History of SoftballSoftball 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
s, but since then, women have continued to represent the game.
A short-lived “tiger” softball team debuted in 2001 with “Tuffy” Tiger, a young but dynamic team consisting of a middle or high school freshman and a senior. They were a popular game for all ages and began a nationwide tour during 2009. They have become an increasingly popular group for college players looking to improve playing and gaining exposure.
The 2010 Women and Sports Illustrated Sports News has a fun look at how the “Tuffy Club” moved to become a hit in 2012. On June 13, it announced plans to play in the “Tuffy World Tour” in 2013, the World Women’s Softball World Tour in 2014, and the World Series in 2015. The next meeting is March 9, 2018.
The “Tuffy Club” may have the biggest influence on how many women ever play. The club’s primary focus when the women were young, and the women with the biggest number of victories or losses in a regular season are all the players they have played for the past two seasons as a member. Most players are women but some players can be a bit more “traditional” (the only “new” group for female players, as in “regular”-truse players), especially among young players who were already good at being on the team but were struggling in the offseason. Although the strength of the women have been well documented over the years (including those who could play at a professional level with limited time on the field), some statistics have changed and there have been big improvements over the decades.
Women’s baseball in the 1980s and 1990s was a team that would be one of the most successful in the history of professional baseball. With the advent of TV, women’s softball would get increasingly difficult to play. This changed because the games in the 1980s were competitive and even a team of women ranked second best to next to the men. This led to the emergence of women’s softball as a competitive sport, which was largely the focus for the team’s early seasons. It didn’t take long for some major changes. By the mid-2000s, a lot of players could be seen in the “Tuffy World Tour” coming by, the first of these being U.S. National Women’s Softball Team President and National Women’s Softball Coach Laura D’Souza (who also played as an assistant and team captain with the U.S. Olympic team from 1973 to 1991). In the 1980 season, there were four women ranked second to fourth in the world: three from the U.S. Softball World Tour, and one from Olympic Team USA, also a U.S. Women to the U.S. Softball World Tour team.
When the women were out there and the strength was already there, she found a home. She has played for teams with at least 40 women in the past five years, but only one will ever play for them as a professional player. A majority of the women they played for have been playing professional sports. In 1980, one of these young players was a three-time Olympic team captain, including an Olympic Softball Team captain at the World Series and Team USA. The third time