My dad played baseball in college and shaped a portion of my childhood surrounded by baseball.I have been to my own share of games. But, I also grew up playing softball with my little sister, and my father again has been a softball coach since before I can remember.
Between both experiences, I have found that softball is objectively the more interesting sport to watch.
Wichita State is the home of both a Division I softball team, coached by Kristi Bedbenner, and a baseball team, which is coached by Brian Green. Both house many talented athletes.
Over the years, I have attended multiple Wichita State softball and baseball games, and have definitely found a preference for one over the other.
Baseball takes forever
If one person had to go to a softball game and another person had to go to a baseball game, you would be astonished by the difference in ending times. The person who went to the softball game could have had a five-course dinner and tried skydiving and somehow the baseball game would still be in the fifth inning.
An average Shocker’s softball game is around two, to two and a half hours, but an average baseball game seems to sit in the three-and-a-half hour range.
I hear people arguing that it is just more content to watch. You would be surprised to learn that this is not the case. That extra time is actually used on the pauses between basically every play.
It takes forever to do anything in this game. Pitching is one of the offenders of this. It is very common for baseball pitchers to switch out extremely often, and the warm-ups last around three minutes, which can feel atrociously long. Softball games also have pitcher changes, but they are much less common.
One of the most egregious rules is that base runners are capable of leading off the base and stealing bases even if the pitcher has the ball in their hand, currently pitching. This means there are many times during games when the pitcher and a base runner will stand off. They will seriously just stare at each other sometimes, waiting to see if the pitcher will throw it/ the base runner will attempt to steal.
Softball takes this away entirely, stating that base runners can only lead off after the ball has left the pitcher’s hand. This means when watching a softball game, you are not forced to watch two players silently attempt to threaten each other into doing something.
Lastly, baseball plays two more innings than softball games, totaling nine innings per game in comparison to softball’s seven. This adds to the time exceptionally, especially in the case of a doubleheader.
All of these things begin to severely add up, and it accumulates into almost an hour of just waiting for something to happen. Softball is insanely more concise.
Softball is more action-packed
Baseball and softball fields are actually two entirely different sizes, with softball fields being much smaller. This is due to the rules and ball sizes of both games, but it also attributes to different game feels while watching.
A smaller field compacts all the players much closer together, which creates a much more intense game feel. The smaller field means more can happen in quick succession, and in my opinion, it spawns more chaos.
There’s also a lot of strategy going into spots that softball players will try to hit so they can get around bases. While this is done in baseball too, I find it to be much more interesting and fun to watch in softball.
Easier to watch
In general, I have found softball is much easier to watch.
Combined with the rules being more streamlined — such as. the rule about stealing bases — and the way the game is set up, it is much easier to understand.
Softballs are much bigger than baseballs which makes them much easier to spot when watching a game. It’s super common to lose baseballs in the air or even where they are in the box no matter where you are sitting.
As well, the field being smaller also lends itself to an easier watch. It’s super easy to see all the players together or watch multiple plays go down without it being super far apart. As in softball and baseball games, there are often multiple things happening at the same time.
Both sports deserve respect as they both have their challenges and drawbacks. But, if you are choosing between attending a Wichita State softball game or a baseball game, I would one hundred percent suggest heading over to Wilkins Stadium.
