Not to mention the mentality among some men, usually jocks IMO, that all women need equalizing measures because they’re not as capable. This is bullshit of course and FWIW I didn’t get that vibe from the OP.
Ah … so many assumtions being made about me.
So little time …
Look. Ringette is a bastardization of ice hockey. It was created so that the “gentler sex” could have a game to play on the ice.
Softball, either slo-pitch[sup]TM[/sup] or fast pitch, is a bastardization of the original. It’s called hardball for a reason, people! And softball is just that.
You’ll notice that the Capital Times article linked to by Jeff Olsen was in the past tense. Men’s fast-pitch softball is dying out for a reason. Just read the article to know why.
Fast-pitch softball survives for women and girls because it’s played on a field with dimensions more suitable for the players. Women and girls typically drop out of baseball and switch to softball when their male schoolmates start playing on baseball fields with major-league dimensions. This was pointed out (by a woman, IIRC) in another SDMB thread.
And slo-pitch softball, for boys or girls, is a nice enough little diversion. Keeps 'em off the streets, I suppose.
But a grown man playing playing slo-pitch softball? And taking it seriously? Puh-leese.
(And yes, I’m ready for the pile on …)
And hopefool, my undies got quite sweaty on Saturday evening as I hustled around the bases after I connected with a low and away curve ball. With a wood bat.
But those undies were not MLB-stamped undreoos, thank you very much. I save those for the playoffs. 
I’ve never heard of rules as stated in the OP. My church plays regular softball.
Perhaps this church you played ball with is just trippin’?
Depends what you mean by “taking it seriously.”
If you mean adopting a “win-at-all-costs” attitude that precludes friendly banter with the opposing team, and that causes people to get all pissed off if they miss a play or fly out to short, then i suppose i don’t take it seriously.
I do, however, take it seriously as a way to get outside in the fresh air, have some fun, meet new people, etc., etc.
If that makes me less of a “grown man” in your eyes, well, i suppose that’s a judgement that i’m willing to live with. But then, i’ve never been too worried about what the “my penis is bigger than your penis” crowd thinks, anyway.
Viva las Zapatos, pingo pango pongo!
Or, what the hell does that mean, Binary?
Whatever you think of the game, the real problem is that your teammates did not explain the rules to you before the game began.
Isn’t it one of those fundemental rules of sport that all the players have to understand the rules?
Rationalizing? The real story there wasn’t that men’s fastpitch is dying out, it was a fastpitch reunion.
As to how popular is:
Atlantic Canada Fastpitch League
This Dutch team has been active for 50 years
The Amateur Softball Associaton has been around for 70 years and it’s not just kids throwing slowpitch.
Broken Bow Travelers
CanAm Windmillers
Canterbury (New Zealand) Softball Association
Carroll County (MD) Softball
Czech Softball Association
Danish Baseball and Softball Federation
German Baseball and Softball Federation
Elkland (PA) Men’s Fastpitch
Elkland (PA) Softball Association
Erie Men’s Fastball League has been active since 1960.
Fargo Fastpitch
The Fastpitch Chronicle
Is that enough or would you prefer to continue acting like an ignorant pig? I could post more but the mods wouldn’t be too happy to check out a whole bunch of links.
Two things:
-
hopefool, when are you moving to Calgary so you can play on our slo-pitch team? We need good women players like farmers need rain.
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Women not keeping up with the boys in sports is not really the women’s fault. Women of my age (mid-thirties) had virtually no coaching or attention paid to them when it came to sports. This may be changing in schools now, but most women my age can’t even throw a baseball correctly; it just wasn’t important to anyone who could do something about it when we were young.
Oink.
OK Jeff Olsen, how about “vastly less popular than slo-pitch softball” and “stagnant numbers” rather than “dying out”?
It’s interesting that your first URL was an article from the Capital Times. I grew up reading the Capital Times, in Madison, Wis.
I also umpired both fast-pitch and slo-pitch softball in Madison in the 1980s. The Madison Rec Department at the time instituted several “fast-pitch softball survival rules” to stop the decline of men’s fast-pitch softball.
The “survival” rules were things such as waiving the residency requirements, guaranteeing fast-pitch teams the best fields and time slots, reduced entry fees, etc.
Maybe it worked … but this ignorant pig just doesn’t know about it.
I’m for not hijacking this thread any more. A separate Pit thread would seem to be in order, perhaps?
No need. It seems I’ve helped an ignorant pig be a bit less ingorant and I’ll settle for that. 
Oh featherlou, I wish I could SO be there! I’d love to visit Canada, but it’s been a life-long dream of mine to play ball out of the states. sigh Probably as realistic for me as when I wanted to play in the majors.
Thank you though. You’ve truly made my day.
And Spiff, was that wooden bat you used corked by any chance? 
We’ll really have to hook-up someday to see who’s the better player. If you have time for the little girlie, that is.
Explain to me how this was dumb and chauvinistic. I didn’t write the league rules. The rules clearly say that there must be at least two women on each team. The rules also say that although men only get one pitch, women get up to four. If women foul, or get a bad pitch, or swing and miss… then its not an out. They get three strikes and up to four balls for a walk. Perhaps I should have elaborated on this in my OP, but the point is, whether you like it or not there are alterations to the game based on the fact that women are playing. If its anybodys fault for the chauvinistic aspect of it, it is the womens fault for agreeing to play with these rules.
Elaborated? Maybe you should have mentioned it. I thought that you were talking about the [ baby field | 1 homer | 1 pitch ] rule being instituted to help out the wimminfolk.
I would say it’s the church’s fault… and the women’s fault for accepting it, but I can only imagine this crowd.
Shit – women get the regular rules, and the men get the ass-ball rules? Are there men playing who would make Babe Ruth cry, or something? This story keeps getting better and better.
Why don’t they even out the count regardless of gender (read: quit playing with regulation Assball rules), and make the good players use a heavy old wood bat while the weaker players use whatever 10 oz. space-age alloy bat is available?