What Is The Difference Between Softball And Baseball?

A portion of the baseball diamond.

Tell a person to provide you with a ball-and-bat sport, and they'll probably tell you "baseball" right away. But there's also softball, and while it might seem close to baseball on the surface, there are many differences when you dig deeper. They both feature batters hitting a ball and running bases in order to score, but they diverge from one another as far as rules, equipment, and fields are concerned.

Equipment, Fields, and Pitching

Softball starts off with a larger ball than baseball, with softball having a ball that is 12 inches in diameter and baseball having one that is only 9 inches. That makes all the difference when you hit or catch. Softball bats also stay shorter and lighter to match their ball, but baseball bats get longer and heavier with weight for reach. Both sports use cleats and gloves for players, but softball gloves have bigger pockets to grab the larger ball. Fields are shrunk in softball as well—bases are 60 feet apart, not 90 feet like in baseball. Adding on, softball outfield fences are 200 to 250 feet from home plate, while baseball takes them out to 300 or 400 feet. Pitching distances differ too. Softball pitchers pitch 43 feet in women's games, or 46 feet for men. Baseball pitchers, however, pitch 60 feet 6 inches every time. Softball pitchers also pitch underhand with a windmill motion, starting with both feet on the rubber, and their ball rises or drops rapidly. Baseball pitchers pitch sidearm or overhand from an earth mound, and their pitches swoop level or curve with rotation.

Time, Players, and Pace

Softball games last seven innings, while baseball games last nine. Softball tiebreakers position a runner on second base in extra innings, while players in baseball just keep playing until a team wins. Thus, theoretically, a baseball game could go on forever! Both games utilize nine players in the field—pitcher, catcher, infielders, outfielders. Softball, sometimes, features a designated player in fast-pitch to bat for a person who does not play in the field. Softball fielders also have less distance to travel with the smaller field and throw shorter, while players in baseball get hit harder by the tight ball and react faster.

Scoring, Rules, and Roots

Scoring is simple in both—a team gets one point every time one of their runners crosses the home plate after touching all of the bases. Softball's small field and soft ball make it easier to hit home runs. Baseball's hard ball and big outfield, on the other hand, make it much harder. Softball runners leave on the pitch as soon as the pitcher releases it, but baseball runners wait for the pitch to cross home plate. Foul balls are strikes in both; softball restricts them to two strikes for an out, while baseball allows three. Umpires call games up close in softball's tight diamond, but baseball spreads them out on the larger diamond. Softball started indoors in 1887 and went outdoors with little equipment and tiny fields, while baseball developed from previous bat-and-ball sports by the mid-1800s, settling into bigger spaces. Those origins do not alter current rules, yet they explain why softball crowds together and baseball extends out.