Baseball/softball season is coming up!

Baseball and softball are two great sports. They are quite similar, however they are different. I’ll discuss the similarities first.

In both sports you can do the following:

1. You can hit the ball and run the bases.

2. You can steal a base.

3. An outfielder (or infielder) can pick up ground balls, dive or jump for fly balls, and jump over the fence to bring back a home run ball.

4. Four Balls for a walk, and three strikes for one out in a inning.

5. Both games are not timed.

6. There are lines that dictate “fair” and “foul” territory, usually with a white line that passes first and third bases respectively.

7. You can score runs while on base.

8. Games can be delayed, postponed, or even cancelled by inclement weather.

9. There are nine players to bat, and nine players to defend on the field.

10. Batting gloves can be worn, however this is optional. Most players do anyways.

11. Cleats are worn for traction purposes, because players run on dirt and grass. Normal sneakers are generally not a good idea.

12. Repetition is part of the game, especially for pitchers.

Only in Baseball:

1. Bullpens (where relief pitchers are warming up to help out the starting one) are used more frequently.

2. There is a raised mound for the pitcher to throw from.

3. Only wooden bats are allowed (at least in professional baseball)

4. Baseball caps with a brim are mandatory.

5. Batting helmets can have one flap or two flaps to cover ears.

6. Pitchers can throw at angle they wish.

Only in softball:

1. Throwing underhand is a must, overhand is illegal. A windmill motion is generally used.

2. The pitcher’s circle is not raised.

3. There is a double first base, one for the first baseman to field and defend and one for the baserunner to step on to have the hit count.

4. Batting helmets must have flaps to cover both ears (at least that’s what I’ve seen in softball games I’ve attended)

5. Wood and Aluminum bats may be used.

Generally speaking:

1. A baseball field has varying outfield wall distances with an average of about 400-420 to center field, and 330-400 on the corners.

2. A softball field is about two-thirds the size of a baseball field. To justify that claim, the distance between bases for baseball is 90 feet, whereas distances between bases in softball is 60 feet.

3. Softball games last 7 innings, while baseball games last 9 innings. There is a 7^th inning stretch in baseball, but no such for softball.

4. Softball games tend to be faster paced than in baseball.

5. In schools, the softball games are played for educational purposes.

6. Baseball pitchers, because of the different styles of pitching, with their arms bending, tend to have more injuries, than softball players doing the windmill (probably due to the fact that their arms hardly bend).

That is all I’ll say for now. If something comes up, I’ll add later.

I hope all of you are enjoying your day. Thanks for reading!