SOFTBALL GAME

 

 

 

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Adamson University batting during a game in women's play.
(Photo courtesy of ASAPHIL)

 

 

 

The seven-day Cebuana Lhuillier National Softball

Open championships hosted by Baguio City

concluded with the victories of Rizal Technological

University (RTU) in the men’s division and University

 of Santo Tomas (UST) in the women’s division.

RTU Blue Thunder’s win against Cavite Province-Philippine

Navy All Stars, 4-2, was their seventh straight, while

protecting their unbeaten records the past two years

 when they triumphed in the recent State Colleges

 and Universities Athletic Association, Commission

 on Higher Education meets and the Softball Pilipinas

first semi-pro tilt, all this year, the 2009 Association

of Southeast Asian Nations championship in Brunei,

 and the Philippine Olympic Festival.

 

 

 

 

The name softball was given to the game in 1926. A

tournament held in 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 World Baseball Softball Confederation

 (WBSC) regulates rules of play in more than 110 countries

, including the United States and Canada; before the WBSC

 was formed in 2013, the International Softball Federation

filled this role. Women's fast-pitch softball became a

Summer Olympic sport in 1996, but it (and baseball)

were dropped in 2005 from the 2012 games.

There are two types of softball. In the most common type,

 slow-pitch softball, the ball, sometimes larger than the

 standard 12 inches, must arch on its path to the batter;

 there are 10 players in a team; and bunting and stealing

are prohibited. In fastpitch softball, the pitch is fast, there

are 9 players on the field at one time, and bunting and

stealing are permitted. Softball rules vary some

what from those of baseball. Two major differences

are that the ball must be pitched underhand—from

46 ft. (14 m) for men or 43 ft. (12 m)^[1] for women

as compared with 60.5 ft. (18.4 m) in baseball—and

 that seven innings instead of nine constitute a regulation game.^[2]

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

Softball is played between two teams on a large field,

 with 9 players from one team on the field at a time.

The field is usually composed of a dirt or brick-dust

 infield which contains the quadrilateral shape and

 running areas, and a grass outfield. However, the field

 can consist of other solid and dry surfaces such as

 artificial turf or 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 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.

 

 

 

 

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 Thanksgi

ving 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.

 

 

 

In 1934, the Joint Rules Committee on Softball collaborated

 to create a set of standardized rules. Up until this point,

the game was being played with varied rules, player

positions, and ball sizes. The original softball used by

the Farragut Boat Club was 16 inches in circumference.

 However, Lewis Rober Sr., the man responsible for organizing softball games for firefighters in Minneapolis, used a 12-inch ball.

 Rober’s ball won out as the preferred softball size, and

professional softball games today are played using a

10–12-inch ball. However, many Chicagoans still hold

fast to the belief that real softball is played using a 16-inch

 ball. Games using these 16-inch balls are often referred

to as “cabbage ball,” “super slow pitch,” and “mush ball,”

 and unlike competitive softball, players are not allowed to

 wear fielding gloves.

 

 

 

 

 

While the sport was originally advertised as an indoor

game for baseball players looking to maintain their

 dexterity during the off season, it gained so much popularity

 and recognition that it quickly became its own official sport.

 In 1991, women’s fast pitch softball was added to the roster

 of 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.

 

 

 

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

corecreational 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.