Softball — It's like baseball, only more fun to watch

I spent most of the weekend covering the MIAA softball tournament for the Emporia Gazette, which was a lot of fun. Emporia State (the team I was covering) won the championship and I was getting paid to write about sports, which is always nice. 

But, all that aside, it was just good to watch some softball. Here's something about watching fastpitch softball that the average sports fan might not know: it's like watching baseball, only better. It's the same basic structure and rules as baseball, but there are a few key differences that make the game more fast-paced and eliminate a lot of those baseball moments where people are just standing around waiting for something to happen.

First of all, the underhand pitching style in softball is a more natural way for a human being to throw. It puts less stress on the shoulder, which allows pitchers to throw longer, which greatly reduces the number of pitching changes. Anyone who has seen a baseball manager go to the mound and bring in a reliever to pitch to just one batter knows how maddeningly boring pitching changes can be. In most softball games there's one for each team, at most.

Secondly, the bases are closer together in softball, which throws all kinds of delightful wrenches into the machine. The infielders have to move in so they'll be able to throw runners out on ground balls and their margin for error shrinks considerably. Bobble a grounder in a baseball game and you'll probably still have time to make the play. Bobble a grounder in a softball game and you've almost surely cost your team an out. That raises the stakes of each batted ball and raises the tension. It also puts a premium on being able to field your position and also back up several other positions. When there's a bunt in softball, the entire infield often has to shift.

Where baseball is more about slugging, softball is often a constant battle between speed and fielding prowess, especially if there are two good pitchers working. A lot more players in the field get involved with each play there's just more movement than at your average baseball game.

Thirdly, (and this has nothing really to do with the game of softball itself, but I'm going to mention it anyway because — whatever, whatever, it's my hot blog, and I'll do what I want!) I generally find women's softball players more attractive than men's baseball players. That's not always the case (I have to admit, Joe Mauer is dreamy), but it usually holds true. Especially with the Emporia State girls, who showed up at the park every day this weekend having obviously showered, done their hair and applied a bit of make-up. Some even wore sparkly earrings. Yet this did nothing to quell their competitive nature, I assure you. It was as if they were saying, "We're going to beat the heck out of you, and we're going to look prettier doing it."

The final advantage that softball has over baseball is that the girls who play just seem to have more fun than the boys do. A lot of baseball players put on this show of being all detached and casual at the ballpark, like, "Well, I guess I'll play baseball today, but only because I'm really good at it. I derive no joy from this, whatsoever. I'm too cool for that kind of emotion." 

The Emporia State players made no secret of how much they enjoy softball and each other's company. They got in a circle and danced around before every game, they had a special chant for every teammate when they came up to bat and they did all those little psych-up rituals after each out they made in the field — slapping their gloves, twirling around, pretending to shoot a basketball. If you've never been to a fastpitch softball game it might seem kind of silly, but these girls acted like it was the most natural thing in the world.

They were having fun, and that made it more fun for everyone who was watching. Especially me, I suppose, because I was getting paid to be there.