Storyline: Founded as an indoor game, the game wasn’t called softball until the 1920’s.
Women sports have come a long way. Female athletes work hard to be the best they can be.
One of the earliest games that women could compete in was softball. Most people think softball started out as a baseball game, but the game is connected historically to football and was played at first by men.
The first softball game was played on Thanksgiving Day 1887 in Chicago Illinois at the Farragut Boat Club. Spectators gathered there to hear the outcome of the Yale-Harvard football game. When the score was announced, a Yale alumnus playfully threw a boxing glove at a Harvard supporter. (Yale beat Harvard, 17-8, to finish the season undefeated).
Courtesy: Emaze
George Hancock, who at the time was a reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade, yelled “Play Ball!” A group of men got some chalk and drew a baseball diamond on the hardwood floor. They tied the boxing glove into a shape of a ball and broke a broom stick for the bat.
The game they played that day wasn’t known as softball. It was called “indoor baseball.” The final score was 41-40 and indoor baseball games continued to be played at the Farragut Boat Club.
After many years of being played indoors the game went outdoors because of mass appeal. The name changed to “indoor-outdoor.”
The term “softball” was introduced in 1926 by the YMCA’s Walter Hakanson at a meeting of the National Recreation Congress. By the 1930’s softball had spread across U.S. and Canada, but it was played with disjointed rules. In 1934 a Joint Rules Committee standardized the game.
The game has gotten more and more popular through the decades. Many fine softball athletes have played over the years, including Cat Osterman, Jennie Finch, and Monica Abbott.
With friends who play softball, I enjoy watching and learning about the game.
This article has special meaning for me, as I played 23 years of competitive co-ed and mens softball. I played fast pitch for the first couple of seasons, as well as some co-ed. I pretty much played men’s slow-pitch softball for the last 20 years of my career 2 to 3 times a year(spring, summer & fall seasons) with an occasional co-ed season thrown in. I absolutely love this article. Another excellent one Matthew Paris!