George Hancock (softball)

George Warren Hancock (1 March 1861 – 15 April 1936), after the time a reporter for Chicago Board of Trade, invented the game of softball in 1887. The first game was played, inside the Farragut Boat Club in Chicago.<ref name="nytimes">The Farragut Boat Club is mentioned in a news item that appeared later. See: Template:Cite news</ref> The first game of softball came from a football game between Yale and Harvard. When it was announced that Yale had won, Yale alumni, in excitement, threw a balled up boxing glove at a Harvard fan. The Harvard fan playfully swung at it as spectators looked on in interest.

George Hancock shouted, "Let's play ball," and tied the boxing glove into the shape of a ball. The men chalked a diamond shape onto the floor and broke a broom handle to serve as a bat. This is credited as the first softball game which was played on Thanksgiving Day November 24, 1887 after a Harvard-Yale football game that had been followed by telegraph.<ref name="performance_history">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ISF History">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Sports Encyclopedia">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="ivyleaguesports">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="the-game">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="faqs">Template:Cite web</ref>

Hancock's original game of indoor baseball quickly caught on in popularity, becoming international with the formation of a league in Toronto. That year, 1887, was also the premiere publication of the Indoor Baseball Guide. This was the first nationally distributed publication on the new game and it lasted a decade. In the spring of 1888, Hancock's game moved outdoors.<ref name="plummer">Template:Cite web</ref> It was played on a small diamond and called indoor-outdoor. Due to the sport's mass appeal, Hancock published his first set of indoor-outdoor rules in 1889.<ref name="baseballbrainiac">Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Cook County High School League
• Comparison of baseball and softball
• Fastpitch softball
• 16-inch softball