I might be venturing into dangerous territory with the lesbian league, like going for a homer when the coach signals for a bunt.
But I’ve got to take the swing.
I’m for the abolition of softball, because it allows for continued discrimination against girls and women. I think the situation compares to our marriage fight — if we settle for less than marriage, we get less. If we settle for softball, we get a bigger ball but a lesser game.
There, whew, I’ve expressed what I’ve been stewing about for 30 years.
Now I need to explain why I daydream about winning a Lotto jackpot and funding a nonprofit agency with the dual goals of abolishing softball and encouraging girls to play baseball.
First, before we get into a cyberspace version of an empty-the-dugouts brawl over my disparaging softball, I’ll acknowledge that some great athletes play softball, the game can be highly competitive and the sport thrives in the GLBT community.
I’ll acknowledge too that baseball and softball are not technically or legally alternate versions of the same sport. The Women’s Sports Foundation points out that baseball and softball are governed by separate national bodies in the United States, that the Olympic Committee recognizes baseball and softball as different sports, with different rules and different equipment. These points are vital Title IX legal arguments on behalf of girls fighting for a spot on a baseball team against school districts that maintain “but we offer softball.”
I’ll also acknowledge that in some regions of the country, women’s baseball organizations do exist and the play is fantastically fierce. I lived for a few years in a city with a women’s baseball league and enjoyed a glorious “girls of summer” era.
But let’s be honest: Women, by and large, are observant fans not players of our national pastime and older girls get directed to second-rate softball diamonds while older boys get honored for their hardball heroics.
With coed tee-ball and Little League opportunities, a lot of little girls start out in hardball. But no one can dispute that many female tee-ball titans and hardball all-stars get channeled into softball at the end of their Little League careers because of discriminatory set-ups in school systems and park districts. Too many high school softball players would prefer to play baseball.
But holy cow, what’s the rationale for girl’s softball instead of girl’s baseball?
I asked a dozen coaches to explain why high school girls generally play softball, not baseball. “It’s a good game,” most said, defending softball. “Girls can play baseball if they want.”
“If softball isn’t viewed by the general population as a game for girls, why don’t boys play softball in high school?” I asked.
“Why would they?” the coaches answered.
Why would they indeed?
Ask a 10-year-old kid, girl or boy, the difference between softball and baseball and that kid will tell you one game is for girls and one game is for boys.
I remember hearing that answer quite a bit about 30 years ago. I had dedicated myself to seven years in the girl’s Ponytail League park district baseball program and then faced three options in high school — play girl’s softball, fight to play boy’s baseball or don’t play at all.
I joined the girl’s softball team my frosh year. I hated every day of the season. I didn’t like the size of the softball, which felt all wrong in my hand. I didn’t like the bounce the ball took off the aluminum bat. A good hit in hardball goes “crack” off a wooden bat. I didn’t like the underhanded pitching — no matter how fast the ball traveled. I didn’t like that I couldn’t relate what I was doing on the softball field to what was taking place in the Major Leagues. I didn’t like that the crowds were in the stands at the other diamond, the baseball diamond, cheering for the boys. And I didn’t like that I was now an observer rather than a player of our great pastime.
Still, I played two years of softball. I tried to fit in and be a sport. But trying to like softball was like trying to date boys. Yuck.
So, junior year in high school I went with the third option and didn’t play.
Today I still get the fever to play baseball. I put on my Sox hat. I break out my glove, my baseball and my Al Kaline bat and I look for someone to coax into a game of 500 or even a backyard catch.
The other day, in the third week of spring-training season here in Florida and with my baseball fever running hot, I tried to get my 6-year-old niece to play.
“Oh Lisa,” she said, “that’s for boys.”
And that’s when I decided to announce my eagerness to abolish softball. Ban the big ball.
By the way, Major League regular season play begins this week — March 30 is opening night and March 31 is opening day.
As the late great Harry Caray said often, “Hey everybody, it’s a beautiful day for baseball.”