An improvised version of baseball, softball was created as an indoor game by
Hannock of the Farragut Boat Club of Chicago, Illinois, USA. Called as Indoor Baseball,
the new sport became very popular and soon went outdoors. The name changed to 'Kitten
Ball', then to 'Mush Ball' and finally to its present nomenclature. In its formative
years, the game was governed by a bewildering variety of rules. The committee formed in
1933 to provide a standard set of rules became the International Joint Rules Committee on
Softball. Today, the sport has one set of universally accepted rules.
Mr. Naidu (Karnataka) and Mr. Jaganathan (Hyderabad) were responsible for bringing the
game to India. The Softball Association of India was formed in 1970 with Mr. Naidu as the
founder?secretary. Prior to the formation of the national federation, the game was popular
among college students, who even used to organise inter-collegiate matches.
Mr. Jaganathan took over as secretary and provided an opportunity for the Indians to play
with the Americans in the American embassy. The association is now housed in Jodhpur with
about 19 state units affiliated to it.
The Indian women made their international debut by playing a Test series against China in
1989?90 and then participated in the Asia Cup Championships held at Manila in 1991.
With the emergence of baseball, which is more competitive in nature, softball has taken a
more recreational aspect. The rules governing softball are the same as baseball, but the
playing arena is smaller.
The dimensions of a softball diamond are: Infield 60 feet square; outfield 220 feet,
pitching distance is 46 feet for men and 40 feet for women. The pitching in softball is
done underarm using a bigger ball than in baseball. |