Town team from Appanoose Co, fastpitch softball was really popular during the 70's and early 80's. Lots of talented players, just like in high school some pitchers were horrible, but some of those could make a hitter look like a fool.
More Difficult: Softball or Baseball
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Town team from Appanoose Co, fastpitch softball was really popular during the 70's and early 80's. Lots of talented players, just like in high school some pitchers were horrible, but some of those could make a hitter look like a fool.
I've read that hitting is much more difficult in fastpitch softball than baseball. With the lower release point, it takes longer to pick up the ball. So the 0.15s or whatever it is that MLB players have to find the ball is now like 0.12s which is enough to make a huge difference.
Not many of these around, but submarine pitchers can have a ball rise.
Daughter has a full load and swing. She starts the load in the windup and will be starting to pull her hands through before she decides to finish or not. It’s just the closeness requires you to initiate things sooner and use more check swings.
It an interesting question and my guess is softball is easier mainly due to ball size.
That said, growing up in eastern Iowa in the 70's I watched a lot of elite level men's fastpitch softball and it's a bear to hit an elite pitcher because the ball is on the hitter faster.
Corner infielders have to have super reflexes because the ball is on them in a flash- especially since they play in at 3rd to prevent bunt.
It was a fun game to watch- disappointed popularity has waned.
That said, growing up in eastern Iowa in the 70's I watched a lot of elite level men's fastpitch softball and it's a bear to hit an elite pitcher because the ball is on the hitter faster.
Corner infielders have to have super reflexes because the ball is on them in a flash- especially since they play in at 3rd to prevent bunt.
It was a fun game to watch- disappointed popularity has waned.
In the 70's some of the better Eastern Iowa teams brought in pitchers from Australia. That way they could pitch year round. A top pitcher typically gave up 3-5 hits a game. Very much a "small ball" approach to winning games.
I've played both. It's generally considered that hitting a pitched baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports. If you succeed 1 time out of three, you're a superstar.
Now.....if you're talking fast-pitch softball, it may be comparable. The best fast-pitch pitchers regularly throw at Nolan Ryan speeds, exceeding 100MPH. And then a change-up can make a batter look pretty foolish.
But if you're talking the comparison between baseball and slow-pitch softball, well..... there really is none. Slow-pitch is basically a hitters' exhibition. Especially with the bats nowadays.
Now.....if you're talking fast-pitch softball, it may be comparable. The best fast-pitch pitchers regularly throw at Nolan Ryan speeds, exceeding 100MPH. And then a change-up can make a batter look pretty foolish.
But if you're talking the comparison between baseball and slow-pitch softball, well..... there really is none. Slow-pitch is basically a hitters' exhibition. Especially with the bats nowadays.
Top softball pitchers throw about 70 mph. They say it equates to 100 mph due to the shorter distance that it needs to cover.
In high school I saw The King and His Court (Eddie Feigner and 3 others) play an exhibition softball game at Harlan Rogers park. He struck out 20 of the 21 batters he faced, one batter managed a weak pop-up at the plate which the catcher caught. Eddie played with a catcher, shortstop, and first baseman. The reason for the two infielders was that they needed at least 4 batters in case the bases were loaded.
Eddie pitched from the mound, from second base, between his legs, behind his back, and blindfolded. According to Wikipedia:
How fast did Eddie Feigner throw?
At his peak, Mr. Feigner threw a softball harder than any major league pitcher has ever thrown a baseball. His underhand fastball was once timed at 104 mph -- or, according to some accounts, 114 mph. The fastest documented pitch ever thrown by a major league pitcher is 103 mph.
Eddie pitched from the mound, from second base, between his legs, behind his back, and blindfolded. According to Wikipedia:
How fast did Eddie Feigner throw?
At his peak, Mr. Feigner threw a softball harder than any major league pitcher has ever thrown a baseball. His underhand fastball was once timed at 104 mph -- or, according to some accounts, 114 mph. The fastest documented pitch ever thrown by a major league pitcher is 103 mph.
The open major pitchers go higher than 70. And with ISC rules the last few decades allowing the "crow" hop........some of these guys are 40 feet or less from the plate when they release. Good luck! I have never faced a major league pitcher.....but I have a few of the said above in softball. To say it's a challenge is a huge understatement. We used to call what they are throwing "aspirins" because that's what it looked like hissing to the plate.
I always felt softball was harder. The ball just doesn't seem to fly true in the air. With a hardball as soon as it left the bat you could pretty much track right where it would go.
Both are extremely difficult. Softball might even be more dangerous because of the distances involved.
I don't think you can honestly compare the two sports and decide which one is "more difficult." They're too different.
And I'd love to see Crystl Bustos take a few swings against your mid 90s pitcher.
I don't think you can honestly compare the two sports and decide which one is "more difficult." They're too different.
Doesn't really seem fair to compare the average softball pitcher to Aroldis Chapman and Nolan Ryan. If you're going to do that then lets see you step in the box against Monica Abbott, Cat Osterman or Jennie Finch.
And I'd love to see Crystl Bustos take a few swings against your mid 90s pitcher.
Agree totally with you, they are different sports and trying to put one player in to take a couple reps when they aren't used to that situation is setting them up to fail.
When I said baseball I was going off how hard it is to have a winning team. In softball, if you have a dominant pitcher you have a game in and game out pitcher who can take you a long ways. In baseball, that pitcher can throw two, maybe three games a week. If you have a tournament where you have multiple games or consecutive days, you need that stable of pitchers for baseball.
If we go strictly off batting, I would say it is fairly similar.
My dad played a skoosh of college baseball and then a lot of fast pitch softball in his 20s. After that he played competitive slow-pitch (state and national champion level success) until he was in his 50s. He was always the best power hitter on the team, despite being old enough to be the dad of most of the other players. He also coached HS girls softball for 10-15 years.
Anyway, he has opined on this topic in the past and I think the above qualifies him to have an educated opinion.
He would say fast pitch softball is actually harder to play.
The pitcher can spin the ball more and easier, and can throw faster because of the more natural motion (there is a reason a hs girl can throw 10,000 innings a month and not have her arm fly off into the 3rd row). The batter is closer to the pitcher and you have even less reaction time. As hard as hitting a baseball consistently is, softball is harder.
Take for what it's worth...
As an aside, I went to ISU with a gal who was all-state in softball, burly girl who was a great hitter. She could NOT hit a slow pitch softball to save her life. The timing was so different, she just couldn't figure it out.
Anyway, he has opined on this topic in the past and I think the above qualifies him to have an educated opinion.
He would say fast pitch softball is actually harder to play.
The pitcher can spin the ball more and easier, and can throw faster because of the more natural motion (there is a reason a hs girl can throw 10,000 innings a month and not have her arm fly off into the 3rd row). The batter is closer to the pitcher and you have even less reaction time. As hard as hitting a baseball consistently is, softball is harder.
Take for what it's worth...
As an aside, I went to ISU with a gal who was all-state in softball, burly girl who was a great hitter. She could NOT hit a slow pitch softball to save her life. The timing was so different, she just couldn't figure it out.
This is so comical yet so true. I've seen huge mismatches at softball tournaments, teams matched up against each other that have no business playing. The underdog team throws its girl that can't even hit 50 mph, and the other team's hitters can't touch it for a few innings. Eventually they figure it out. But it's hard to slow down that much when you're used to mid 60s every game.
