Fastpitch: The Untold History of Softball and the Women Who Made the Game

by Erica Westly

“ A League of Their Own for the softball set” (Lily Koppel, bestselling author of The Astronaut Wives Club ), Fastpitch is hidden history at its most intriguing—the tale of the forgotten beginnings of one of the most popular and widely played sports today.

Softball is played by tens of millions in various age groups all around the world, but the origins of this beloved sport (and the charismatic athletes who helped it achieve prominence in the mid-twentieth century) have been shrouded in mystery…until now.

Fastpitch brings to vivid life the eclectic mix of characters that make up softball’s vibrant 129-year history. From its humble beginnings in 1887, when it was invented in a Chicago boat club and played with a broomstick, to the rise in the 1940s and 1950s of professional-caliber, company-sponsored teams that toured the country in style, softball’s history is as varied as it is fascinating. Though it’s thought of today as a female sport, fastpitch softball’s early history is full of male stars, such as the vaudeville-esque Eddie Feigner, whose signature move was striking out batters while blindfolded.

But because softball was one of the only team sports that also allowed women to play competitively, it took on added importance for female athletes. Women like Bertha Ragan Tickey, who set strikeout records and taught Lana Turner to pitch, and her teammate Joan Joyce, who struck out baseball star Ted Williams, made a name—and a life—for themselves in an era when female athletes had almost no prospects. Softball allowed them to flourish, and they in turn inspired a whole new generation of athletes.

Featuring eight pages of captivating, vintage photos and compelling, well-researched historical commentary, this “fun and entertaining read” (Billie Jean King) chronicles softball’s unique history as well as its uncertain future (as evidenced by its controversial elimination from the 2012 Olympics, and the mounting efforts to have it reinstated). A celebration of this distinctively American game and the role it plays in our culture today, Westly has written “a must-read for anyone who loves the sport” (Jonathan Fader, author of Life as Sport ).

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Baseball, Womens, History

304 pages, Paperback

First published May 17, 2016

Reviews

[Andy Littleton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative but not engrossing. Grateful for the history in this book, especially as the father of a softball player, but wishing it had been presented in a more arresting way.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could cry thinking about how sad it is that I didn't know any of this before. That most people know who Babe Ruth is but not Bertha Tickey or Joan Joyce. If I were Reese Witherspoon I'd buy the rights to this right now and make an anthology mini series about it.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in a journalistic style, Westly's book is about the rise of amateur softball teams and how they came to rival men's teams in popularity at the grassroots level. She uncovers the hidden history of women's sports in the story of the Brakeettes and Lions and the stars of the game in Bertha Tickey (40s-50s) and Joan Joyce (60s-70s). Pretty fascinating how widespread the fast pitch game was, which seems today to be limited mainly to high school and college, though the slow-pitch variety is a staple in beer leagues across the US. Westly does a great service in illustrating how teams were funded (company teams) that fielded very competitive elite athletics which corporate america has long since abandoned for colleges (which as Westly points out, is a 4 year career versus a 10 years or more career.) It also throws a gear into the conception that women didn't play sports until Title IX or even the League of Their Own narrative of women playing only baseball during the war. She also argues that softball is a distinct sport from baseball, despite their similarities, which is true in that there's varying skillsets though they are fairly similar.

Anyone interested in grassroots sports culture, hidden histories, women's history, and LGBT history (gay women often played on softball teams because it was one of the few places women were allowed to socialize without taboo), this book is for you.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is popular history at its absolute finest. It uses engaging specific stories to make a broader point about history and culture. I checked it out thinking that I would skim it looking for information that might help my research about my grandma's softball experiences. But, it turned out to be well worth reading in its own right and I would recommend it to anyone interested in women's place in society as revealed through sports.
The author follows the careers of two women who pitched in the Amateur Softball Association league, first Bertha Tickey (who was born very close to the small town where my grandparents lived) and dominated fastpitch in the 50's and 60's, then Joan Joyce, who became a star in the 60's and 70's. She argues that fastpitch softball was often the only outlet for women who wanted play sports seriously at a highly competitive level. It was so fascinating to read about companies who hired women just so they could star in their company sponsored fastpitch teams, and women who made major sacrifices so they could keep playing.
In the last few chapters of the book, she traces the history of fastpitch as a college sport (introduced in a large part due to Title IX) and as an Olympic sport as well as the various efforts at professional leagues. She questions the assumption that these leagues struggle due to lack of popularity - for example, the WNBA had higher average tv ratings than Major League Soccer in 2013, yet MLS's 2014 tv deal was $75 million per year, while the WNBA only got $12 million.
I finished the book feeling so inspired by these women's stories, even though I have never personally had an 'athletic drive' myself. It makes me want to seek out and watch more women's sports, especially with my daughter.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book when I started it. It was fun learning how the game of softball started and the first chapters introducing the men and women who funded and played for company teams were really interesting. The role of a huge asbestos company is fascinating. Somewhere along the line, though, I became bogged down in endless details that often seemed randomly presented. One player marries and her husband is a presence - until he isn't. I went back skimming page after page looking for him in case I'd missed his death or a divorce - but he wasn't there (but when I started reading forward again, 50 pages in the future it's casually mentioned she'd divorced him after years of living apart and had made accusations of abuse- burying the lede is what journalists call that). The story picks up again for me when Title 9 is passed, and it's fascinating in an apalling kind of way toward the end to read about the asbestos company owner who was so kind and committed to his team at the beginning of the book but who all along was knowingly dumping asbestos and building a ball field on top of it. It took me a long time to get through this not difficult book because I kept picking it up and putting it down and reading other books in between. Would I read this again? Yes. Did I enjoy it all the way through? Nah.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really thought this would be more about modern softball, the college game, and so on, but it was hugely about the early years of softball--key pioneers, growth of the game, and so on. I confess to not having read most of it, and skimming to the back to try and get stuff about the college game for my class. The one thing I didn't realize was just how precarious softball's place in the Olympics is--it must be so heartbreaking for elite players to have it yanked off the table at the last minute. Let it be known that I think there would be a huge market for writing about the modern game!

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The interest increased when the opportunity increased."
this book was fun and great and a narrative nonfiction about sports(my bread and butter) and in narrative nonfiction fashion it had parts that draaaaaaaaaaaagggggedddddd onnnnnnn and then an epilogue that hit me like eighty kajillion of bricks. Interesting dialogue on how the "media persists in treating women's sports as a novelty, as if basketball, soccer, and hockey somehow turn into different games when women are playing them." the woke left would eat that up (me)

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most interesting parts of the book were the chapters where the author delved into the how, what, where, and why of how fastpitch came to be the marginalized sport it is today. Unfortunately, the author spent more time on the individual histories of a few players - this in itself is not necessarily negative, however the writing style in these chapters was kind of like how a child would write a book report.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a fan of sports and nonfiction, I found this book very interesting. I had no idea of the extent of history for fast pitch softball. Welty does a good job of engaging the reader and wanting to see where the book ends up.

[Joe O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent; a history of the sport of fastpitch softball, with a focus on a few of the women who starred during its formative years, the fight to gain respectability for the sport and its athletes, and the place it holds in the scope of women's sports in general

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a former softball player, I really enjoyed this trip down memory lane. I grew up during the rise of Joan Joyce. What a joy it was to see women work hard and excel in sports. I sure miss the fields!

[mary mustard · Rating 5 out of 5]

an exciting, fascinating look at a long forgotten network of local, amateur women's sports that would draw bigger crowds than some professional leagues today. women's sports are a constant rediscovery in this chauvanist society. but the girls keep playing!

[Sidik Fofana · Rating 5 out of 5]

SIX WORD REVIEW: They struck out great Babe Ruth.

[Luke V · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love that this book exists to provide an intro to the history of fast pitch softball and its importance to women athletes, as the first seriously competitive team sport available to them. A bit surface level, I would have liked more of the human element. But it captures 100 years in 250 pages, with the primary focus on around star Bertha and the company teams and national championships of the 50s and 60s.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little worried when I started this book as the author's background was mainly on websites, but Westly does a good job creating a quick history of softball. She bounces back and forth between some of the stars of softball and the overall history of the sport. She made some excellent points about the disparities between professional male and female sports, especially with comments on how women are described as athletes.

[Mills College Library]

796.3578 W5299 2017

[Katy Turpin]

I read Fastpitch: The Untold History of Softball and the Women Who Made the Game by Erica Westley. As a fellow softball player I really enjoyed getting to learn more about the sport that I play. This author made sure to put in people’s actual stories to make it more interesting to read. Westley used dates, names, and places to connect it to things that way you remember what the facts are.
I recommend this book to everyone who plays softball and enjoys learning about the facts that made it into the sport they love. I would definitely read this story again.