My Subculture of Softball

Softball is a game that children can begin to play when they are in kindergarten, for a city league team. Softball is a team oriented sport. Always having to play as a team with good sportsmanship to win the game. Softball is closely related to the game of Baseball, but played on a smaller field with a bigger ball.

Outsiders that enjoy watching sports perceive this sub-culture to be very fun and exciting to watch. The sport of Softball has seven innings, which can last approximately an hour and a half to two hours time frame. For most, Softball is played during the spring, summer, and some leagues even play during autumn.

Softball was originally invented as an indoor game in Chicago, Illinois in 1887. The first game ever played was on Thanksgiving day in 1887 in Chicago. Some of the men at Chicago’s Farragut Boat Club had decided to play. That night George Hancock, a reporter took a boxing glove and used strings to tie it into a ball shape, to use as the ball. Then, took a broom stick for the bat. Finally, he took chalk and drew lines to make the fair and foul territory. The night that this game was played and around eighty scores were counted for, and that was the night that the sport of Softball began.

Lewis Robert Sr. moved the game of Softball outside in 1895. It was at a firehouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota, because he wanted the firemen to be able to get some exercise while they were waiting on call. The game was at that time called “kitten skirt”. In 1922, the name of the game was changed to “diamond ball”. Some other names at that time were “pumpkin ball” and “mush ball”. In 1926, the name “softball” started being used by Walter Hakanson from the YMCA.

In 1933, was the first amateur softball tournament happened with the Chicago’s Worlds Fair closely after. The sport was going globally at that point. In 1965, five different countries of women’s teams played in Australia for the first world championship. In 1991, they picked Softball to be held in the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996.

The rules for playing Softball are as followed. There are two teams that have nine players on the field at once, alternate turns at batting (offense)and fielding (defense). The team batting wants to keep a runner moving forward around bases all the way to the home plate to score runs for that team. The defending/ fielding team tries to keep the other team off of their bases by getting three outs and not letting the team that is batting to score. The team that scores the most runs in seven innings wins. If there happens to be a tie then the game goes into extra innings until one of the teams get another point to break the tie. An inning ends by thee defending team getting three of the batters out, then the fielding team goes to bat.

Four bases in total are on the field (first, second, third and home plate). The lines/space between the bases are usually 45 to 60 feet apart and when they are all put together they form a ‘diamond’ shape, that is why its called a softball diamond. The inside of the diamond is the infield which has the pitcher’s plate where the pitcher throws the softball in an underhand motion; outside further off the baselines going outward is the outfield. Any ball that goes outside the first or third base line is a foul ball, which means that it does not count unless it it a pop up that gets caught, then the batter would be called out. If there is a foul ball, the batter gets to try and give it another shot at hitting the ball.

Softball as a subculture has changed over time by the materials that are used to make the bats and ball with have changed drastically. Members and participants of this sport become skilled at softball by coaches teaching them how to do certain things. It takes time, effort and and open mind to learn all of these skills. But do not worry, everyone catches on and learns skills at their own different rates.

I have personally played Softball since I was five years old, between my town’s summer league and school/travel ball. The game for me has changed very much since I have grown up. When I was five I played it as T-ball, which is the game of Softball just is played on a smaller field and instead of the ball being thrown at you to hit, it just sits on a tee in front of the person it helps with eye-hand coordination. After T-ball I moved onto coach pitch, which is played on the same size of field as T-ball but now the ball is moving at you to hit. As well as the pitcher is the coach so that way the ball has a better accuracy that that if the child pitched it.

Next, I went to the Minor League, which is played on a bigger field and now the child players actually pitch the ball. Also, the field that they play on is now dirt. After Minor League is Major League and that is the final step for my town’s summer league. In Major league the only difference is that the bases are a hare farther apart than they are on the Minor League field.

I have had the wonderful opportunity of having my dad coach me for summer league for nine or ten years of my childhood. That is a memory that will last with me forever. Which the emotional toll of that hit me my senior night of my high school softball career. After the game we got to throw a softball back and forth with our fathers, it hit me right then knowing that would be the last time that he would get to either coach/throw with me while I was still a softball player. That is a set of memories and a bond that will never be broken.

I have also taken part in a Fall Ball League, it is where players from surrounding schools (three max. per school on each team)get all mixed together on different teams and play a double-header every Sunday for a month or two. That was a really fun way to get to know others and make friends for years to come. My one friend that I made was from a town about a half hour away, were still friends and no she is playing college softball at Owens Community College with my other friend from high school softball.

For my high school career I played three years on JV and my senior year on Varsity at Shelby High School. Playing Softball has taught me many things. One of the things are that you need to have sportsmanship because yes, you may want to win but it is just a game. Another couple things are teamwork is a must in the game and during life, never look back to always look forward, always stay positive and cheer people on. I was known to be the one that would keep the smiles going even through the hard times if we were loosing.

Something one of my coaches Scott Gurney said during practices was, “Practice like you’re in a game”. Which could not be more of the truth. If you practice like you are in a game, then you will be game ready and know exactly how to do certain things to benefit the team.

I have loved every minute that I have played, maybe not a the time but overall it was a good run. I miss diving/ sliding in the dirt for the ball or at the base, hitting the ball in the sweet spot on my composite DeMarini bat, catching that high pop and diving for and catching the ball that the batter and other team thought I could not get to. I loved the sport and proving others wrong who said I can not do certain things. The sport that gave me so much joy also hurt me a few times. One time I jammed my finger badly and it swelled up and turned dark purple but I did not let that stop me. I knew I could not throw the ball since my injury was on my throwing hand, so I thought what base could I play that would require less throwing. So during my town’s city league that year I switched from playing short stop, to playing first base, which is quite a switch. But all in all, it makes me a tougher person inside and out.

My senior year of high school softball we had said the word ‘together’ after every team huddle because no matter what challenges, weather they end up good or bad we do it and go through it together as a team. It really made the team feel like a family, as in to know that I could always count on them as they could count on me. We laughed, we cried, we won and we lost. But we did it together. And that my friend was the end of my joyous career as a softball player, maybe someday I’ll get to revisit it but for now it is just a memory. As always #TOGETHER.

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