Men’s fastpitch softball has all the action found in baseball: hitting, pitching and defense. The differences are of dimension, the bases are of shorter distance, and the pitching rubber is 60’6″ in baseball versus 46′ in fastpitch. Many young men who once played baseball have turned to fastpitch because the game is quicker and filled with fast-paced action. Photo by BOB OTTO / Beaumont (CA) Coyotes 4th of July Tournament

By Troy Olson / Fastpitch Player’s Essay

I find it very amusing that I tell people I have a softball game and they naturally assume I am playing slow pitch softball. Did you know that there is actually Mens Fastpitch Softball in America? I happen to live in Wisconsin and we have a lot of Fastpitch Teams in our state.

The league I play in is in a small town called Cushing. Our league is consistently between 8-12 teams per year, just depending on who is around for the summer. Most tournaments will once again draw 8-12 teams with several traveling from Minnesota to participate.

At one time men’s fastpitch was a huge sport in this country, in the 1960’s and 70’s it was at its peak.

There was all kinds of hugely talented teams and of course the most famous of them all “The King and His Court.” So what happened to this one time flourishing sport?

In my opinion it’s a combination of several things, first was the evolution of slowpitch softball. Most people aren’t happy going 1 for 3 at the plate, jumping to slowpitch would allow even poor hitters to put the ball in play all the time. It also seems with no practice one can still compete in slowpitch.

Lets be honest if you are going to be successful at Fastpitch you have to put time and practice, you just don’t pick up a bat and hit riseballs out of the park.