No one will contest that a Randy Johnson 98 mph fastball is not only hard to hit, but hard to see. But what about a fastball from Erin Snyder, the softball team's senior ace, that is released almost half the distance from the plate? With the dominance of the American softball team in international play, the comparison between softball and baseball, the women's sport versus the men's sport, has been brought to the surface. Just how different are the two sports?
Softball's roots
While softball developed as a game for women, dating back to the late 19th century and first reaching national prominence during World War II as a replacement for the decimated baseball league because of the draft for the war, the sport has been almost completely transformed.
Now, the game reflects both astonishing levels of athleticism and a complete mental strategy. So why, if softball equals baseball in all the athletic categories, does it remain separate? And how does it differ from its cousin, baseball?
The biggest difference between softball and baseball is the size of the field, with 60-foot base paths instead of the 90-foot baseball distance, and a mound that is less than half as far away — 43 ft. at the collegiate level. This difference impacts almost every aspect of the game.
While the pitch comes in underhand rather than overhand and the mound is not elevated from the rest of the field, it is the distance that makes the difference. A 62 mph fastball — considered a risky pitch at the collegiate level because there is little movement, and speed alone will not trick a batter — released from 43 feet away takes approximately .43 seconds to reach the plate. This is less than three quarters as much time as it takes a 95-mile per hour fastball to get from a baseball mound to the plate, a feat only the best baseball pitchers can accomplish.
Different pitches
In addition, a collegiate softball pitch, particularly one from Snyder or sophomore Kris Schaus, is almost never straight. Snyder doesn't even consider a fastball in her repertoire because it is too easy to hit.
Pitching underhand gives a pitcher options that a baseball pitcher does not have. For example, a prominent pitch in the repertoire of most softball pitchers is the riser, which curves upwards as it follows its given course over the plate and in to the waiting glove of the catcher.
But there are still certain similarities in pitch selections with baseball pitchers. For example, both sports feature the curveball and the changeup.
If a softball player is able to make contact with the ball, she only has to run 60 feet to make it to first, right? Well, true. The shortened base path has a great effect on the kinds of hits that work because with the shorter base path comes closer fielders. A routine ground ball is almost never a hit in baseball; the smaller field makes the softball game more complex.
Small ball
Some of the most effective hitters in softball are those who do not even swing fully. Rather, because the base is closer, these "slap" hitters are just trying to make contact with the ball, making the bet that they can make it to first base before even a perfectly clean fielding play can be made.
This puts much greater pressure of the infielders. There are no double pumps or easy tosses that characterize the infield play in softball. The action is instantaneous, hit-field-throw. That double clutch costs a team an out as hitters hustle down the base path.
The bunt-single, a lost art only occasionally pulled out as a surprise in baseball, is often the most effective way to reach base against the top softball pitchers. In order to guard against this dangerous attack, however, the corner infielders, first and third basemen, play inside the base path, often nearly half way to the plate.
The finesse involved in maneuvering the smaller field does not discount the existence of power in softball. When Lisa Fernandez burst onto the college scene in the early '90s, her ability to throw pitches reaching 70 mph was unheard of. Today, her abilities are still dominant on the international level, but with a surge in the popularity in softball, the strength of players, both pitchers and hitters, is increasing and leading softball to include more power.
Shorter fences
Again, the size of the field comes into play. While the bigger, heavier ball is not as easy to send sailing into the seats, the average college softball outfield fence is only 175 to 200 feet away, leading to more and more players hitting home runs.
So not only is "small ball," or strategic placement of hits and movement of runners, important in softball, but so is the ability to drive a pitch coming from less than 43 feet away.
Why is it acceptable for baseball and softball to be considered comparable sports under such rulings as Title IX, which requires equal opportunity and funding for sports for both sexes?
Perhaps it is the basic structure of the game where the similarities are clear and obvious.
The intricacies of the game, however, particularly due to the smaller field size, make softball and baseball very different.
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