Information on Who Invented Softball
Unlike as is the case with baseball, there's little argument or controversy as to who invented softball. The name of the inventor was George Hancock, and he did it in 1887, in Chicago, Illinois. Unlike baseball, softball didn't exactly evolve. It was one of those spur of the moment things.
Hancock and a few others were gathered together for a different purpose, namely football. Softball, which wouldn't be invented for another few hours or at least a few minutes, was probably the furtherest thing from their minds.
The fact is, the very first softball, which as far as we know wasn't preserved as an historical relic, was a boxing glove. Someone in the group tossed the boxing glove at or to another person in the group. A third party took a swing at the glove with a stick and hit it. A light went on inside George Hancock's head. He tied or taped the glove into the shape of a round ball, and the rest of the afternoon was spent hitting the glove-turned-softball with the stick. Hancock, who evidently knew something about baseball, that game having been “invented” nearly 50 years earlier, scratched out a rough diamond on a gymnasium floor and a game of sorts was underway.
A few days later, Hancock painted a more precise diamond on the gym floor and in the meantime had fashioned what could be considered a real softball, though of course nothing like today's version, and not a trussed up boxing glove. The new game caught on, and Hancock gave it a name, indoor baseball.
He Invented It - There have been countless discussions over the years as to who invented baseball. Abner Doubleday has long been considered the inventor, but in all of his papers, he was a military man, there is no mention of the game, and Doubleday himself denied being the inventor of the game. There is even good reason to believe he never set foot in Cooperstown, New York, the place where it was claimed he invented it. A gentleman named Alexander Cartwright is considered by many to have invented baseball, while others believe the game simply evolved over time from the English game of rounders. As to who invented softball however, there is no doubt, and no controversy. It was George Hancock.
He Named It - Another name associated with the game of softball was Walter Hakanson. He did not invent the game, and would have been the first to tell anyone he didn't. What Hakanson did however, was give the game its name. Softball didn't start out as softball. As we've seen, Hancock first called it indoor baseball, which is where it was mostly played initially. The game's name eventually became indoor-outdoor baseball, and was known by a number of other names, “kitten ball” included, until Walter Hakanson, serving in more or less an official capacity, named it softball in 1927. The name of course stuck.
A Game For All To Enjoy - It didn't take long after Hancock invented the game for it to catch on and the reasons are apparent. The rules are not complicated, the game is fun to play, and most importantly perhaps, softball can be played by all ages and both sexes, something that cannot be claimed for baseball. In addition, softball, both slow pitch and fast pitch, the two versions of the game, is played predominantly by amateurs, who often appear to take greater delight in a sport than do the professionals.
A Little Bragging - Most everyone loves to either play the game or watch it, whether it’s on a sandlot, on a parks and recreation diamond, in a schoolyard, or on a college campus. Even those who may be getting a little long in the tooth to play the game well can still enjoy watching an acquaintance play it, especially when that acquaintance was on the University of Washington 2009 National Championship team.