World Cup of Softball

Interview with Michele Smith Pt. II

Michele Smith is one of the greatest softball pitchers of all time. She has won countless gold medals and helped put USA Softball on the international map both with her work at the Olympics and playing abroad in Japan. This is Part II of our discussion where she talks about the future of softball and the IOC's controversial decision to drop the sport from international competition. Be sure to check out Pt. I of our conversation.

You’re right the pitching staff is young and talented with the likes of Cat Osterman, Jennie Finch, Jamie Southern, Monica Abbott, and Alicia Hollowell. And they’ve been dominant so far in this tournament but how do you think they will fare in Beijing?

It’s easy to play when you’re 14 runs up. The pressure is going to be when they have to perform in 0-0 games and when that one bad pitch can lose the game for your team. I think they can. They just have to be in that situation.

Turning to something a little less pleasant what happened with the IOC dropping softball from the Olympics?

It’s very political. I think they made a decision in July. I think they expected to make that decision for baseball and not for softball. It was a comedy of events for softball to get voted out. It just kind of happened.

Then when we appealed to have a re-vote they voted not to have the re-vote simply because they were afraid it would look bad if the sport was voted back in. so now they’re more worried about what they look like rather than doing the right thing. That’s politics. That’s terrible.

Do you think it possibly has an anti-American component to it?

Oh, I think so as well. And I think they categorize it as female baseball, but softball is a completely different sport. We’re drug-free; we’ve done a lot of great things. I mean the rest of the world has to catch up to the U.S. a little bit. We’re the benchmark. Everyone else has to keep working hard.

How can we get softball back at the Olympics?

Well, I definitely think we have to keep fighting for 2016 and if we can get one of the North American cities named as the host city I think there’s a good chance we’ll get put back onto the program.

There might need to be some changes to the game too. Nobody wants to keep watching games that are 14-0 wins.

What kinds of changes do you think those might be?

I think there’s a couple different things that could potential happen. In 2000 when the games were at 40 feet the games were exciting. Now granted they did go too long but at least they were competitive and everybody had a chance to beat us. Australia had a chance to beat us and did. Japan had a chance to beat us and did beat us. China did the same thing. That’s exciting.

That will gather fans. When it’s blowouts all the time and those other programs can’t step up to play this game it’s a little bit tougher. In the 40 feet game it was more difficult to hit no matter who you were. The thing with the 40 feet game is that they should have shrunk the strike zone. They probably should have moved back the fences, shrunk the strike zone, and make the pitchers throw it over the plate. Then you would have gotten your hits. At 43 feet the U.S. is just so dominating—it’s very difficult to shut them down. As an American I’m always happy to see then do well. As a fan of the game I want to see the sport grow. I do think we have some work to do.

What direction do you see softball going in the next 10-15 years?

Well I think it’s going to continue to be strong in the NCAA here in the U.S. My main concern is what’s going to happen to all these international programs that now don’t have International Olympic funding from their national governing bodies. Not as much Japan because there’s great corporate sponsorship.

But I worry about the Chinese teams---the Australian teams—Italy, Great Britain, and Greece. Any of the teams that were really starting to make some progress in the European countries where we have to get stronger—it’s essentially going to kill them over there. So we have to continue to grow and find a way to get back on the program.

I challenged a lot of the players on this team that it’s their job to continue to carry the torch and help grow the sport worldwide. Being strong in the U.S. isn't enough anymore. Nobody wants to watch a one-team tournament anymore.

Post-game comments with Caitlin Lowe

Great job tonight Caitlin. You and Natasha seem pretty comfortable with the 1-2 switch at the top of the order?

Yeah I think we’re pretty much interchangeable. One of us is going to get the job done and hopefully the other person will move her over.

It’s almost like having two leadoff hitters at the top of the lineup?

Oh definitely. I think if I don’t get on Natasha will do the job.

What did you think of the Caitlin Lowe shift in the fourth inning? (Where China brought in the right fielder as an extra infielder.) Did it make you feel like David Ortiz at all?

If I have all infield singles---at some point they’re going to make an adjustment. I just have to be able to read the defenses and do something about it. If I see it tomorrow I’ll just have to make the adjustment.

Talk about the crowd for a second…they seem to really be an emotional part of the game.

They’re sooo amazing. It’s so great to have people come out here and support what you really love to do. I’m just glad we’re having such a good turnout.

U.S. Blasts China 10-0

All week long the U.S. National Softball Team has stated the importance of getting off to a quick start and avoid the sort of 1st-round loss they had to Canada last year. After playing China tonight it’s clear that there is no chance of that happening this year.

The U.S. scored four runs in the first inning BEFORE they even recorded a single out. They would go on to score six more runs in the first inning causing the near-capacity crowd to scream with delight and the advertising sponsors to cringe in their boots at a possible game called after third innings. A few reactions to the game tonight:

The switch of Caitlin Lowe and Natasha Watley in the 1-2 spot seems to have really paid dividends. It provided the catalyst in the two games today and both of them provide leadoff quality at-bats that no other team can match in the tournament.

Crystl Bustos can hit the ball a very long way.

China’s coach Michael Bastian has a very quick hook—having used two pitchers in the first inning. Considering the way that they pitched you can understand why.

China’s defense was, how can I say this, less than stellar. There were numerous plays they botched and the U.S. team is too good to give numerous second-chances.

There is a growing debate in the press room over who is getting louder ovations….Jennie Finch or Cat Osterman. It seems to be Cat temporarily but I’ll keep you posted on how my informal poll goes the rest of the tournament.

Monica Abbott pitched a great game. But I’m still surprised we haven’t seen more of Alicia Hollowell yet. Maybe tomorrow?

The buzz around the press box is that this year’s U.S. team is much better than last year’s....and that the China team is far inferior to the teams they brought to international competition.

Today the U.S. team faces perhaps their biggest test of the tournament—the ever-dangerous team from Japan. 12pm CST.

Post-game comments with Monica Abbott

Great job tonight. What was the gameplan against China? And did it change at all with a 10-run lead in the first?

No, our gameplan didn’t change once we scored. We had a plan going in and we stuck to that. We wanted to attack their hitters and I think we did that pretty well tonight.

You seemed to have command of all your pitches tonight.

Yeah we worked everything tonight. And we worked moving the pitch and just keeping them off-balance a little bit. And jenny topping worked really well. She called a great game. And Jennie Finch worked well too. We just all worked real well to help the team win. I threw my game…Finchie threw her game and it all came together.

And tomorrow a big test with Japan…the biggest test of the tournament?

Yeah it’s definetly our big test. Last year we didn’t’ have much success against them. But we’re definitely ready to compete against them tomorrow.

U.S. Blasts Canada 6-1

98 degrees with 85% humidity couldn’t keep 5000 people from checking out the World cup of softball between the U.S. and Canada tonight. After three innings of a scoreless stalemate the U.S. team broke out in the top of the 4th on a Lovie Jung grand slam. They later added a few more insurance runs but before you could say ‘Cat Osterman on in relief’ the U.S. team had sealed up the victory. A few things I noticed during the game:

Judging from the lines outside the gift shop it seems very clear that U.S. Softball fever has swept the OKC. (That’s what the locals call it.) I distinctly heard one stadium employee yell “We need more Jennie Finch statues! Now!”

Not only does the U.S. team have outstanding pitching—some think it’s the most talented pitching staff any national team has ever had—but great defense. Laura Berg made an outstanding play to keep the game close early and Natasha Watley made a remarkable play where she dived to retrieve the ball and then leap to touch third base before the runner could.

I will never understand the appeal of Thundersticks.

The loudest ovation of the night came when Cat Osterman walked to the mound from the dugout. I thought the Beatles had arrived judging by the sound. (Maybe they had.)

Did I mention it was 98 degrees? With humidity. That’s hot.

Tomorrow the U.S. team plays a double-dip against China and Australia. I ran into a coach of USA Softball in the hotel lobby and congratulated him on the game. He shook his head and said “Thanks…but save the congrats until after tomorrow.”

A Discussion about ASA and the World Cup of Softball

(Brian McCall is the Communications Director for the ASA. We sat down with him to talk about the organization, the U.S. National Softball team, and the upcoming World Cup of Softball in Oklahoma City, OK July 13th-17th.)

So what is the ASA (American Softball Association) exactly?

The ASA is the national governing body of softball and has the largest grass roots softball program in the country. There’s a lot of other softball organizations that have formed outside of ASA at a grassroots level—running things like slow-pitch leagues. But no one has quite the reach that ASA does.

And how does the U.S. National Softball team fit in with ASA?

USA softball is under the umbrella of ASA. USA Softball as an organization focuses just on the national team. But within the national team program the coaches and athletes help develop training programs for coaches and athletes through their involvement with the national team program.

How many teams are under the ASA umbrella?

18 and under we have about eighty-thousand teams—with just under 2 million kids. We host over 20 different national championships in those divisions and all those teams have to qualify to get to those. We’re hosting the Gold National Championship in Oklahoma City for fast pitch players 18 and under. And all these players competing for the U.S. National team have come through that program.

Why Oklahoma City as the headquarters for ASA?

They looked to move the ASA offices out of New Jersey in the 60’s and it became a bid process. Oklahoma City is one of the cities that stepped up and wanted it badly. At this point we’re pretty entrenched in Oklahoma City now with the stadium we have and the support from the city. Most NGB’s (National Governing Bodies) are in Oklahoma City or Colorado Springs.

How big is the stadium in Oklahoma City?

We have a main stadium with five thousand permanent seats and three adjoining fields that have seating for about 500 each. With the support of the city there are going to be some additional renovations in the next few years to add more VIP boxes and expand the press box--because we’re running out of space for media.

And because coverage tends to improve when your media accommodations are better?

Yeah. You could say that. (Laughs.)

So how do you select players to try out for the national team?

Athletes were invited to our camp in late November/early December, and 24 players were chosen for the national training team. That designates you as one of the top 24 softball players in the country and gives you the benefits of monthly training camps as well as training stipends that can really help out. From that group of 24 we selected the group of seventeen we have now.

Of the seventeen players selected how many pitchers will be taken to the World Cup?

Typically we have four on the roster. But we have a few pitchers this year that can do more than just pitch. Amanda Freed is somebody who through the Olympic process in 2004 had really moved onto the outfield. She was an All-American pitcher at UCLA but didn’t fit that role when she first got on the team. Then during last year’s Japan Cup she was used as a pitcher. So she can pretty much do it all. We have a lot of players who provide some flexibility.

And how many games will they play during world cup?

Six. A round robin tournament in which they compete against everyone--with the top two teams playing in the finals.

That’s a lot of pitching for four players.

Actually it’s not. Alicia Hollowell who just won the NCAA championship for the University of Arizona is on the team. She went 5-1 during the Softball World Series and pitched six complete games from Thursday to Monday. And that’s just for one pitcher. So really the struggle a lot of times for us with carrying that amount of pitchers is getting enough innings for people on the roster. It’s definitely not the baseball model.

What’s the mindset of the U.S. National team going into the World Cup of Softball?

This will be an interesting year for us. The U.S. team has been ranked #1 for the last 20 years. And then last year we lost the World Cup—the 1st real international event we’ve lost in almost over a decade. I’d think there’d be an added intensity to this year’s tournament.

Who are the powerhouses—other than the U.S.—that fans can look forward to seeing at the World Cup?

Japan, China, and Australia are the biggies. Japan won the World Cup of Softball last year. China, in hosting the games in 2008 and as well as the World Championships, have been training non-stop and putting all sorts of funding toward every sport that they have. And Australia has always been strong—and have always had a pretty deep rivalry with us. Canada will always be tough but really those are the top three teams we will be facing at the World Cup of Softball.