Not Just Slowpitch

Ted Williams often said that hitting a baseball is “the hardest thing to do in sports”. He might be right. A baseball traveling at 95 mph takes .43 seconds to reach home plate. In that time the batter must decide where the ball is going, if it will move, if he wants to swing, then swing a bat that weighs over 2 pounds, and make contact with a ball 3 in. in diameter. But watching the NCAA softball World Series made me wonder if these girls have it harder than MLB players.

In softball, the pitcher’s mound is 40-43 feet away from home plate, a much shorter distance than the 60’6” used in pro baseball. At the same time, though, softball pitchers don’t throw as fast as most MLB pitchers. Good softball pitchers throw up to 70 mph. This means that the ball reaches home plate in .39 seconds, even faster than a 95 mph fastball does in the MLB. Granted, a softball is almost an inch wider than a baseball, making it easier to hit. But in softball, batters have a harder time than baseball players do reading what pitch is coming. And a softball pitcher’s repertoire is surprisingly full: fastball, changeup, riser, sinker, curveball, and screwball can be thrown, and some are even mixed together (rise screw, drop curve). You know how there’s always that one kid who can throw any pitch with a wiffleball and no one can hit him? It’s basically like that. Also, the low release point of a softball pitcher makes it hard to gauge where the ball is going. This is especially troublesome because in softball, the ball comes from low to high: an adjustment by the batter means fighting gravity to bring the bat higher. In baseball, an adjustment simply means dropping your hands an inch or two.

So maybe Ted was half-right in saying the hardest thing to do in sports is getting the bat on the ball. It’s just a question of which bat, and which ball he’s talking about. While you’re flipping through the channels this week, don’t just skip over women’s softball. Give it a try.