27 Outs vs. 21

 ESPN added Curt Schilling, he of the bloody sock, to the announcing crew for the Women’s College Softball World Series, and he did okay except maybe for referring to his daughter as a princess (one who’ll be playing college softball next year).  Schilling didn’t patronize (too much), knew the fundamentals of softball and made one very interesting point, that he wouldn’t use one of his 21 outs for a sacrifice bunt.  When he said that, I instantly realized something I hadn’t for all four years of my daughter’s college career—they only play seven innings in softball while college baseball plays nine.  Why the difference?

Maybe they’ll never want to play the boys’ game, but wouldn’t they want to play a game as demanding, if not more?  From where I sit, seven innings just doesn’t equal nine.