History of Softball
A lot of people like to believe that softball originally originated from baseball, but instead it was created spontaneously in of the Farragut Boat Club in Chicago, Illinois. In 1887, a crowd was gathering inside the boat club awaiting the outcome of the Yale versus Harvard football game, and when the result came in there was a Yale fan who threw an old boxing glove at a Harvard fan. The Harvard fan responded by swinging a broom stick at it which resulted in a reporter suggesting they play a game of indoor baseball. George Hannock, the reporter, would push to move the game outside and call it “indoor-outdoor baseball” which resulted in about 19 new rules being applied.
The new game eventually started to catch attention by people by the end of the 19th century. The game really took of when the Minneapolis Fire Department got ahold of it, and this is what they would do to keep the men fit. The game was an instant hit and eventually firefighters from all over the state joined in. In 1895, Rober moved to a new fire department with his team the “kittens” which lead the game to be named “kitten ball,” but that name would go on to be changed numerous times. Eventually in 1926 a man named, Walter Hankanson, landed on the name softball, and by 1930 it was recognized an official sport.
In 1933, two men from Chicago named Leo Fischer and Michael J. Pauley hosted a huge softball tournament consisting of 55 teams at the World’s Fair in Chicago. The tournament was divided into three sections: fast pitch, slow pitch, and women’s softball. After the tournament, the Joint Rules Committees approved of the Amateur Softball Association (ASA). The ASA is still in place today, but in 2016 the name was changed to USA Softball. Softball is continuing to be on of the biggest and highest growing sport.
