Why Is Softball Called Softball? The Story Behind the Name
If you’ve ever been hit by a fastpitch softball, you know that the ball isn’t exactly…soft. Maybe you even have a bruise or two to prove it. Was softball invented on Opposite Day? Did the meanings of soft and hard Parent Trap us — secretly swapping places at the beginning of the twentieth century? The answer to both of those questions is a pretty conclusive no, but the real story behind the name is just as interesting.
The lead-up
To understand where softball got its name, you need to know a little history about its cousin and predecessor, baseball.
In the mid-18th century, a new sport was forming. As English settlers arrived in the United States, they brought traditional bat-and-ball games like rounders and cricket with them. Over the next 100 years, faster-paced variations of these games were played in schoolyards, parks, and city streets across the country.
It wasn’t until 1845, however, that the baseball diamond we know and love today began to take its final shape. In that year, a group of men formed the Knickerbocker Baseball Club in New York City. As reported by History, “one member, Alexander Joy Cartwright, would codify a new set of rules that would form the basis of modern baseball.”
When did softball come into the picture?
It’s at this point we should probably mention that baseball once went by another name: hardball. It was a popular way to refer to the sport until the early 1900s. Naturally, softball makes sense as a name for a scaled-down version of a sport called hardball. But it’s actually slightly more complicated than that.
First, let’s take a look at softball’s origin story. There are a few competing theories in this ballpark. One of the most widely accepted purports that the first softball game was played on Thanksgiving Day in 1887. Yale was playing their Ivy League rival Harvard in football at New York City’s Polo Grounds. Yale would win the game, with a final score of 17 to 8.
When news of Yale’s victory reached alumni over at the Farragut Boat Club in Chicago, IL, a Yale fan half-jokingly threw a boxing glove at a Harvard supporter. The Harvard fan swung at it with a broomstick, prompting a nearby reporter, to shout, “Play ball!” Thus, the first softball game was officially underway. The game was a hit, and the boat club’s members decided to make it a routine.
News about this new, more accessible version of baseball spread quickly. The Farragut Boat club etched out an official set of rules for the game, and, by the end of the decade, the sport was being played all across the Midwestern U.S.
How did softball get its name?
Softball cemented itself in U.S. sports culture after a softball tournament was held during the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. As the sport’s popularity rolled across the country, quite a few alternative names were floated around, including indoor baseball, kitten baseball, diamond ball, mush ball, and pumpkin ball.
Though softball was a term being used to describe the sport since the early 1920s, it wasn’t until a man named Walter Hakanson decided to call it “softball” while representing the YMCA at a National Recreation Congress meeting that the name finally stuck. Sorry pumpkin ball.
Is a softball actually softer than a baseball?
We’ve established how softball got its name, but does the name softball really make sense in today’s context? Although the first softball (a boxing glove) is in fact quite soft, today’s official softballs are nearly as hard as baseballs — and a lot bigger.
Although the two balls may feel the same on the surface, softballs are technically a little softer under the hood. The main difference lies in the density of the softball’s core, which is a little less dense than that of a baseball. As a result, softballs are slightly more pliable and don’t spring off the bat like a baseball (hence the smaller softball field).
There you have it. Softball is a sport with a unique history and a name that fits. Today, softball is one of the country’s most popular sports. There are currently over 1,500 NCAA softball teams in the U.S. — and the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) kicked off its inaugural season in 2004. Softball’s story is far from over.
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