Softball (redirected from Slowpitch)

softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' baseball. The name softball was given to the game in 1926. A tournament (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 International Softball Federation regulates rules of play in more than 110 countries, including the United States and Canada. Women's fast-pitch softball became an Olympic sport in 1996, but it (and baseball) were dropped in 2005 from the 2012 games.

Despite the name, the ball used is not soft. It is about 12 in. (30 cm) in circumference (sometimes larger for slow-pitch), which is 3 in. (8 cm) larger than a baseball. The infield in softball is smaller than in baseball; each base is 60 ft (18 m) from the next, as opposed to baseball's 90 ft (27 m). There are two types of softball: in the most common, slow-pitch softball, the ball, sometimes larger than the standard 12 in, must arch on its path to the batter, 10 players make up a team, and bunting and stealing are prohibited; in fast-pitch softball the pitch is fast, there are 9 players on a team, and bunting and stealing are permitted. Softball rules vary somewhat from those of baseball. Two major differences are that the ball must be pitched underhand—from 46 ft (14 m) for men or 40 ft (12 m) for women as compared with 60.5 ft (18.4 m) in baseball—and that seven innings instead of nine constitute a regulation game.

Bibliography

See M. Pagnoni and G. Robinson, Softball: Fast and Slow Pitch (1990).

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softball

Game resembling baseball but played on a smaller diamond with a larger ball (12 in. [30.5 cm] in circumference), which is pitched underhand. Since the first standard set of rules was published in the 1920s, the game has been popular as an amateur sport in the U.S., and since the 1960s it has grown considerably in popularity outside of North America. In U.S. high schools and colleges it is a popular women's sport; a women's softball competition was added to the Olympic Games in 1996.

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softball

1. a variation of baseball using a larger softer ball, pitched underhand

2. the ball used
www.internationalsoftball.com

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Softball 

a sport played with a ball. Softball is closely related to baseball, but it is played on a smaller field. It originated in the United States in the early 20th century as a way of training baseball players in winter. The first official rules were published in 1906. In 1974 the International Softball Federation (ISF), which was founded in 1952, had more than 50 national federations and included 28 million athletes. World championships for men and women have been held every other year since the 1960’s. Softball is most popular in the USA, Japan, Canada, Australia, and several Latin-American countries, especially Mexico and Cuba. The ISF was recognized in 1967 by the International Olympic Committee . Softball is not played in the USSR.