Historical Review

Softball History

 
There are different versions trying to explain the origins of this sport. However, the one that has more support tells us that it was designed by George W. Hancock, a professor at the Chicago Boat Club (Chicago, USA) back in 1887.

This version tells that two groups of partners ran into each other in the gym of that university, one group practicing boxing and the other one preparing for a class of swordstick. One of the partners of the first group threw a glove at one of the members of gymnastics group, who instinctively hit it with his stick in the same direction of that one that had thrown it. The instructor immediately grasped the possibility of such accidental action, designed a set of rules and settled the basis for what he called in the beginning "indoor baseball." As illustrative reference, it should be noted that the first diamond had only 28 feet, about 8.50 meters wide.

Therefore, it is argued that it was originally a gym game and later grew to be practiced outdoors. The initiation of this new form set out in Minneapolis and Saint Paul (Minnesota, USA), and then, by the action of the recreational directors of the YMCA, it spread to all United States, receiving in most of them different names such as: army-ball, diamond ball, kitten ball, mush-ball, indoor ball, playground-ball and many others. Softball's name was recently suggested in 1926 by Walter Hakanson, from Denver, Colorado, who was himself the first president of the Amateur Softball Association of America.

 
The most important event for the consolidation of the sport, after 45 years of testing and discussions, took place in 1933 in Chicago, on the occasion of the Exhibition of the Century of Progress "of the town. It was then organized the Amateur Softball Association of America. On this occasion it was scheduled a Softball National Championship, with MJ Panley taking care of the organization, who was later executive secretary of the Association, and Leo H. Fischer, who had shown great ability to organize the local city tournament involving more than 1,000 teams.

The representations gathered at the national tournament came from a dozen states, but at the start of the competition emerged some problems that put in danger the event. The differences were the logical consequence of the origin of the game, since each region had created different rules. The discrepancies were of all kinds: the extent of the diamond, the weight and size of the ball, stealing bases, etc. Finally an agreement was reached settling a number of rules that complied with the rules of all the representations. In the same fair in the city it was laid out the diamond and notwithstanding the normal differences that every event raises, it developed successfully.

The most transcendent importance of this tournament was that, as a result of its development, the following year, 1934, all organizations interested in the sport met in the same city with the aim of standardizing the rules. Overcoming the best estimates that Assembly was attended by over 200 delegates, leading to the creation of the International Joint Rules Committed on Softball.

Chicago was also the city that witnessed the birth of the largest amateur organization in the world, the Amateur Softball Association, which grew rapidly, encouraging the immediate creation of subsidiaries in England, Australia, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Hawaii, New Zealand and Canada, and later extended to other countries.

Source: wikipedia.com, and ligavalencia.com.ve internationalsoftball.com