I actually found out about this in this blog post by Marc over at Softball Performance. Apparently the International Baseball Federation submitted a proposal for a “combined approach for Olympic Games programme status.”
Thankfully, the International Softball Federation (ISF) has decided that softball with stand alone in current proposals to the International Olympic Committee. Being grouped with baseball is, I believe, one of the major reasons softball was voted out for 2012. Since softball was ousted in the 2005 voting, the ISF has vigorously campaigned for softball’s reinstatement to the Olympics.
The IOC will be voting to include up to two most sports in the 2016 Olympic games. I really hope softball gets back in. If you’re reading this, I’m sure you do too.
What I think would be super cool, is to have both men’s and women’s fastpitch in the Olympics! I’d definitely be DVR’ing all the games.
“They just wanted me to come here and show that, ‘hey I’m a major league baseball player, but I’m not much different to you guys’,” he says.
But if there’s one roundabout way to spur our government into action about removing poverty in a shiny house, it’s to tell cash-strapped benefactors like Britain soon enough: thanks, but no thanks. And if a little bit of ‘Jai Hind’ follows, so be it.
Believe a major reason softball voted out was due to it being a way to pitcher
dominant sport. Other countries didn’t have the pitching. Hence the crackdown
on pitchers…1) dragging foot and not lunging, 2) the lines from rubber(pitching lane), and 3) Distance moved from 40 to 43ft. The High Schools/Colleges have
implemeted/enforcing this.