Posts Tagged ‘baseball bats’
A Week into Spring Training
Well, here we are a week into spring training already, and hopes are running high. Players are getting into shape-some trying to make their first major league team, some older players trying to stay on a team, and some veterans just going through the motions. The Tampa Bay Rays are off to a good start as predicted by several sports writers.
So are the Chicago Cubs, but we have all seen that before. Baseball bats are booming, pitchers look sharp, and baseball gloves are actually catching baseballs-just what they are designed to do. Then comes the yearly Chicago Cubs letdown. I do, however, have a theory. For those of you who know the Bible, my theory is this: if the Cubs win the World Series, then the Lord Jesus will come back again! (I know it’s not actually in the Bible, but it should be!) Talk about faith…
Who Will Make it to World Series?
With all the hope and promise of a new season, just who will make it all the way to the World Series? On paper, there are several good prospects-but ‘on paper’ doesn’t mean you’re going to make it to the Series. It doesn’t even mean you are going to make the playoffs. So, just how do two teams make it to the ‘Big Show?’
There are so many factors that either bump a team up, or move a team down, that you can’t just name one or two. There can be a ‘defining moment,’ however, that either launches a team-or really deflates their bubble. It could be as simple as “faith and belief” or simply just one ‘hot’ baseball bat that marks the turning point. Let’s explore this further tomorrow…
Spring Training Up and Running
Here it is early in March of 2010 (it STILL feels like winter) and spring training is once again up and running. Hopes are high for many major leaguers (and would be major leaguers), not to mention baseball fans all over America. There seems to always be a lot of promise at the beginning of the season.
Players are asking themselves “will I make the team,” and fans are wondering if this could be ‘the year’ their favorite team makes it to the World Series. (Sorry, Chicago Cubs fans are not allowed to participate in this…their time has expired!) So, go ahead and oil up that baseball glove and dust off your baseball bat. It’s time to hear-“PLAY BALL”…
Rays Price Ready for 2010
This spring is different for the Tampa Bay Rays David Price. Last spring he started in Triple A baseball which seemed like a slap in the face to him after being called up late in 2008 to pitch to Boston in the ALCS, and then the World Series. It was tough for him to go back to the minors to ‘learn’ a few more things.
Well, now he’s back in the Big Leagues in spring training, and all the cameras aren’t on him like they were last year. Now he has a chance to work on some of his pitches without everybody climbing all over him. It’s a safe bet he’ll be working on his defense by mastering the art of catching with that big baseball glove of his, and a little more ball movement as he delivers to the plate. When David Price pitches, the crack of the baseball bats may not be so numerous…
History of Softball-(Part 7)
Sixteen inch softball has spread to other states, but remains most popular in the Chicago area. Numerous leagues and teams have sprung up and it is even a “letter sport” in Chicago high schools. With more kids and youngsters playing the game, its popularity will go on for years to come.
One of the really neat things about the game of 16” softball is that kids and parents can play it together. Kids are surprised to find out that their moms can smack a 16” softball with a baseball bat, and played the game when they were young girls. Many ethnic groups play in their own leagues all over the city. What a fun game! It knows no barriers…
History of Softball-(Part 6)
People of all ages play 16” softball. In the Chicago area especially, teams sprang up everywhere. There were men teams, ladies teams, park teams, mixed ladies and men teams and professional teams. It’s hard to go to a park in the Chicago area and not see a 16” softball game going on.
Probably, the most noticeable thing about the game is how much fun it is to play. Unlike so many other games that many people either can’t or do not play, 16” softball has been played by people of every background. Again, no softball gloves are necessary to play the game, just a bat and a sixteen inch softball. Then, there are the leagues…
History of Softball-(Part 5)
Sixteen inch softball got very popular in Chicago especially during the time of the Great Depression. All you needed to play it was a baseball bat and a 16” softball. Nobody wore softball gloves mostly because they couldn’t afford them. This caused you to become a better fielder because it is easier to catch a ball in a glove than bare-handed.
The game was slow pitch which many girls and women also loved. Just about anybody could play without much worry of getting hurt. You could use just about anything for bases and because it was played on smaller fields, a game could spring up almost anywhere…
History of Softball-(Part 4)
Meanwhile, back in Chicago where softball began, it was getting even more popular. It was still played often indoors at armories. Also, outdoor softball in the city had need of a ball that wouldn’t go so far when it was hit with a baseball bat. It was played on playgrounds and small fields, so a ball that you couldn’t hit too far was needed.
A guy named Frederick DeBeer made the first 16” softball for that reason. He also made it with the stitches on the inside and it was called the Cincher. The reason the stitches were placed on the inside was so they wouldn’t wear out on the playgrounds. Another “game-changer” was you didn’t wear a glove when playing 16” softball…
History of Softball-(Part 2)
Softball remained an indoor game for the next several years. Obviously, the wrapped up boxing glove was traded in for an actual ball, and the broom stick for a baseball bat. Sizes of softballs ranged from twelve inches all the way up to seventeen inches. At the turn of the century, a guy named Lt. Roby from the Minneapolis Fire Department decided to move the game outdoors.
They played softball next to the fire department to get the guys some exercise. They used a fourteen inch ball, and the game grew in popularity. As softball grew in popularity, leagues began to pop up around the Midwest. It was only a matter of time before softball would “go national”…
History of Softball-(Part 1)
Did you ever wonder how a game or sport got its beginning? Most people never think about it, they just play the game. That’s probably true with softball, but like all games and sports, it did have a beginning. Softball began in Chicago, Illinois on Thanksgiving Day in 1887. At a boat club called Farragut Boat Club, in the city, alumni from Harvard and Yale were waiting for tickertape results of their annual game to come in.
While they were waiting, somebody took a boxing glove and wrapped it up to look like a “softball,” took a broom stick for a “baseball bat” and played baseball indoors in the gym. They enjoyed the game so much that they made up some rules, and “softball” became an indoor game for years…(see part 2)