I'm from the softball side of the street. Wondering however why all youth baseball is still using single bag at first, when there is such a big movement in softball to use the double bag.

"All" youth baseball isn't using the single bag.

My guess on why it's used more in softball has to do with the physical abilities and reaction to collisions of the typical boy and girl of the same age.

In the past 7 years, I have done many little league games. Last season was the first time that the double first base was used, and it was only used in about 20% of the games. And I have never seen a collision at first base. I personally do not like the double first base. I think it makes the field look weird and it makes the game harder to call. You have to worry about which base was touched at under what circumstances the orange base may be used instead of the white part. The double base makes a hard hit ball right down the line hard to call too. If the ball is pulled right down the first base line and it bounces in fair territory about half way down to first base and it is moving towards foul territory. If the ball hits right in the middle of the double base, where the white meets the orange, you have a hard call. Did it hit on the edge of the white and bounce up, or on the edge of the orange and bounce up? With a single base this is an easy call. I think the negatives outweigh the positives on the double base issue.

[Edited by LDUB on Mar 22nd, 2004 at 08:10 PM]

Why would the two be related?

There are many that think the double bag is idiotic, BTW. I am one of them.

I also hate it.

I don't like softball much at all. Well at least I don't like fast pitch. Slow pitch is a great game, the ball is just right there to be hit, and playing slow pitch in your local rec league is a great way to keep playing pretty much the sport of baseball when your skills are no longer able to let you play baseball.

Then there is fast pitch. First off the look back rule has a good purpose but it gets very anoying. There is no scoring in the higher levels. What is up with the DP/Flex????? Why is it not just called the designated hitter like it should be? How can anyone put up with those chants that the players do? The balls are yellow. Some umpires don't wear protective gear. The double first base. Some teams wear shorts. How can you slide wearing shorts? The visor/hat sistuation makes the whole team look stupid. The coaches are on the field not in team uniform. There is no grass in the infield. There are no lead-offs (I understand that on a small field this would make a problem). There are so many reasons why baseball is a better sport than softball.