At the last count, more than 30,000 of us play a form of baseball or softball here in the UK. Both sports are quietly thriving on these shores, and with their return to the Olympics roster due for LA in 2028, expect to hear and read more about them in the coming years. It means it’s probably a good time to learn more about them, especially the bits people continually get wrong.
To help, we’ve spoken to players, coaches, and administrators throughout the UK to dispel some of the common urban myths in both baseball and softball.
It’s an American sport
The Americans sure do love baseball, but you might be surprised to learn that it wasn’t invented there. According to baseball historian David Block, it’s the Brits who came up with it. Block discovered that the first recorded game of “Bass-Ball” took place in 1749 in Surrey, and the Prince of Wales even took the field.
“The concept of bat-and-ball sports is deeply rooted in British and Anglosphere traditions”, says Chris Knoblock, PR Officer and Broadcaster for BaseballSoftballUK. “Baseball and softball were most popular in the 1940s in Britain as British teams played against the U.S. military. And that still happens today. These are British games with a rich British history. The biggest myth is that baseball is just an American game for Americans. It’s not. Baseball is for everyone, with countless ways to get involved—whether by playing, volunteering, or coaching.”
It’s not just for ex-pats
Baseball and softball did indeed gain popularity in Britain during the war thanks to the influx of servicemen from the US and Canada. But it’s no longer the case that the sports are predominantly played by those with a transatlantic twang. Luis Arrevillagas was raised in Venezuela, where he fell in love with baseball and softball. But when he returned to the country of his birth, where he now runs the Manchester Softball League, he was pleasantly surprised to see how popular the sports are with the Brits.
“The majority of people that play the sport here are British. When people see me and hear my accent and see that I don’t look stereotypically British, they go, ‘Oh you play softball purely because there must be a community of foreigners that play the sport.’ But the Manchester Softball League, I would say, is about 95% British players that have discovered the sport here in the UK.”
“There are a few Latin Americans like myself. There are a few Americans, and a few Australians. But other than that, the majority of people are British that play co-ed slow pitch in the UK, and it’s the same throughout the country.”
The ball isn’t soft
Despite the name, you would not want an unexpected encounter with a softball. As Luis Arrevillagas confirms, “It’s called softball. But the ball is not soft, it’s as hard as a cricket ball. People think that we play with a little bouncy thing, it’s not.”
David Morris, head coach at Chichester Falcons Baseball and Softball Club, is also used to dealing with confusion over the nature of the ball. “With softball, everyone thinks it’s that sponge tennis game for kids where the ball is made of foam. Everyone wants to know why it’s called softball.”
Before softball became the standard name in the 1920s, the game was also variously known as “indoor baseball,” “kitten ball,” “mush ball,” and “pumpkin ball”.
The glove doesn’t make it easier than cricket
“Every time the BBC posts a clip of anyone making a catch in baseball, go to the comments or the replies, and you’ll find the biggest cricket fans you will ever find saying, ‘Oh, he’s got a glove. It must be easy’” says Chris Knoblock, laughing at the lazy categorisation. “But it ain’t easy. It’s different than cricket. Cricket is its own animal when it comes to catching. While there are similarities to baseball, certainly with how you play in the outfield, in baseball there’s a reason for the gloves, there’s a reason for the pitching, there’s a reason for all of this that isn’t just based on ‘Oh well, we’ve always done it this way.’”
It’s not the same as Rounders
Birmingham Baseball Club chairman and coach Bob Rowe finds himself having to regularly explain why baseball isn’t the same thing as the sport many of us played in primary school. “The big one is, ‘Oh, isn’t it like Rounders?’” The answer is yes and no. Rounders is a very simplified version of baseball, but baseball is much more technical. There’s a lot more to it than just holding a bat and hitting a ball.”
Instead, Rowe makes an unlikely comparison to another sport. “Some people see baseball as a boring sport, people think you just sit and watch. But I think it’s akin to golf in a way. Like if you sit watching golf on the TV, it’s something you put on in the background. It can be slow, the announcers are monotone.
But once you’re on the field, doing it, it’s exciting. You get into it. You get into the atmosphere of people around you. And going to games where there are big crowds, it’s all about the culture. It’s a friendly atmosphere.”
It’s too hard to hit the ball
If you think you won’t be able to hit the ball, think again. Luis Arrevillagas says that slow pitch softball is designed so that even those who’ve never swung a bat in their life have a good chance of hitting it out of the park. “People say, ‘I can’t hit the ball, so I won’t join you.’ I tell them I’ve never met somebody that cannot hit the ball. Just come down, we’ll show you. And I’m pretty sure you will be able to hit the ball.”
