Learn more about baseball-softball after the LA28 Organizing Committee proposed its inclusion in the 2028 Olympic Games.
Softball is one of the five sports proposed by the LA28 Organizing Committee for inclusion in the Olympic Games to be held in Los Angeles in five years, pending the International Olympic Committee’s approval at its Mumbai session. (October).
The final program of events and the number of quotas available in additional sports will be decided in the future.
Baseball was contested at every Olympic Games from Barcelona 1992 to Beijing 2008, before returning at the Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021.
Previously, occasional baseball games had been held at several Olympic Games before exhibition tournaments were held in Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul in 1988.
Softball debuted as a women’s sport in Atlanta in 1996. Like baseball, it was abandoned before London 2012, before its return to Tokyo.
Cuba won three of the first four Olympic baseball tournaments, and the United States defeated them in the finals in Sydney 2000. The Republic of Korea beat Cuba in the gold medal match in Beijing 2008, and the host country, Japan, won in Tokyo 2020.
The United States won the first three Olympic softball tournaments. Japan, runners-up at Sydney 2000, claimed the last two thanks to final victories over the United States, including gold at Tokyo 2020.
What is baseball-softball and how is it played?
As softball derives directly from baseball, there are several similarities between the two.
In both cases, there are fielders and batters, and the two teams alternate during a period of play known as an inning. Thus, team A will bat and team B will pitch in the “first half” of the inning and they will switch in the “second half.”
The pitcher throws the ball (overarm in baseball, underarm in softball) toward a batter who attempts to hit it forward in a “V”-shaped area that extends toward the stands.
After putting the ball in play, the batter runs to the first of the four bases arranged in a diamond shape, with the second base facing the batter’s box/home plate, and the third facing the first.
Each batter has a strike and ball count. A strike occurs when a batter fouls the ball (outside the playing zone in the shape of a “V”), hits and misses a ball, or leaves a ball that goes over the plate in the ‘ strike zone’ between the knees and the chest. Three strikes mean the batter is out, although a foul ball does not imply a strikeout.
It is considered a ball when the batter leaves a ball that does not go over the plate or that is considered too high or low to hit. Four balls result in the batter walking to first base. The same result is obtained if a ball hits the batter’s body.
If a batter manages to reach first base, the next batter comes in and faces the pitcher intending to also reach base.
The teams switch roles midway through an inning when three batters are out. Batters can be struck out (by hitting and missing a ball or letting one go over the plate) caught, tagged or thrown out while between the bases.
A batter scores a run if he manages to reach home plate. The quickest way to do this is with a ‘home run’, in which the batter hits the ball over the perimeter fence, and when this happens, the players on the bases also score.
At the end of the game, the team with the most runs wins, unless there is a tie that requires extra innings to be played.
Softball has smaller playing dimensions, with 18 m between the bases, compared to 27 m in baseball.
In baseball, the pitcher stands on a raised mound, while in softball he stands on a flat circular area.
How long does a baseball-softball game last?
Another difference between baseball and softball is in the length of the games.
Baseball games last nine innings, while softball games last seven.
As for time, baseball games usually last between two and a half and three hours. Softball games usually finish in less than two hours.
How many players are on a baseball-softball team?
In the past, there were only nine players on a baseball/softball team and the pitcher was expected to hit.
In recent years, teams have expanded to 10 players with a designated hitter (DH) replacing the pitcher in the batting lineup. The ‘DH’ does not go out onto the field to defend.
Where did baseball-softball originate?
Baseball is said to have been first played in Surrey, England, in 1749, before crossing the Atlantic and arriving in the United States in the 1770s.
The first organized professional league, the National Association of Professional Baseball Players, was founded in 1875. It is the national sport of the United States.
In 1887, in Chicago, reporter George Hancock developed the rules of a sport after watching amateurs from Yale and Harvard universities hit a boxing glove with a broomstick during a football game.
He called it “indoor baseball” with the idea of allowing players to practice in winter, although it was soon moved outside to smaller playing areas than required for baseball proper.
In 1926 it was renamed softball and gained popularity, especially among children and women.