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Help me understand women's softball

DownEastDeac said:
Do they still play fast-pitch intramurals at Wake?
mid-70's era Deacs will remember John Gelich (sp?); I think he pitched for Poteat House or another of the non-frat teams. He wore baggy khaki's and would pop the ball off his pants leg to get extra spin. He went to grad school at Wake after undergrad and I figured it was just to get in another 2 years of being "Softball Guy".
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Actually switched from fast pitch to slow pitch in the mid-70's to get more participation. I don't know what they do now. But I can remember John Jelich & Lawson Newton pitching over at Hanes Hosiery in an exhibition against Eddie Feigner and the King and His Court in the mid-70's. Those guys were a 4 man softball team and took on all comers. The King did some amazing things with a softball like pitch blind folded from second base, stuff like that.
 
TheReff said:
"Finch visited Alex Rodriguez, who was then starring for the Rangers, at another ... the batter's box, he made it clear he wouldn't dare swing at any of Finch's pitches." Just saying what was in print. Calling them like it is.
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He was probably just trying to get laid when he said that.
 
This thread is three pages longer than I anticipated. Must be summer.
 
TheReff said:
Actually switched from fast pitch to slow pitch in the mid-70's to get more participation. I don't know what they do now. But I can remember John Jelich & Lawson Newton pitching over at Hanes Hosiery in an exhibition against Eddie Feigner and the King and His Court in the mid-70's. Those guys were a 4 man softball team and took on all comers. The King did some amazing things with a softball like pitch blind folded from second base, stuff like that.
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I was at that game. IIRC it was quite competitive for a while, and even though The King only had 4 fielders it was obvious they weren't used to that type of competition from an opposing pitcher plus our guys could hit The King a little from facing Jelich in practice. What started out as a Globetrotter/Generals atmosphere actually got a little "testy" on the part of The Court guys, egged on by a crowd of Wake guys who'd probably had a few brews at T.O.G. on the way over. But eventually the pros got control of the game and were able to throw in some of their aforementioned things like pitching from 2nd base, blindfolded, from his knees, etc.
I think about that game every time I go by that field on the way to BB&T (that and making a Colson's or Bells Bros. run)
 
Why MLBers can't hit Jenny Finch
http://www.si.com/more-sports/2013/07/24/sports-gene-excerpt

summary: a lot of hitting is based on anticipation, guessing where the pitch is going to be before it reaches 1/2 mark. Baseball players are not accustomed to the softball throwing motion, so their MLB anticipation skills are useless.

Since Pujols had no mental database of Finch's body movements, her pitch tendencies or even the spin of a softball, he could not predict what was coming, and he was left reacting at the last moment. And Pujols's simple reaction speed is downright quotidian.
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There were quite a few days over the last couple weeks when there was nothing but women's softball on tv. Having had kids who competed in sports at a high level, I can understand how kids or their parents can become fans in any sport. But honestly, women's softball, with it's overweight players squeezed into the horrid unis, and all the non- sports trappings, like the posing by the pitchers, make-up and hairbows, and no attempt by most batters to actually hit the ball, is just obnoxious. Sorry to offend all the softball lovers, but the coverage of the NCAA's this year did you no favors.
 
Went to a couple of games while I was in grad school at Arizona because my friend wanted to try and meet Jenny Finch. I quite enjoyed it. I thought they should have retrofitted Hooks for softball when the baseball team moved, but I've always thought that Wake needed more Women's sports.
 
w84it said:
Went to a couple of games while I was in grad school at Arizona because my friend wanted to try and meet Jenny Finch. I quite enjoyed it. I thought they should have retrofitted Hooks for softball when the baseball team moved, but I've always thought that Wake needed more Women's sports.
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No way man. We can't afford to feed a women's softball team.
 
My daughter plays. It was hard to get used to...the game is much faster than baseball. Played on a smaller field (60 feet between bases), usually a 200 foot fence, pitchers mound is 43 feet. While it looks like the players are not attempting to swing the bat, the swing/slash bunt is very hard to master and a lot of girls are recruited as "slashers". If you're an infielder, you have to be lightning fast- you have very little time to make a play. The slightest bobble can cost you.

Batting is very different- there is no time to "load" and shift your body weight like a baseball swing. The mound is 43 feet from the batter's box, but by the time the pitcher releases the ball she might be 35 feet from the box- especially the taller pitchers (which is why you see a lot of tall pitchers). Most of the pitcher's power comes from her legs, so you'll also see a lot of pitchers with thick hips/legs. Pitchers throw a fastball, change-up, drop, and rise...and a pitcher with a good change-up is deadly.

There are some big girls in the sport- I'm always surprised when I see some of the players on TV, because the girls on my daughter's team and the girls on teams we play aren't fat. They're good athletes. I can't imagine being overweight and trying to motor down that short baseline.
 
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