Earlier today I discovered a very intriguing brand of softball while watching ESPN. The Worldwide Leader in Sports was showing the Men’s Amateur Softball Association (ASA) Border Battle between Canada and the United States this afternoon, and the game was played much different than the Major League Baseball we’re accustomed too. Here are some of the rules that makes the game unique and exciting:

- Games consist of 7 innings
- Batter starts with a 1-1 count
- Foul ball after one strike is an out
- Teams are allowed ten home runs; after the tenth, all home runs are considered out
- Base stealing is not allowed
- Bunting is not allowed
- A 15+ run lead after 3 innings or 10+ after 5 innings will end the game

The strategy of the game is what got me interested the most. The announcers talked all throughout the game about how it is important to manage your home runs. Losing them early will limit your options in the end, so you want to save some of them up and only go yard when you’ve got some runners on base. At times, a home run is unavoidable, such as when a batter is trying to hit a line drive but gets just under the ball. A lot of “accidental” homers occur this way.

For fans that like to see lots of scoring, ASA softball provides a nice alternative to baseball. Teams can score 20, 30, possibly even 40+ runs in a game; the one I watched today was about 30-22. The fact that some home runs are considered bad gives the game some humorous irony. It’s a very exciting sport to watch, and doesn’t last too long, either. Pitchers don’t dominate, so you don’t have to worry about a boring 3-2 score like in the MLB.

The ASA has grown quite large. Based in Oklahoma City, the league consists of over 3 million players, 230,000 teams, and 60,000 umpires. The league is a good place for former minor leaguers that didn’t quite cut it, and the USA team even had a power-lifting champ on its roster. Canada’s best player Jeff Gare runs a pool table servicing business in London, Ontario. This sport gives many players the opportunity to continue playing the sport they love in a competitive, organized league.

Right now is a great opportunity to witness some slow pitch softball. July 16-20th is the date of the KFC World Cup of Softball, and there are still a couple days left of action. The championship game will be played on the 20th, at 8 P.M. Central on ESPN2. Even if you’re not a baseball fan (I’m not), this is a very fun sport to watch, you won’t regret it!