Is Softball a Sport?
The out of doors during spring and summer might just be my favorite place to be. I love just about any excuse to be outside. Well . . . except public flogging. I don't think I'd like that. But just about anything else taking me outside, I'm likely to enjoy it.

I also love playing softball. It's softball season again, and I'm very excited about it. I've been on the same softball team now for about two years, which equals about eight-ish seasons. I have a standing place on the team as starting Second Base Girl. I haven't missed a game (I don't think) in those two years. Once I commit to a team effort, I am totally there. It's been a great team. We play in a city league. We even won first place . . . once. Yep, once. Mostly we just have fun, and occasionally we play well, and occasionally the other teams are worse than we are.

But, is softball really a sport? Is it even exercise? It's got to be one of the lowest activity 'sports' in existence. Mind you, I don't play to get exercise. I just enjoy it. But still, I question the 'exercise' value of softball.

You get up to bat every ten people or so. Which means you spend a good portion of the game sitting, drinking water (or beer depending on which league you're in), watching minimal activity on the field, chatting with friends, and yelling at the umps for bad calls. Chances are you may not even hit during any given inning, depending on how strong your team mates can hit and keep things going. When you do get up to bat every once in awhile, and actually get a hit, you run a few feet and then take a break til the next person hits well enough to make you run a few more feet. Once you make it around the bases, you take a break back on the bench til it's time to do something else.

Even if you're up to bat, you can get away with not hitting, and not running. You can actually walk, if you wait it out long enough. They tell you to walk, and you drop your bat and wander over to first base. If you're out of breath, you walked too fast.

When you're in the field, you only have to move if the ball comes near you. You've got 9 other people out there chasing down the ball with you, so unless it comes pretty close to you, you get to stand and watch the ball move around the field without making any effort on your part. Being at second base, I get a good bit of activity. But still, I'm not exactly tired after a round of fielding and watching my team try to play defense. In fact, I think we get more exercise running after balls we missed and falling over ourselves in the process. Compared to say, running a marathon, or biking around the lake, a few minutes spent chasing a ball on the softball field is not a ton of exercise. In fact, I usually end a game of softball warmed up and ready for something more.

While softball does require you to wear athletic shoes and shorts, and you will likely sweat a bit and run and throw and hit and whatnot, to consider it exercise may be a bit of a leap. It's fun, and good activity. But let's not kid ourselves into thinking we got a great workout from a game of softball. I get more exercise walking from my car to the field. Sure, there's a ball and a team and rules and points and a winner. But let's not get too caught up in considering it a true sport, since even non-sports inclined people can alternately sit and wander a field for about an hour, to be considered 'playing' softball.

Is softball a sport, or even a true form of exercise? We may never know. But I think it's safe to say the point of softball is not the exercise. It's just a good excuse to be out of doors, without being publicly flogged.

C.T.