 from the 2012 games. Despite the name, the ball used is not soft. It is about 12 in. (30 cm) in circumference (sometimes larger for slow-pitch), which is 3 in. (8 cm) larger than a baseball. The infield in softball is smaller than in baseball; each base is 60 ft (18 m) from the next, as opposed to baseball's 90 ft. (27 m). There are two types of softball: in the most common, slow-pitch softball, the ball, sometimes larger than the standard 12 in, must arch on its path to the batter, 10 players make up a team, and bunting and stealing are prohibited; in fast-pitch softball the pitch is fast, there are 9 players on a team, and bunting and stealing are permitted. Softball rules vary somewhat from those of baseball. Two major differences are that the ball must be pitched underhandfrom 46 ft. (14 m) for men or 43 ft. (12 m)[1] for women as compared with 60.5 ft. (18.4 m) in baseballand that seven innings instead of nine constitute a regulation game.[2]

Contents
[hide]

1 History 2 Overview 3 Game play

o o o

3.1 Official baseline dimensions 3.2 Fast pitch pitching distances 3.3 Slow pitch pitching distances[14]

4 Equipment

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4.1 Ball 4.2 Bat 4.3 Gloves 4.4 Uniform 4.5 Protective equipment

5 Umpires 6 Gameplay

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6.1 Pitching 6.2 Batters 6.3 Getting the batter out 6.4 Advancing around the bases

o o

6.4.1 Special circumstances

6.5 Scoring runs 6.6 Ending the game

7 Positions

o o o o o o o

7.1 Pitcher 7.2 Catcher 7.3 First baseman 7.4 Second baseman 7.5 Shortstop 7.6 Third baseman 7.7 Outfielders

8 Modification of rules

8.1 Indoor play

9 International competition

o o o o o o

9.1 New Zealand 9.2 Australia 9.3 Japan 9.4 China 9.5 Europe 9.6 United States

10 See also 11 References 12 External links

[edit]History

First photo of a Softball team, Chicago, 1897

Indoor baseball player, 1907

The earliest known softball game was played in Chicago, Illinois on Thanksgiving Day, 1887. It took place at the Farragut Boat Club to hear the outcome of the Yale and Harvard football game.[3] When the score was announced and bets were settled, a Yale alumnus threw a boxing glove at a Harvard supporter. The other person grabbed a stick and swung at it. George Hancock called out "Play ball!" and the game began, with the boxing glove tightened into a ball, a broom handle serving as a bat. This first contest ended with a score of 4140.[4] The ball, being soft, was fielded barehanded.[5][6] George Hancock is credited as the game's inventor for his development of ball and an undersized bat in the next week. The Farragut Club soon set rules for the game, which spread quickly to outsiders. Envisioned as a way for baseball players to maintain their skills during the winter, the sport was called "Indoor Baseball".[7] Under the name of "Indoor-Outdoor", the game moved outside in the next year, and the first rules were published in 1889.[7] In 1895 Lewis Rober, Sr. of Minneapolis organized outdoor games as exercise for firefighters; this game was known as kitten ball (after the first team to play it), lemon ball, or diamond ball.[4] Rober's version of the game used a ball 12 inches (305 mm) in circumference, rather than the 16-inch (406 mm) ball used by the Farragut club, and eventually the Minneapolis ball prevailed, although the dimenscluded "mush ball", and "pumpkin ball".[4]) The name softball had spread across the United States by 1930.[8] By the 1930s, similar sports with different rules and names were being played all over the United States and Canada. The formation of the Joint Rules Committee on Softball in 1934 standardized the rules and naming throughout the United States. [7] Sixteen-inch softball, also sometimes referred to as "mushball" or "super-slow pitch", is a direct descendant of Hancock's original game. Defensive players are not allowed to wear fielding gloves. Sixteen-inch softball is played extensively in Chicago,[9] where devotees such as the late Mike Royko consider it the "real" game,[10] and New Orleans. In New Orleans, sixteen-inch softball is called "Cabbage Ball" and is a popular team sport in area elementary and high schools. By the 1940s, fast pitching began to dominate the game. Although slow pitch was present at the 1933 World's Fair, the main course of action taken was to lengthen the pitching distance. Slow pitch achieved formal recognition in 1953 when it was added to the program of the Amateur Softball Association, and within a decade had surpassed fast pitch in popularity.[7] The first British women's softball league was established in 1952.[7] In 1991, women's fast-pitch softball was selected to debut at the 1996 Summer Olympics.[4] The 1996 Olympics also marked a key era in the introduction of technology in softball; the IOC funded a landmark biomechanical study on pitching during the games. In 2002, sixteen-inch slow pitch was written out of the ISF official rules, although it is still played extensively in the United States under The Amateur Softball Association of America, or ASA rules.

The 117th meeting of the International Olympic Committee, held in Singapore in July 2005, voted to drop softball and baseball as Olympic sports for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.[11] Other sanctioning bodies of softball are AAU, NSA, PONY, ASA, ISC, USSSA, and ISA.

[edit]Overview
Softball is played between two teams on a large field, with 10 players from one team on the field at a time. The field is usually composed of a dirt or brickdust infield which contains the quadrilateral shape and running areas, and a grass outfield. However, the field also can consist of all dirt, grass, artificial turf, or, in areas such as New York City, asphalt . There are 4 bases on the infield (first base, second base,third base,and home plate); the bases are arranged in a square and are typically 45 to 65 feet (13,7 to 19,8 meters) apart. Near the center of this square is the pitcher's circle, and within the circle is the "rubber", a small flat rectangular piece of rubber about a foot and a half in length. The rubber can be 40 or 43 feet away from home plate, depending on age level and also the league one is playing in. The object of the game is to score more runs (points) than the other team by batting (hitting) a ball into play and running around the bases, touching each one in succession. The ball is a sphere of light material, covered with leather or synthetic material. It is 10 to 12 inches (or rarely, 16 inches[12]) (28 to 30.5 centimeters) in circumference. The game is officiated by one or more neutral umpires. Players and umpires are generally free to ask for a brief stoppage at any time when the ball is not in play, or immediately following a play once its outcome is clear. The game is played in a series of innings, usually 7 (youth leagues may play 6). There is no time limit or clock as in other sports, although amateur leagues often impose a time limit for practical reasons. An inning is one series of both teams playing offense and defense. Each inning is divided into a top half and a bottom half indicating which team is playing which role. The offense bats and attempts to score runs, while the defense occupies the field and attempts to record outs in a variety of ways. After the defense records 3 outs, the half inning is over and the teams switch roles. To start play, the offense sends a batter to home plate. The batting order must be fixed at the start of the game, and players may not bat out of turn. The defense's pitcher stands atop the rubber and throws the ball towards home plate using an underhanded motion. The batter attempts to hit the pitched ball with a bat, a long, round, smooth stick made of wood, metal or composite. A pitch must fly over plate within an area known as the strike zone: it must cross over home plate, and as it crosses it must be above the knees and slightly below the shoulders (roughly the armpit or the shirt logo). The strike zone therefore varies from batter to batter, and the umpire behind home plate is the sole arbiter of what is or is not a valid pitch. A pitch which is outside the strike zone is a ball, and if the batter reaches 4 balls, the batter is awarded the first base. A pitch which crosses the strike zone is a strike, and a batter who reaches 3 strikes is out (a strikeout), and the next batter in the order comes to bat. A strike is also recorded on any pitch that the batter swings at and misses entirely, and also on a pitch that is hit foul (out of play). A foul ball may or may not result in a strikeout dependent upon what

association and local league rules. However, bunting a foul ball does result in a strikeout. In some associations and leagues, bunting is not allowed and results in an out. The batter attempts to swing the bat and hit the ball fair (into the field of play). After a successful hit the batter becomes a baserunner (or runner) and must run to first base. The defense attempts to fieldthe ball and may throw the ball freely between players, so one player can field the ball while another moves to a position to put out the runner. The defense can tag the runner, by touching the runner with the ball while the runner is not on a base. The defense can also touch first base while in possession of the ball; in this case it is sufficient to beat the batter to first base and an actual tag of the batter is unnecessary. A runner is said to be thrown out when the play involves two or more defensive players. Runners generally cannot be put out when touching a base, but only one runner may occupy a base at any time and runners may not pass each other. When a ball is batted into play, runners generally must attempt to advance if there are no open bases behind them; for example, a runner on first base must run to second base if the batter puts the ball in play. In such a situation, the defense can throw to the base that the lead runner is attempting to take (a force out), and the defense can then also throw to the previous base. This can result in a multiple-out play: a double play is two outs, while a triple play, a very rare occurrence, is three outs. Runners with an open base behind them are not forced to advance and do so at their own risk; the defense must tag such runners directly to put them out rather than tagging the base. A ball which is hit in the air and caught before hitting the ground is an immediate out, regardless of whether the ball would have landed fair or foul. A fly ball is a ball hit high and deep, a pop fly is a ball hit high but short, and a line drive is a ball hit close to the horizontal. In any such situation, runners must remain on their bases until the ball is touched by a defensive player or hits the ground. If a runner leaves the base before a fly ball, pop fly, or line drive is touched or contacts the ground, the defense can throw the ball to that base, and if the base is tagged before the runner returns, the runner is out as well, resulting in a double play. If the runner remains on the base until the ball is touched, or returns to the base after the catch but before the defense can put him out, he is said to tag up and may attempt to advance to the next base at his own risk. If there are less than two batters out and runners on 1st and 2nd bases and the batter hits a pop fly in the infield, the batter is automatically out to prevent unfair play by the fielders. Unfair play may result from infielders deliberately dropping the ball to try and achieve a double play. This rule is called the infield fly rule. Offensive strategy is fairly straight forward, revolving around hitting the ball to let the batter reach base safely and to advance the base runners towards home plate to score runs. Defensive strategy can be more complex, with particular situations calling for different positioning and tactical decision making based on the number of outs and positions of any baserunners. For both sides, there can be a trade-off between outs and runs: the offense can sacrifice a batter to advance runners, while the defense may allow a runner to score if the remaining runners can be put out in a double play.