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A beautiful day for softball. An enthusiastic capacity crowd at your home ballpark. An opportunity to win a championship. You couldn’t have asked for much more than that Saturday (Aug. 24), if you were the Chicago Bandits or a fan of the National Pro Fastpitch team.
Bandits second baseman VIcky Galindo ended her NPF career Saturday,
Well, other than a victory.
The Bandits, who entered the day leading their best-of-three series against the USSSA Pride 1-0, lost the first game to the Pride 5-0. In the second game, with ace Monica Abbott pitching, the Bandits figured to have a good chance for the title that eluded them last season — when the league embarrassingly did not award a title because a rainout created confusion that created displeasure, if not downright anger, in Bandits nation.
As the softball gods (or perhaps it’s goddesses for women’s teams) would have it, the Bandits prevailed 2-1 as Kristyn Sandberg scored both Pride runs. Andrea Duran followed Sandberg’s second-inning double with one of her own; Sandberg homered to left field in the fourth for a 2-0 lead.
The Bandits rallied in the fourth and scored their run on a single by Alisa Goler that drove in Eri Yamada, who had doubled.
The Ballpark at Rosemont was the site of the NPF championship series.
When Pride starter Keilani Ricketts walked two batters with two outs in the fifth, Cat Osterman — winning pitcher in Saturday’s matinee — relieved and struck out Goler on three pitches to end the threat. Osterman allowed only a single by Tammy Williams in the sixth and struck out Megan Wiggins on three pitches to end the game and capture the championship of the four-team league.
The first game Saturday was shown live on ESPN2 with the second contest delayed till Sunday. Sounds a little like the NBA in the 1970s.
Whether the NPF can enjoy growth and popularity the way the NBA did is open to debate. OK, not really. Women’s team sports are a tough sell in the United States. That said, it’s hard to imagine there isn’t a market — even a niche market — for pro softball.
What the NPF needs is to expand. Rumor has it that softball is a popular sport in California and Arizona, among other locales west of the Mississippi River. However, given the limited resources of the league’s teams, no one is going to embark on expansion that includes costly trips for teams in Chicago, Akron, New York and Florida.
Nobody asked me, but what he league needs is to add four — or more teams. Easier said than done. But you would have a Western and Eastern Division with each division playing only teams in its division. Much like the American and National Leagues in the days before interleague play. At the end of the season, you have a playoff to determine the representatives from each division that will play for the title.
With the proliferation of sports networks on cable television, there ought to be at least one that would partner with the NPF. Ot find a female-friendly cable outlet such as Oxygen or Lifetime, etc.
The problem pro softball faces is similar to that of pro soccer (male and female): All the youngsters who participate in the activity do not translate to fans in the stands or watching on television.
But if the NPF wants increased exposure for its game and increased opportunity for players, it has to grow. Now all the folks running the show have to do is figure out how.
Some postgame video:
Speaking of women’s professional team sports, the Chicago Sky defeated the host Atlanta Dream 67-56. Elena Delle Donne continued her path to rookie-of-the-year honors with 25 points for the Sky (20-8), which grew closer to its goal of homecourt throughout the Easten Conference playoffs (if not the entire postseason). The Dream (14-11) is second to the Sky in the East. Minnesota (20-7) and Los Angeles (18-8) are the competition for homecourt throughout the playoffs.
Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the editorial and video departments at elliottharris.com and their always interesting interpretation of “gratuitous”):
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