student asking question

What's the difference between "baseball" and "softball"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Great question! For non-fans, it can be difficult to tell the two sports apart. However, there are significant differences and they are not the same sport! The main differences are: 1. The bats - bats used in baseball are wood, tend to be longer, have a greater diameter, and are heavier than those used in softball. 2. The balls - baseballs are white with red stitching and have a circumference of 9 inches. Softballs are yellow, much larger with a circumference of 12 inches, and are much softer (which is why they are called softballs). 3. Pitching - softball is played on a smaller field and balls are pitched from a flat mound, whereas baseballs are pitched from an elevated plate that is more than 20 feet farther than the one used in softball. 4. The field - bases in softball are 60 feet apart, whereas baseball bases are 90 feet apart. The distance from the home plate to the outfield fence in softball is 250 yards, while baseball fields are usually over 300 feet. Softball is generally considered to be harder to play. Professionally, baseball is much more popular as a sport and professional baseball players also make much more money than professional softball players do.

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