50 Fun Facts About Softball

In which US city was the earliest known softball game played, on Thanksgiving Day 1887?

The game broke out at the Farragut Boat Club among alumni waiting for the Yale–Harvard football score, and it ended 41–40.

What object was tied up and used as the ball in the very first softball game?

A Yale supporter had thrown the glove at a Harvard fan, who swung at it with a stick, and a reporter in the room shouted "Play ball!"

Who is credited as softball's inventor for developing a 17-inch ball and undersized bat?

He envisioned the game as a way for baseball players to keep sharp during the winter, so it was first called "Indoor Baseball".

Lewis Rober organized outdoor games in 1895 as exercise for which group of Minneapolis workers?

Rober's version, called kitten ball, used a smaller ball than the Farragut club's, and it was his ball that eventually prevailed.

The word "softball" was coined in 1926 by Walter Hakanson, who represented which organization?

Before that the game went by names including indoor baseball, kitten ball, diamond ball, mush ball and pumpkin ball.

A 1933 tournament that spurred national interest in softball was held at what event?

The same year the Amateur Softball Association was founded; by 1936 a joint rules committee had standardized rules and the name nationwide.

How many innings does a regulation softball game usually last?

The bottom of the seventh is skipped if the home team is already ahead, and many leagues use time limits instead.

How far apart are the bases on a standard softball diamond?

Baseball uses 90 feet, which is one reason softball feels quicker: everything is closer to the plate.

What is the fastpitch softball pitching distance for players aged 14 and older?

Reaction time at 43 feet against a 70 mph pitch is comparable to facing a 90 mph fastball from a baseball mound.

What is the circumference of the standard adult fastpitch softball?

A baseball is only about 9 inches around, which is why softball gloves run larger than baseball gloves.

How many fielders does a slow-pitch softball team put on the field, compared with nine in fastpitch?

The extra defender is usually a fourth outfielder, though some tournament teams use five infielders instead.

In slow-pitch softball, the extra outfielder who roams behind second base is commonly known by what name?

Some tournament teams now field five infielders instead of four outfielders, parking the extra player behind the pitcher.

What is the fastpitch pitching motion called in which the arm makes a full circle before an underhand release?

The ball leaves the hand at about hip level, and elite pitchers generate speed from an open-to-close hip rotation.

What is the maximum legal length of a softball bat?

Bats may weigh no more than 38 ounces, and the standard barrel diameter for both fastpitch and slow pitch is 2 1/4 inches.

Softball umpires are commonly nicknamed by what color, after their traditional uniform?

USSSA umpires break the pattern with red shirts, and NSA umpires wear white.

What is the illegal fastpitch delivery called where the pivot foot lifts instead of dragging?

In international and most men's play the pitcher may legally jump off the plate, so what is a fault in college is fine at a World Cup.

At which base is a contrasting-color "double base" or safety base often placed to prevent collisions?

The runner uses the foul-territory half while the fielder takes the fair half; it is mandatory at the U-18 Women's World Cup.

What is the softball technique called where a left-side hitter is already running as the bat meets the ball?

It exploits softball's short base paths, and defenses answer by playing the left fielder shallow.

How large is the ball in the gloveless slow-pitch variant that Chicagoans consider the "real" game?

A well-broken-in ball is called a mush ball; in New Orleans schools the game goes by "cabbage ball".

At which Summer Olympics did women's fastpitch softball make its debut as a medal sport?

The games were actually played 100 miles away at Golden Park in Columbus, Georgia, and the US took the first gold.

Which country took the silver medal in softball's inaugural Olympic tournament in 1996?

Australia won bronze and became a fixture, medaling at every Olympic tournament from 1996 through 2008.

Which nation ended the US team's 22-game Olympic streak in the 2008 gold-medal game?

Yukiko Ueno threw more than 600 pitches in four days at Beijing, including 28 innings over the semi-final and final stretch.

In which city did the IOC vote in July 2005 to drop softball and baseball from the 2012 Olympic program?

The two sports were reinstated for Tokyo 2020, dropped again for Paris 2024, and return for Los Angeles 2028.

Who won the bronze medal in softball at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics?

Pitcher Sara Groenewegen started for them three years after recovering from Legionnaires' disease.

Tokyo 2020's first softball games were played in which prefecture, recovering from a 2011 disaster?

The opening game there meant that, for the first time since 1996, the Games did not start with a football match.

Although Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Games, the softball tournament was assigned to which state?

Devon Park in Oklahoma City, the 13,000-seat home of the Women's College World Series, was chosen as the venue.

Which American pitcher threw the first solo no-hitter in Olympic softball history, at Sydney 2000?

Sydney also produced a US scare: they lost three straight round-robin games before storming back to win gold.

At which Games did Yukiko Ueno throw the first perfect game in Olympic softball history?

Ueno's fastball tops out around 80 mph, but her change-up is often called the best in the world.

How many runs did the US allow across the entire 2004 Olympic tournament while outscoring opponents 51–1?

The lone run came from Australia's Stacey Porter; the US won the final 5–1 behind Lisa Fernandez.

Nicknamed 'The Big Bruiser', which US slugger holds the record of six homers in one Olympic tournament?

Her 2008 Beijing barrage came in what she had already announced would be her last international tournament.

In which city was the first ISF Women's World Championship held in 1965?

Only five nations entered, and the men's inaugural championship followed a year later in Mexico.

How many spectators watched Japan beat the US 3-0 in the 1970 women's softball world championship final?

The Americans got their revenge in bulk, winning seven straight world titles from 1988 to 2010.

Where is the NCAA Women's College World Series held every year?

The one exception since 1990 was 1996, when it moved to the Olympic softball venue in Columbus, Georgia.

Which program leads all schools with 12 NCAA softball championships?

A 13th title, from 1995, was vacated after scholarship violations tied to Australian recruit Tanya Harding.

The Sooners' 2024 softball four-peat took their total of NCAA national titles to how many?

The 2023 edition went 61–1 with an NCAA-record 53-game winning streak along the way.

How many innings did the 2017 WCWS opener between the Sooners and Florida last, a series record?

Shay Knighten's three-run homer in the top of the 17th settled it, and she was named the series' Most Outstanding Player.

Patty Gasso's 2024 title tied which coach for most Division I softball national championships?

He also coached Team USA to Olympic gold in 2004 and retired in 2021 as college softball's all-time wins leader with 1,674.

How many career home runs did Jocelyn Alo hit for the Sooners, the NCAA Division I record?

She broke Lauren Chamberlain's mark of 95 in March 2022 while playing in her home state of Hawaii, and won a state wrestling title in high school.

Which Tennessee pitcher set the NCAA record for the fastest softball pitch, 79.4 mph, in 2025?

The previous mark of 77 mph had stood since 2012 and belonged to another Tennessee pitcher, Monica Abbott.

Jennie Finch won a national title in 2001 pitching for which university?

Her perfect season capped an NCAA-record 60-game winning streak, and her number 27 marks the date of her parents' first date.

In the 2004 Pepsi All-Star Softball Game, Jennie Finch struck out Piazza, Giles and which future Hall of Famer?

Giles said her fastball was the fastest thing he had ever seen from that distance, adding that it "rises and cuts at the same time".

Cat Osterman set the NCAA career strikeout record pitching for which university?

In 2006 she became the first Division I pitcher ever to reach 2,000 strikeouts, and in high school she once fanned 33 in a 14-inning game.

Lisa Fernandez, pitcher in three straight Olympic finals, played which two positions in college?

She was the first softball player to win the Honda-Broderick Cup as the nation's top female college athlete, and once struck out 25 in an Olympic game.

How much was Monica Abbott's 2016 Scrap Yard Dawgs contract, then the richest in US women's team sports, worth?

She had already won three straight Japan Softball League titles with Toyota and holds NCAA career records for wins, strikeouts, shutouts and innings.

How many batters did Monica Abbott strike out in her record 2007 season at Tennessee?

She is the only pitcher to record 500 strikeouts in each of four college seasons.

Dot Richardson took leave from what kind of medical residency to play in Atlanta in 1996?

She had already earned her M.D. from Louisville in 1993 and later became head coach at Liberty University.

Which baseball legend did softball pitcher Joan Joyce strike out in a 1961 Waterbury exhibition?

She later fanned Hank Aaron too, then joined the LPGA Tour, where she still holds the record of 17 putts in a round.

Eddie Feigner's "The King and His Court" took on full softball teams with how many players?

In a 1967 charity game he struck out Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Brooks Robinson, Roberto Clemente, Maury Wills and Harmon Killebrew in a row.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Michele Smith made history in 2012 as the first woman to do what?

She rebuilt her career after a 1986 truck accident tore the triceps from her pitching arm, then came back throwing 3 mph faster.

The National Pro Fastpitch league's championship trophy was named after which family?

Jane Cowles, a former Utah State player, persuaded her media-owning parents to bankroll the first women's pro fastpitch league in 1997.