Softball: A History
As a softball player, I have always wondered how softball originated and how similar it used to be to baseball. To my surprise, softball began on Thanksgiving Day, 1887, at a boat club of all places. It started as "indoor baseball", a way for baseball players to practice during the winter. Now, softball is its own sport with three subcategories: men's fastpitch, men's slowpitch, and women's fastpitch. Its amazing what has changed in 120 years.
Table of Contents
In the Beginning
In 1887, on Thanksgiving Day, Harvard and Yale alumni met to place bets and hear the scores of a recent football game. After the scores where announced, an alumni from Yale threw a boxing glove at a Harvard alumni,
who then deflected it with a broom handle. The game then began.
In the next week George Hancock, the man accreditted with founding softball, developed a proper ball and bat to be used in the games. As the ball was so soft, no gloves were used. The boating club set up rules and a league for the new game, which quickly spread outside of the glove. Under the new name of "Inside-Outside", softball was played outdoors and the first set of rules published in 1889. The first league outside of America was formed in Toronto in 1897.
who then deflected it with a broom handle. The game then began.In the next week George Hancock, the man accreditted with founding softball, developed a proper ball and bat to be used in the games. As the ball was so soft, no gloves were used. The boating club set up rules and a league for the new game, which quickly spread outside of the glove. Under the new name of "Inside-Outside", softball was played outdoors and the first set of rules published in 1889. The first league outside of America was formed in Toronto in 1897.

An Indoor Baseball Player in 1907
Softball Stuff on Amazon
kitten ball, pumpkin ball, and diamond ball
In Minneapolis in 1895, Lewis Rober, Sr. organized outdoor games as exercise for firefighters. Rober's version of the game introduced the 12-inch ball used today and was called "kitten ball", "pumpkin ball", or "diamond ball". Although Rober's ball was adopted as the official
ball size, the field dimensions from the boat club were adopted.
In 1926, the name "softball" was coined. At that point six different names for the game. In the 1930's, there were several different versions of softball, played with different names and different rules. In 1934, Joint Rules Committee on Softball standardized the rules and name for softball.
Sixteen-inch softball, a.k.a "mush ball" or "super-slow pitch", is the version of softball most similar to Hancock's game. As the ball is so soft, players never wear gloves. Sixteen-inch softball is played frequently in Chicago.
ball size, the field dimensions from the boat club were adopted.In 1926, the name "softball" was coined. At that point six different names for the game. In the 1930's, there were several different versions of softball, played with different names and different rules. In 1934, Joint Rules Committee on Softball standardized the rules and name for softball.
Sixteen-inch softball, a.k.a "mush ball" or "super-slow pitch", is the version of softball most similar to Hancock's game. As the ball is so soft, players never wear gloves. Sixteen-inch softball is played frequently in Chicago.
Softball Stuff on CafePress
An International Game

Softball has spread worldwide since World War II: it was introduced to Australia in 1939 and the Netherlands after the war ended. In 1972, during the filming of A Touch of Glass, softball was introduced to the U.K.
In 1991, the Olympic Committee decided to include women's fastpitch softball in the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 2005, softball, along with baseball was voted out of the Olympics.
Softball Blog Posts
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- National softball cricket tournament off to grand start : Kaieteur ...
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Softball Today
Softball is also widely played in high school. Almost all (if not all) high schools in the country have at least a varsity softball team and many colleges have softball programs. There are many girls both in the U.S. and in other countries who want to, or do, play softball professionally. This is why softball should be re-enstated for the 2016 Olympic Games.
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- lefty78 lefty78 Jun 7, 2009 @ 5:00 am
- Great lens! Would love to see it in my group Total Baseball
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- Christina Maye Christina Maye May 14, 2009 @ 6:40 pm
- SOFTBALL SO NEEDS TO STAY IN THE OLYMPICS!!!!!!!!!!! Its always been my dream to play in the olympics
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- Kassie Kassie Sep 29, 2008 @ 5:35 pm
- thank you so much for this. it has helped me so much on my paper on softball. and it is very interesting to me because i love to play softball
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- mdagenais mdagenais Sep 5, 2008 @ 1:11 am
- Hey bconnor11,
You definitely put up a great lens here! As someone who is involved in softball as much as I am, it's always nice to read up on the facts and history of the game and understand a little more how we got to where we are today when it comes to this wonderful sport!
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- Mark Malone Mark Malone Aug 10, 2008 @ 10:09 pm
- Wow, great lens. Softball has become a big part of my life lately, so it was interesting to learn more about the history. To Faiz: I cannot speak for all countries, but I know softball is big here in the United States. My
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