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When Mike said "carries" I took him to mean financially,
I understood that, and that is why I noted that today 90% of participants play SP. My argument was on the origin of the game, and my statement is that FP was THE GAME for the first 70+ years. Note that ASA didnt even recognize SP until 1953.
NFHS does recognize slow pitch, but I have no idea how many schools play slow pitch. Off hand, I can't think of any near me
Not here either, but there are some teams playing in the South (KY, GA).
.. no one really knows exactly how the game started or evolved.
Not true at all, Tom. Baseball, yes. Its origins are shrouded in myths and partial facts (including Abner Doubleday). But softball has a very definitive and historically documented starting date Thanksgiving Day 1887 at the Farragut Boat Club in Chicago. The inventor and leader of the sport for several years was a reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade and he documented everything, including as trivial as the names of individuals that invented or made equipment for his new game. The 100th anniversary of organized softball was held throughout 1987 in Chicago and no one ever came forth to dispute that claim.
Softballs evolution is well documented, from the indoor baseball game in the 1890's to Kitten Ball in Minneapolis to Playground Ball in NY to Diamond ball in FL to Softball in CO. I have pictures of school children playing the game about 1900 and an early 1900's womens team. Before basketball took hold, indoor baseball was played by both boys and girls high school teams in Chicago in the 1890s. By the 1920s millions of men, women, and children were playing some form of softball and the first national champions were crowned in 1932. In 1933 350,000 people watched the national tournament at the World's Fair in Chicago.
ASA claims to have crowned three champions in 1933 in Chicago Mens FP, Womens FP, and Mens SP. Fact is that ASA was not incorporated until the fall of 1933. The ASA founders were instrumental in promoting the 1933 tournament, and attempting to get a single set of rules. Nearly every one of the 50 teams arrived with different sets of rules. The finalist from Florida supposedly played 10 games in 10 states under 10 different sets of rules as they barnstormed their way to Chicago.
1934 was ASAs 1st national championship tournament, held under a single set of unified rules. And guess what NO SP! Not for 20 more years!
As umpires, we tend to look at ASA as a rules making authority, when in fact they didnt take over responsibility for the rules for nearly 50 years. Up to about 1980 rules were under the authority of The International Joint Rules Committee On Softball, of which ASA was a signatory. Committee members were from various recreation organizations around the country (YMCA, CYO, NCAA, ASA, Young Mens Hebrew Assn., and various city rec and playground leaders.) The official Softball Rules Interpreter was passed to various individuals around the country. Basically, ASA was a promoter and tournament organizer in those years. 1980 is the first year I know of that the rule book said copyright ASA.
And now you know . . . . the rest of the story! Or at least a little more.
WMB
[Edited by WestMichBlue on Nov 18th, 2004 at 03:52 PM]
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