As I sat in the stands watching ASU softball take on the Kansas Jayhawks, I felt a sense of peace wash over me.
The 6:00 pm first pitch meant the heat wasn’t too bad as the sun moved over the stadium. A slight breeze blew, moving the palm trees that lined the outfield wall, and the smell of burgers wafted up from the pregame tailgate just a short walk away in the parking lot.
As the first pitch was thrown and the game started, all that popped into my head was the affirming thought that softball is simply better than baseball.
While overall, the energy at Farrington Stadium versus Phoenix Municipal Stadium, just four miles away, is leagues better, the game of softball is also superior.
Seven innings of bang bang action tops nine innings of pitcher staredowns and unoriginal dugout chirps any day.
The smaller field – 60 feet between bases instead of 90, and a 210 centerfield wall instead of 400 feet – forces players to think quickly about what move they want to make next and leads to nonstop action.
Yes, I understand the fields are proportional to player biology, pitching mechanics and ball size and composition, but it still makes a difference.
Where we’ve seen baseball over the last couple of years be criticized for different aspects, such as the length of games and the quality of umpiring, softball hasn’t dealt with those issues.
While Major League Baseball executives have been searching for answers on why baseball viewership and attendance are on a decline, softball has risen exponentially in popularity.
More and more money is being invested in the sport. The Women’s College World Series has become a bucket list sports attraction, thanks to the consistent quality product hosted at Devon Park in Oklahoma City every single year.
Softball’s increased interest collegiately has opened pathways for a new professional league, Athletes Unlimited Softball League, to try its hand at creating a domestic professional pathway.
The league, slated to have its inaugural season this summer, is already receiving support from major figures in softball such as Jennie Finch, Kim Ng, Cat Osterman and Lisa Fernandez. Many of the game’s top players, who already participated in Athletes
Unlimited’s previous iteration of a softball league – with rotating rosters and a short five-week season – have signed with teams in this new league.
Meanwhile, on the baseball side, the longstanding rules and characteristics of the game have to be tampered with to engage audiences. When executives believed fans wanted more offense, they changed the composition of the balls to create more home runs. When there were concerns about pitchers playing too well, they instituted more routine checks for sticky substances. Because fans complained about how long games took, they instituted the pitch clock. Now, thanks to the resistance against what’s become customary umpire behavior and its negative impacts, the league is exploring digital options, with a computer calling balls and strikes. None of it has worked.
I’m not a baseball purist. I have no take on whether or not what’s been done to the game is good or bad for the future of baseball, but what I do know is that softball has none of these problems. Whether it’s a pitcher’s duel or a home run fest, there’s no shortage of excitement.
Back at Farrington Stadium, Sun Devil senior right-handed pitcher Kenzie Brown is putting up another spectacular outing.
She held the Jayhawks to just four hits and one run in a complete game effort, while throwing 16 strikeouts. Freshman outfielder Ashleigh Mejia set Club Farrington on fire with her three-run home run to give ASU the 6-1 lead it carried all the way until the final out.
Instead of lousy chirps coming from either dugout, there were unified chants cheering for their teammates instead of degrading the opponents. With every strikeout, Brown pumped her fist and yelled in exclamation, showing as much emotion as she could.
When Mejia rounded third and made her way toward home plate, her teammates swarmed her in a tunnel. When she emerged, they tossed her a bat that she emphatically plunged downward, mimicking the act of planting Sparky the Sun Devil’s pitchfork in the dirt.
Fans hollered as they rang cow bells and slapped the metal bleachers. When the game was over, every young fan in the stadium ran to catch a glimpse of the players exiting the locker room. They stood in wait with posters and pens in hand, hoping to get an autograph from their role models.
Softball doesn’t get the same amount of attention and hype that baseball does, but it should. In what is essentially the same sport, the gameplay is better, the atmosphere is better, and the impact is better.
I’m not a fan of baseball, but I love softball. And you should too.
