User:Marshall Fury/sandbox

Softball

SOFTBALL

The history of softball dates back to Thanksgiving 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.Due to the initial excitement surrounding the game, the Farragut Boat Club decided to officially devise their own set of rules, and the game quickly leaked to outsiders in Chicago and, eventually, throughout the rest of the Midwestern U.S. As the history of softball shaped itself over the next decade, the game went under the guise of “indoor baseball,” “kitten baseball,” “diamond ball,” “mush ball,” and “pumpkin ball.” In 1926, Walter Hakanson coined the term “softball” while representing the YMCA at a National Recreation Congress meeting, and by 1930, the term stuck as the sport’s official name. 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 Chicagoan's 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 thee 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. According to the official rules developed early in the history of softball, and eventually defined by the International Softball Federation, there are nine players on the field at a time. The players take the positions of pitcher, catcher, first baseman, second baseman, shortstop, third baseman, and outfielder. Usually, there are three outfielders holding the positions of right fielder, left fielder, and center fielder. However, slow pitch softball allows for a fourth person in the outfield. Similar to baseball, the team with the most runs at the end of the seventh inning is named the winner. However, if the teams are tied at the end of the seventh inning, the game can go into extra innings, until the tie is broken. 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 co-recreational 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. CREDITS BELOW THE OBJECTIVE The object of softball is to hit the ball with a bat before the player tries to run around an infield with four bases. Once a player manages to get right round without being given out a run is scored. The team with the most runs at the end of the game is deemed the winner. RULES OF SOFTBALL 1.Each team consists of 9 players and teams have to be females 2.A game lasts for 7 innings and is split into two sections; the top and bottom of the innings. 3.Each team bats once in each innings before the sides switch. 4.The fielding team has a pitcher, catcher, a player on first base, second base, third base, three deep fielders and short stop. 5.A batter must successfully strike the ball and run around as many bases as possible. Once they get all the way around and back to home plate without being given out a run is scored. 6.The fielding team can prevent the batsmen by making them miss the ball, catching the ball, tagging one of the bases before they reach it or tagging the batsmen whilst they are running with the ball in hand. 7.Down the first and third base line is a foul area. Once the ball crosses this line before it bounces the ball is deemed ‘dead’ and play restarts with a new pitch. 9.A home run can be scored by hitting the ball over the outfield and into a dead ball area. The batsmen can then stroll around the bases to score along with any additional batsmen on base. HOW YOU WIN The winners of the game will be decided after the 7 innings have all been completed. The team with most runs after 7 innings will be declared the winner. If after 7 innings the game is tied, then an extra innings will be played until a winner is found. HOW YOU SCORE To score a run the batsman must successfully first hit the ball and make it around the bases without being given out. One run is scored for every batsmen they manage to get round. A run can be scored even if the batsmen who hit the ball doesn’t make it round to home plate but manages to get a player that’s already on one of the bases home. PLAYERS AND EQUIPMENT Each softball team has 9 players. The game takes place over 7 innings and within each innings the team will bat then field. An innings is split into two sections called the top and the bottom of the innings. The away team bats first at the top of the innings whilst the home team field, then teams switch so the home team bats at the bottom of the innings. Pitch sizes vary in softball and are often just whatever size can be found or used at the time. The in- filed has four bases in a diamond shape. The bases are home base (where the batter stands), first base, second base and third base. Home plate can be found in the center of the field where the pitcher must stand to throw the ball. The pitcher must throw the ball underarm and must have at least one foot on the plate at the point of delivery. Once a batting order is set at the start of the game it cannot be changed throughout. A batsman can be given out by being caught by a fielder without the ball bouncing, missing the ball three times in which a strike is called or by being tagged by a fielder holding the ball whilst running between bases. A batsman can be walked to first base if the pitcher fails to get the ball within the strike zone 4 times without a stroke being made. The strike zone in softball is larger than that of baseball. Teams can be mixed with men and women or with just a single sex on each team. Once a team have completed their innings then the teams switch to do the opposite role. An innings is complete when the fielding team manage to get three players out from the bating team. MORE CREDITS TYPED BY A JOHNSON I WILL NOT TELL YOU MY NAME<