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001			19269685
003			MiTN
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008			160910t20162016nyuaf 000 0deng d
010			_a 2016285204
020			_a9781501118593 _q(hardcover)
020			_z9781501118616 _q(ebook)
035			_a(OCoLC)ocn913337191
040			_aBTCTA _beng _cBTCTA _erda _dYDXCP _dBDX _dOCLCQ _dZQP _dLF3 _dON8 _dCGP _dUAB _dOCLCF _dHF9 _dDLC
042			_alccopycat
050	0	0	_aGV881 _b.W47 2016
082	0	4	_a796.357/8 _223
100	1		_aWestly, Erica,
245	1	0	_aFastpitch : _bthe untold history of softball and the women who made the game / _cErica Westly.
250			_aFirst Touchstone hardcover edition.
264		1	_aNew York : _bTouchstone, _c[2016]
264		4	_c©2016
300			_a291 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : _billustrations ; _c24 cm
336			_atext _btxt _2rdacontent
337			_aunmediated _bn _2rdamedia
338			_avolume _bnc _2rdacarrier
520			_aIf you think softball is just a "womens version" of the great American pastime of baseball, well, think again. Fastpitch softball is one of the most widely played sports in the world, with tens of millions of active participants in various age groups. But the origins of this beloved sport and the charismatic athletes who helped it achieve prominence in the mid-twentieth century have been largely forgotten, until now. Fastpitch brings to life the eclectic mix of characters that make up softballs 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, softballs history is as diverse as it is fascinating. Though its thought of today as a womans sport, fastpitch softballs early years featured several 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 women were allowed to play competitively, it took on added importance for female athletes. Top fastpitch teams of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, such as the New Orleans Jax Maids and Connecticuts Raybestos Brakettes, gave women access to employment and travel opportunities that would have been unavailable to them otherwise. At a time when female athletes had almost no prospects, softball offered them a chance to flourish. Women put off marriage and moved across the country just for a shot at joining a strong team. Told from the perspective of such influential players as Bertha Ragan Tickey, who set strikeout records and taught Lana Turner to pitch, and Joan Joyce, who struck out baseball legend Ted Williams and helped found a professional softball league with Billie Jean King, Fastpitch chronicles softballs rich history and 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 unique American sport and the role it plays in our culture today, Fastpitch is as entertaining as it is inspiring. -- Provided by publisher.
650		0	_aSoftball _xHistory.
650		0	_aSoftball for women _xHistory.
650		0	_aWomen softball players.
650		7	_aSoftball. _2fast _0(OCoLC)fst01124150
650		7	_aSoftball for women. _2fast _0(OCoLC)fst01124166
650		7	_aWomen softball players. _2fast _0(OCoLC)fst01178558
655		7	_aHistory. _2fast _0(OCoLC)fst01411628
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949			_aGV881 .W47 2016 _wLC _c1 _hEY8Z _i33039001407245
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