History of Softball

Softball originated on Thanksgiving Day in 1887 when a group of men gathered in a gymnasium in Chicago to hear the results of the Harvard-Yale football game. After Yale’s victory was announced, a man picked up a boxing glove and threw it at someone who then hit it with a pole. George Hancock, who is usually considered the one who invented softball, tied the glove so it resembled a ball, chalked out a small version of a diamond on the floor, and broke off a broom handle to serve as a bat, the first softball game. Hancock was so fascinated that he made an oversized ball, rubber tipped bat, and painted permanent lines on the gym floor. After writing rules, he called this indoor baseball and it was immediately popular.

In the spring of 1888 the game moved outdoors and was called indoor-outdoor baseball, rules were published in 1889. Chicago gets credit for being the birthplace of softball, but some changes were made to it in Minneapolis in 1895 by Lewis Rober Sr., however, he called it Kitten ball by 1900 and played it in a vacant lot outside a firehouse to keep the firefighters busy and active during their free time.

The first women’s softball team was formed in 1895 at Chicago’s West Division High School but they did not become competitive until 1899 and fans were hard to come by. In 1904, the Spalding Indoor Baseball Guide devoted a large section to the game of women’s softball giving the women’s game needed attention. In 1933, the Chicago National Tournament honored the male and female champions equally, helping advance both sides of the sport. The International World Championships took women’s softball to the international level in 1965, a big step towards the Olympic level. In 1976, the International Women’s Professional Softball League gave women the closest thing to professional baseball they would ever see, but due to financial ruin, the league was disbanded in 1980. In 1996, Fast-pitch softball hit its peak when it was added to the summer