Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
Friday, May 20, 2005, Washington Post

Back Up to Move Forward

Sorry, but I have a real problem with fast-pitch softball.

Oh, I like the sport all right. My daughter plays for Einstein High School and I love to watch her team play. And the games going on right now in area high school tournaments can be exciting and fun to watch.

My problem with fast-pitch softball is that, more than any other team sport, it's a game that can be dominated by a single player -- the pitcher.

If you don't believe me, dig up the story from the front page of Monday's Washington Post. The article described some super high school softball pitchers in the area. These kids are so good that batters are happy just to get a foul ball off them.

Cristi Ecks is the most amazing. The senior from Osbourn High School in Manassas has struck out 285 batters in 132 innings. That's more than two strikeouts an inning! Her earned run average is 0.05. Opposing teams totaled only four runs -- one earned -- in the 20 games Cristi pitched. This season she has thrown five perfect games (21 straight outs each).

Cristi and the other pitchers mentioned in the article are incredible athletes. They can throw as many as six different pitches and are so strong and coordinated that they can make the ball really move.

But isn't it a problem with the rules of the game when a single player can dominate so completely? I can't think of any other team sport where this happens. They say that Shaquille O'Neal can dominate a basketball game. But even Shaq can't stop the other team from scoring game after game.

I thought softball was supposed to be a team sport. Who needs outfielders when someone like Cristi Ecks is on the mound?

The solution is simple: Move back the spot from where the pitcher has to pitch, from 40 feet to 45 or even 50 feet from home plate (college and Olympic pitchers throw from 43 feet). That way the hitter has more of a chance to put the bat on the ball and get the ball in play. A team will need good fielders and not just a great pitcher to get outs.

Or maybe there could be a rule that a pitcher can't pitch two complete games in a row. Then teams would have to have more than just one superstar pitcher to win a championship.

Softball fans might complain that such new rules would change the game. But sometimes sports change their rules to make the game more fair. When giant players such as Wilt Chamberlain appeared, basketball officials made the three-second lane near the basket wider so that the tallest players could not just stand under the basket and dunk the ball again and again.

Moving the pitcher back in fast-pitch softball would make it a team game again and not just a pitchers' duel.