Monica Brown
Mr. Dietrich
Honors English three
December 8, 2012
Softball vs. Baseball
Anything a guy can do a girl can do better. Softball is just as great as baseball- if not more difficult. I have played softball since I could throw a ball. I have played catcher and shortstop throughout my athletic career. I also grew up with two older brothers who have always said, along with most males who play or know baseball, that baseball is much more difficult than softball. I beg to differ, given my background.
Baseball and softball have many different aspects to their game that separates the two. Fast pitch Softball plays only seven innings instead of the nine innings in baseball. That means the team has less chances to score and less chances to keep the other team from scoring. In baseball, when you are on base you are allowed to leave that base at any time to steal, as in softball you must wait until the ball has left the pitchers hand. That gives softball players less time to steal the next base. Another difference is the pitching style. The pitcher in baseball pitches over-handed and on top of a mound. In softball, the pitcher must pitch underhanded and “wind up” on a flat ground. Maybe it’s just my opinion but I would rather pitch overhanded because it seems easier. Yes, in softball we use a much larger ball. You have to think though; there is less distance from the pitcher mound and home plate in softball as well. This means the softball pitcher must “wind up” up larger ball from a smaller distance and still have enough power to make it on average about 50 mph or more in high school. In baseball you have a longer distance, smaller ball (less weight to carry), and the average is about anywhere from 65 to 75 mph (fastball) in high school. One last difference is the distance from home plate to the outfield fences is much shorter in softball (60 ft), because it is more difficult to hit a softball the same distance as a baseball. The distance is 90 ft on a baseball field.
“'When you are up, you are up, when you are down, you are down, when you are up against our team, you are upside down.” If you have ever watched a college softball game, you would realize we encourage our teammates differently. We cheer them on like their own personal cheerleaders. When we are in the dugout watching our teammates bat we don’t just sit there and watch or every once in a while say “let’s go” or “you got this”. We clap, we chant, we yell, we go insane; we put our spirit out there for the ones on the field. In softball, you are never bored. There is a lot more spirit and soul put out in softball. There is so much passion in the hearts of the players you just can’t help but to feel it to. This passion keeps the game alive and keeps the drive to win irresistible.
Very well wrtitten.
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ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the first sentence. This is a very interesting topic. I completely agree with the argument. Also, I love how you said how big the field is as well as gave the average speed that each ball is thrown.
ReplyDeletei disagree with your statement, Anything a guy can do a girl can do better. there are many exceptions including weightlifting, football, etc.. second, baseball is by far harder than baseball. if a baseball mound was as close as a softball mound was, nobody would be touching the ball. and if people got hit, it would be twice as bad. the bases are closer in softball which makes it easier to steal. in baseball, you actually have "try" to srteal a base. to hit a homeerun is way harder in baseball than in softball. softball is hard, i agree. i also agree that there are some things that women have it harder on than guys but baseball vs softball is not one of them.
ReplyDeleteI like the first sentence you said. And saying how much you love softball.
ReplyDeleteYou did a really good job writing this essay, and you have some really good points. good job :)
ReplyDeleteI also disagree with your position, but that's no suprise because I'm a baseball player. My sister used to play softball and i know it's hard. For example, the mound in softball is closer but you have to the remember the ball is also alot bigger than a baseball, so you have a bigger target to swing at. Which do you think is harder to hit, a 50 MPH huge softball or a 70-75 MPH much smaller baseball? I'll let u decide. Plus, a baseball field on average is 300 feet if not more, whereas a softball field is usually 200 feet, so you have to hit it very farther in baseball to hit a homerun
ReplyDeleteI believe you have a good argument but. I honsetly dont believe softball is Harder than baseball. Even though I dont play (I'm to lazy for that) I belive that baseball requires a little more technique.
ReplyDeleteMason: Okay, I understand where you are comming from and I understand we will never agree on this subject beacause of our biases of the boy to girl ratio. What I don't understand why can't a girl be as good if not better than a guy in weightlifting, sports, etc. There are exception to when a girl will be better than you at something. The mound to home base comment I don't completely agree with. The girl has to have just as much strength as guy would in order to pitch the way she does. I can pretty much say that if girls were to use baseball instead of softball we would do just as well. Next, a softball is larger, right? A softball is thrown with a good speed, right? I don't understand why a softball would not hurt a person the same, if not more, than a baseball. also, we have to "try" harder to steal a base. Yes, we have less distance but we also have less time. And you would agree with the fact that guys are commonly faster than girls, right? well you have more speed, as a guy, and more time. As a girl, we aren't as typically as fast. So that makes up for the distance and less time we have.
ReplyDeleteokay.. u just said that a guy on avergage is gaster than a girl. so that disproves your first statement. guys throw harder over hand than girls do. thats a fact and if you dont beleive that than look it up. no joke. the only girl player that throwns under hand is the pitcher. the cathcer throws harder than a girl cathcer. another example, look at the worlds strongest guy.. now look at the worlsds stronbgest woman.. whose stronger????? the guy. in basket ball and baseball, they had to scoot the bases closer together and move the 3 point line (only in pro basketball) so that more girls could be more consistent in sports. again, there are some things that girls have it harder on, but SPORTS is not one of them. this is not an arguement.
ReplyDeleteGood essay Monica! great topic choice and grammar
ReplyDeleteMason: I know you aren’t trying to argue with me and you are just voicing your opinion. For my first statement, I said that “Anything a guy can do a girl can do better.” When I said this I meant to be interpreted as a girl CAN be better. That means that if a girl was to strive for it, she could do as well as anyone else. A woman usually does a different work out than a man. Typically a woman would do less. If, per say, a girl were to grow up and do the things a guy does, starting from childhood up, she would be just as good in whatever she aspires to do. There’s an ability issue. The next issue would be the ball sizes. Men practice with the smaller, less weighted, baseballs all time. Girls, practice every day with heavier, larger softballs. If you want to take it the biological route, girls, typically have smaller hands then guys. This makes it a little more difficult to grip a softball like a guy would a baseball. As a baseball I would expect you to know that every throw starts off with the grip of the ball. Yes I agree with the pitcher comment and to elaborate on that I will throw in the fact that guys are never made to pitch underhanded. They pitch over handed (like they throw to bases and practice every day). Female pitcher not only have to keep up their throwing speed to get the outs at base, but also practice pitching and keep it up to speed as well. I will agree with the strength of the throw being stronger on the guys point, BUT as female I understand the limitations of females. WE have biological parts that, in some cases, keep us from performing our best. Especially when we have safety gear on that restricts us further. The strongest woman from the United States is a woman names Kristin Rhodes. She has won the America’s Strongest Woman title 5 times (2007, 08, 09, 11, and 2012. Her max overhead axle press is 251 pounds and her best yoke walk was 705 pounds. She works out three times a week. Nick Best, one of the competitors for world’s strongest man, yoke’s about 900 to 1000 pounds and works out every day. So yes I agree that the strongest man is stronger to the strongest female. I just wonder what the amount she could lift if she worked out every day as he does since she is only 200-300 pound away. So, there is that issue. For one, basketball has nothing to do with baseball. I did not address ALL sports, just this one. The reason they put the bases closer together in softball is because of the time limitation due to the fact of waiting to steal the base. Didn’t I already say that in my blog? One last thing is that you should really spell check your work before submitting! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWell said Monica, well both sides are biased i agree with Monica's overall opinion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100%! This was very good and interesting to read (even the comments). You have stated many facts most people dont know.
ReplyDeleteokay.. if you didnt mean what your first statement says, then whyd you say it? and you do realize that while comparing the worlds strongest male and female, 200-300 pounds in a BIG difference. If you think of all the sports records for girls, then all the sports records for guys(nationally), the guys have a higher record. if baseball mounds weer as short at softball mounds, im sure we would have to pitch under handed as well to keep from killing batters. move a softball mound back to where the guys throw, and see which one throws faster. get all the splayers to throw overhanded and see which one throws farther. in tennis, yall have venus and cerena williams.. we have raphael nadal and roger federer. who has been more successfull than venus and cerena. same things in basketball. same thing in soccer. and you said that if girls trained like guys then they would be just as good? thats their fault they dont train enough. first of all, mens structure makes sports more suitable for guys. second, if girls dont train enough, then they dont have the self disciplin to be better than guys. do you have any more false statements or questions that you can research but i have to explain????
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