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Softball is a popular variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) permitted. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level.
The World Cup of Softball was later established as one of the premier events for the sport of softball. At the second World Cup of Softball, the attendance record was broken and the television ratings were higher than in any previous US Softball event on ESPN and ESPN2. Fastpitch softball, however, was added to the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Women's softball was the female version of baseball played at the Games since women's baseball was not included on the program. Rule differences between Olympic softball and baseball included: 1) ball is pitched underhand. The ball must weigh between 6.25 ounces (177 g) and 7 ounces (200 g).
Laura Berg, with three gold and one silver medals, is the most successful Olympic athlete in softball. Australian player Natalie Ward won bronze in 1996, 2000, and 2008 and silver in 2004, one of four players to medal in four tournaments. United States athlete Lisa Fernandez won gold medals in the first three Olympic softball tournaments.
16-inch softball (sometimes called clincher, mushball, [1] cabbageball, [2] [3] puffball, blooperball, smushball, [4] and Chicago ball [5] [6]) is a variant of softball, but using a larger ball that gradually becomes softer the more the ball is hit, and played with no gloves or mitts on the fielders.
Softball, a form of team sport similar to baseball; Softball squash, the international form of squash, as distinguished from hardball squash, the North American form; Softball cricket, a form of cricket using an alternative cricket ball; Soft-ball stage, a stage in candy-making corresponding to 85% sugar; Softball (band), a Japanese all-girl ...
Softball was introduced as a World Games sport at the 1981 World Games in Santa Clara and discontinued after the 1985 games in London. It was reintroduced as a women's invitational sport in 2009 in Kaohsiung after it had been removed from the Olympic Games programme , and from 2022 it was again part of the official programme.
USA Softball publishes an updated rule book for softball each year which is widely used by adult and youth recreational leagues in the United States and abroad. The USA Softball rules were also used for the softball competition when it was an Olympic sport between 1996 and 2008. The most recent Olympics to feature softball, in 2021, used the ...