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.

Michele Smith on the Hall of Fame and USA Softball

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. She is in Oklahoma City covering the World Cup of Softball for ESPN and we spoke with her to get her thoughts on a variety of subjects. This is Part I of our discussion where she talks about being inducted into the Hall of Fame and the current U.S. National Team.

Being inducted into the Hall of Fame and watching four blowout U.S.A. wins…it’s been a pretty good last couple of days, huh?

Yeah it’s been great. The U.S. team has been playing lights out. Being inducted into the Hall of Fame was great. Very cool. And doing it in Oklahoma City too!

Growing up as a little girl in Califon, NJ did you ever think you’d be in the Hall of Fame someday?

I never really thought about the end of my career because I was so involved in playing the next day. And because I still play professionally in Japan it was a shock all of a sudden. It was “Oh my god! The Hall of Fame!” So it really took me by surprise. I think a lot of athletes who get inducted haven’t been playing for awhile so they can think about it but it blew me away and came as a great shock.

Jessica Mendoza just wrote a very nice blog post about yourself and the other players that put softball on the map like Donna Lopiano and Dot Richardson. It must be nice to know the current players appreciate the ground-breaking players that came before them.

It’s a great feeling. For me when I was playing I’d look back on the Joan Joyce’s and the Kathy Arendsen’s who blazed the trail and never got to compete in the Olympic games --and then there we were in the first Olympics and the second Olympics-- and it made you appreciate those who came before you.

For these players today to recognize our accomplishments shows a trickle down effect and one of the reasons this sport has such a great tradition and winning spirit within USA Softball.

Let’s turn to the current team. What’s the difference between this year’s team and last year’s team?

Well I think this year’s team is more prepared. I think after Athens the team probably was a little bit spread out. They were playing in the Pro Leagues and they weren’t practicing a lot as a team. So I think this year they’ve had training camps January through June. And since June they’ve been training together and doing lots of great stuff. Softball is a team sport. The more the team is together the more they are going to gel. The more a team is hitting together you get that rhythm going. I think this is what we’re seeing. This team is very strong. This is an important year. It seeds softball for the Beijing Olympics so being sharp in World Championships is extremely important.

Is this one of the best U.S. pitching rotations you’ve ever seen?

I think it’s the best lineup I’ve seen. As far as the pitching rotation…unbelievable talent…but very young. But they’re getting their opportunities which is very exciting. In two-three years they’re going to be even better. And that’s what’s so important.

Because if you look back at the last decade of U.S. pitching within the Olympics the only three pitchers that have ever thrown in any medal games were myself, Lisa Fernandez, and Michele Granger in 1996. So there’s nobody else with that experience. So these young kids have got to get it now. This is a very key year for Cat Osterman, Jennie Finch, Jamie Southern, Monica Abbott, and Alicia Hollowell. They’ve all got to step up and with Lisa not playing this year they’ve got to learn how to play with pressure.

Jessica Mendoza on Hall of Famer Michele Smith

Today was a very eventful day. Besides playing two games against Australia and China, we also were able to see a softball great be inducted into the Softball Hall of Fame: Michele Smith. One of the biggest reasons why there is such an amazing feeling every time you put on a USA jersey, besides a love for this country, is to know who wore it before you.

From great names like Bertha Tickey, Donna Lopiano, and Kathy Arendsen, to even the more recent like Michele Smith, Dot Richardson, Sheila Cornell-Douty, and Michele Granger – who are all getting inducted into the Softball Hall of Fame this year. These women paved the way for what USA softball has become and set the highest standard of what it means to be a softball player in this country. I have learned more from these women about this game than I could have learned from even the best coaches.

I have learned how much passion it takes, how much hard work must be put in, but most importantly, I have learned that no matter what success is achieved, the ability to give back to those of the future is the most important of all. These are the things I think about when Michele Smith is being inducted and our whole team is looking on; she is one of the ambassadors before us, and it is now our job to carry the torch for the future.

First Post... from Michele Smith

First of all its really great to be back here in Oklahoma City for the World Cup. I think the excitement has grown a lot since last year and you can really feel that. Its become even more important now with the IOC decision to get rid of softball as an Olympic sport. I think last year’s World Cup came just after the decision or a week after the decision and at that point it really hadn’t sunk in yet. It was a major defeat for the sport but now we have this huge event moving the sport forward. Its exciting for me to look out on the field and see the sponsors out there like Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, Nike and AT&T. Its good to see corporate America realize how big of a game softball really is. It really seems like the teams are excited this season. I have talked to the U.S. and Japan teams who are both looking for a rematch and then with Great Britain being here for the first time, there is definitely excitement in the air.

The U.S. vs. Great Britain game was my first game back on T.V. since last years little league softball world series. I still get nervous before the games but its different nerves than when I am out there pitching. There is a lot of pressure because everything is so precise. You are relying on a huge team behind the scenes. The openings for the games are the hardest because you have to coincide the graphics, video, audio etc. To prepare I really try and look over the lineups as much as possible and I also rehearse on the drive over. I will also tape the segments and watch them to see what I need to work on. I have a good friend who worked in broadcast for 20 years so I will study things and get pointers. The World Cup is kind of kicking off my duties for TV for this season. I am going to do some National Fastpitch games, the ASA Gold here in Oklahoma City and also the little league World Series of softball so the World Cup is definitely a great way to get it started. Its definitely going to be a great week of softball!