Kimberlee's+Editorial

Girl Power

In 1869, Major League Baseball was started for men, 128 years later; in 1991the Women’s Pro Softball League for women was started. The WPSL was later changed to the National Pro Fastpitch on November 21, 2002 (Profastpitch.com: About NPF). Although softball has been proven to be harder to play, it still cannot compare to its male counterpart: baseball. The salary of the average softball player cannot compare to that of the average baseball player. A professional softball player makes between $2,500 and $5,000 per season, which lasts three months (Profastpitch.com: About NPF). The top paid baseball player, Alex Rodriguez, makes $32,000,000 per year and the minimum paid player makes $400,000 per year (MLB Salaries - CBSSports.com). Since the softball league isn’t fully developed, and is only made up of four teams compared to the 30 teams of the MLB, they don’t have the funds to pay their players year round salaries like the baseball players. The softball can only support their players during the three-month season. Baseball players are living like kings, while the softball players who are just as good or even better have to work other jobs to support themselves. Softball players cannot make a living from playing professional softball; therefore they must work other jobs alongside playing. Softball players have been proven to be just as good as or even better than baseball players. On FSN’s show //Sports Science,// there was an episode comparing baseball to softball. The experiment mainly compared the pitchers and hitters. Jennie Finch, Olympic Gold Medalist pitcher, was compared to a 95 mph baseball pitcher. The first part of the experiment compared the force of each ball as it reached the plate. The baseball reached home with a force of 2,411 lbs, while the softball was off the charts as her pitch broke the machine, shattering the glass because it had too much force. Then the hitting aspect was compared and it was proven that it is much harder to hit a softball because of its upward movement compared to a baseball with downward movement (Sports Science: Baseball vs. Softball). A baseball batter could easily adjust his hands down, while it is more difficult for a softball player to adjust hands up. Arizona Diamondbacks prospective Bryan Burne could easily hit a 95 mph baseball pitcher, but when it came to softball he couldn’t even hit the ball (Sports Science: Baseball vs. Softball). When comparing baseball and softball, softball has constantly been looked upon as the weaker sport when comparing baseball and softball. Not many people know that softball has been proven as harder to play. Personally I believe softball players should be paid more than baseball players because it is a harder sport to play. Usually when working, the harder you work to get the position you have, the more you get paid. For example, a doctor works hard and goes to college for eight years at the minimum, but their hard work pays off with a high salary. This should be the same with softball. The women worked harder to become the players they are today, so they should get paid more. If you compare a baseball player with a .318 batting average and a softball player with a .318 batting average, the softball player will be better, therefore their pay should be way higher than it is. Although softball may seem like the weaker sport, it is actually the harder sport to compete in. Therefore softball should be more publicized and receive better pay. Works Cited

"MLB Salaries - CBSSports.com." //Sports - CBSSports.com Sports News, Fantasy Scores, Sports Video//. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. . "Profastpitch.com: About NPF." //Profastpitch.com: Home//. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. . "Sports Science: Baseball vs. Softball - Jennie Finch - Baseball Videos | ISport.com." //Baseball | ISport.com//. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. .