- Originally developed in Chicago in 1887 by George Hancock, softball was an indoor sport. It moved outside the next year.
- Softball was dropped from the Summer Olympics, and the 2008 Beijing games were the last time there was an opportunity to win a medal. However, it will be reinstated as a sport for the 2020 Tokyo games.
- There is not a clear reason the sport is named softball. Some people say it comes from the first ball that was softer and squishier. Others think the name comes from the pitching method.
- The fastest pitch ever thrown was 77 miles per hour (mph). It was pitched in 2012 by Monica Abbott while playing for the US National Team, and it has yet to be broken.
Dimensions:
- Bases are 60 feet apart
- Softballs have a 12-inch circumference for fastpitch and 11-inch circumference for slowpitch
- There are 9 players on the field at once