MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why is it called a softball if it’s not soft?

Softball in a softball field in California mountains, Baseball field

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: Why is it called a softball if it’s not soft?

If you ever played softball or got hit by one you know that they don’t really live up to the name. They’re actually pretty hard. So why call them softballs?

Like most things it starts way back in history with a wacky story…

In 1887, some alumni of both Harvard and Yale were hanging out at an annual event in Chicago while they were waiting to find out who won the big football game between the two schools that year. When they got word that Yale ended up winning one of the school’s fans picked up a soft boxing glove and playfully threw it at one of the losing Harvard fans, who swatted at it with a stick nearby! This gave them the idea for a game that wasn’t quite baseball (hardball they used to call it) because it had different rules and much “softer” ball.

Over time the game evolved to what it is today with a ball that is a little bigger than a baseball but not really that soft.

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