Who Invented Softball?

Who invented softball? Although one man camesoftball game ever played.
up with a version of the game in 1887, anotherHancock wrote rules for the game and created
modified the game in 1895. A young Chicagothe oversized ball so the equipment associated
gentleman, George Hancock, is considered thewith the game differed from baseball. Hancock
inventor of the game. Minneapolis firefighter Lewisalso invented a smaller rubber-tipped bat.
Rober also made strides in shaping softball'sMinneapolis Matches
history.In 1895, Lewis Rober, a Minneapolis firefighter,
In the Beginningwanted to find some form of activity to keep his
On Thanksgiving Day in 1887, a group of alumnifire crew busy and in shape. Rober modified the
of both Harvard and Yale Universities met at thegame of baseball to fit the dimensions of the
Farragut Boat Club in Chicago. The crowd awaitedvacant lot adjacent to the firehouse. The following
the score of the traditional football classicyear, Rober was assigned to a new fire hall and
between the two Ivy League schools. Once Yale'sthe game became known as Kitten Ball, in honor
win was announced, someone picked up a boxingof Rober's team's name: the Kittens.
glove and tossed it at another person, whoDid Rober borrow the idea from Hancock's
swung at it with some type of wooden stick.invention? Probably not. Hancock's adaptation of
Hancock told the group that they should play asoftball was limited to the Chicago area and it is
ball game. He shaped the boxing glove into a ballunlikely Rober was aware of the game.
and tied it. Then, he mapped out the infieldNo matter which man invented softball, their
diamond to fit the inside the gym. Someoneingenuity helped shape America's most popular
grabbed a stick or broom handle to use as a bat.participation sport.
This faux baseball game is credited as the first