Fastpitch: The Untold History of Softball and the Women Who Made the Game
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)

Erica Westly. (2016). Fastpitch: The Untold History of Softball and the Women Who Made the Game. Touchstone.

Erica Westly. 2016. Fastpitch: The Untold History of Softball and the Women Who Made the Game. Touchstone.

Erica Westly, Fastpitch: The Untold History of Softball and the Women Who Made the Game. Touchstone, 2016.

Erica Westly. Fastpitch: The Untold History of Softball and the Women Who Made the Game. Touchstone, 2016.

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1. • value: softball
2. • value: women's history
3. • value: americana
4. • value: inspiring women
5. • value: historical women
6. • value: women in sports
7. • value: lgbt history
8. • value: a league of their own
9. • value: lgbt interest
10. • value: fastpitch
11. • value: LGBTQ communities
12. • value: softball history
13. • value: Joan Joyce
14. • value: softball players
15. • value: bertha ragan tickey
16. • value: famous softball players
17. • value: softball in the olympics

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1. • role: Author
   • fileAs: Westly, Erica
   • bioText: Erica Westly is a journalist whose work has appeared in Slate, Wired, The Smart Set, Self, Esquire, Popular Science, and The New York Times. Fastpitch is her first book.
   • name: Erica Westly

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2016-06-14T00:00:00Z

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Fastpitch

fullDescription

"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).

reviews

1. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     April 11, 2016
     This well-researched book on softball history underscores the fact that present-day women’s sports face all the same
     hurdles they did a century ago. Though softball was invented in 1887, the fastpitch version only became a spectator sport in 1933 at the Chicago World Fair. In the 1930s, softball was one of the few sports women were allowed to play. The sport mainly grew via amateur leagues where companies sponsored teams. Though games were well-attended, teams were not profitable because tickets were cheap; the teams with the richest sponsors won most of the championships because their players could live on their softball salaries and focus on sports. The late 1960s saw the first push to get softball into the Olympics after Australia hosted a five-country international tournament. Still, women in sports continued to be treated as a novelty. Title IX became law in 1972 and created new opportunities in college sports for female athletes and coaches. An unexpected result was the fall of the adult leagues; as Westly explains, by the early 1980s, “fastpitch was now primarily a college sport.” At present, “to actually make a living playing softball, most players have to go overseas.” This, along with other ongoing battles for equity, shows the importance of Westly’s historical account.

2. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     June 1, 2016
     

     Since its invention in 1887 as an indoor version of baseball, softball has played a unique and defining role in American culture and history, as it was one of the first sports to take women's teams seriously. This is what journalist Westly aims to illustrate in this debut as she traces the rise of women's softball during the 1900s. Most interestingly, she documents the emergence of women leaving home in the 1940s; not for marriage, but to join top softball teams across the United States. Female players endured sexist media coverage and ridiculous rules ranging from how to conduct their personal life to what makeup and clothes they were allowed to wear off the field. The author details the compelling development of the sport, including company-sponsored teams and changing politics, while centering on the personal and professional lives of honored players such as National Softball Hall of Famer Bertha Ragan Tickey. VERDICT A fast-paced journey through an original American sport, this well-documented history will give all readers a sense of nostalgia.--Heidi Uphoff, Sandia National Laboratories, NM

     Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

3. • premium: True
   • source:
   • content:

     June 1, 2016
     It's probably asking too much that this history of women's fast-pitch softball be utterly compellingunfortunately, the untangling of competing associations alone takes some of the steam out of the narrativebut it does fill a yawning gap in the literature. It's especially strong at conveying how popular, at times, the game has been as a spectator sport; for example, the 1938 Southern California championship game drew more than 20,000 spectators. And the author draws fine profiles of some of the sport's legendary figures, like pitcher Bertha Ragan (162 no-hitters, 11 national titles); its great teams, like the Orange (California) Lionettes and the Stratford (Connecticut) Brakettes, a team that thrives today; and, especially, a cultural climate that has often been unsupportive of, if not antagonistic toward, those gifted, dedicated athletes who work to get better. Westly doesn't really address the college game, which is treated elsewhere, but does track the sport's presence, and now absence, at the Summer Olympics.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

popularity

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"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...

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

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   • description: Biography & Autobiography / Women
2. • code: HIS036060
   • description: History / United States / 20th Century
3. • code: SPO067000
   • description: Sports & Recreation / Softball