Softball Batting Practice at Major League Ballparks is the Bomb!!!!

By Dave Edlund

May 28, 2011

Each year, some of best professional softball home run hitters from around the country compete for prize money by showing off their home run hitting prowess at mainly major league ball parks. These softball hitting derby?s are put on by the Long Haul Bombers and they give ball-hawks a great opportunity for some unusual ball hawking fun!

The Long Haul Bombers typically hit 30 minutes prior to the first pitch, and they hit special optic yellow balls that are made for extreme performance. The balls typically fly 400-450 feet.

The rules for the derby?s are as follows: Each hitter will receive a maximum of 18 pitches for 15 swings, if the hitter swings at the first 15 pitches he is done, NO EXCEPTIONS! The 15th swing is the money ball and counts as 2 if it is hit for a HR.

I have seen as many as 15 balls land in McCovey Cove in less than 30 minutes at one of the Long Haul Derby's and it felt like it was raining balls. The splashes these balls were making was scary! I ended up with 11 balls that day. Try to get out to one of these events if one is near you. You will have a blast!

Here is the 2011 Schedule:

May 29th - Tampa Bay Rays

June 2nd - New York Mets

June 20th - Southern League All Star Game, Jackson, TN

June 25th - San Diego Padres

June 29th - Seattle Mariners

July 1st - Minnesota Twins

July 4th - Washington Nationals

July 15th - Cincinnati Reds

August 14th - Toronto Blue Jays

August 19th - Atlanta Braves

San Francisco Giants - TBD

September 18th - FINALS - LA Dodgers

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