Originally Posted by
LesterOfPuppets
What the hell is up with the first base bag???
The orange part outside the foul line is called the "safety base". The idea is to give the runner and fielder more space from each other, and reduce injuries due to collision. This is common for softball. Interestingly, it's not a part of of all softball rule sets. For example, HS and college softball doesn't use the "safety base", but most youth-level rule sets do. There are a few other little details that vary depending on which organization's rules you're playing under. It's kind of irritating, and definitely causes some confusion on the field.