The first softball game was played inside the Farragut Boat Club in Chicago on Thanksgiving Day 1887. A crowd who had gathered to learn the outcome of the annual Harvard – Yale football game via telegraph began playing with a wrapped up boxing glove, a stick for a bat and no rules.

The next week, George Hancock, one of the participants and a reporter for the Chicago Board of Trade, began development of a proper ball and bat while members of the Farragut Boat Club began crafting rules for the game. Soon after, the sport spread to other cities.

The game was called ‘indoor baseball,’ ‘lemon ball’ & ‘mush ball’ before 1926, when the term ‘softball’ was first used.

Today, modern 16” softball, a close variant of the original game, is still very popular in Chicago. The Chicago 16” Softball Hall of Fame was formed in 1996 and a permanent museum is now located in Forest Park.

Learn more:
To learn more about 16” softball, visit the National Softball Association website & the 16” Softball Hall of Fame website.