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Baseball scorekeeping

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Baseball scorekeeping or amateur baseball scorekeeping is a fun way for the baseball fan or hobbyist to keep detailed track of what happens in a particular baseball game. The word "amateur" is used to distinguish this scoring from the work of the official scorer of a game. The scorecard produced by the amateur scorer has no importance in the official record keeping of baseball statistics. Rather, for the amateur, the game is scored as a means of entertainment, to help a fan "keep his head in the game", to produce a unique souvenir of the game, or, just for the heck of it.

Baseball scorekeeping uses a quirky set of notations to denote everything of importance that happens in a particular game. For every pitch made, some type of record occurs. Any time a baserunner advances, an out recorded, a run scored, a player enters or leaves the game, an error committed, etc., something must be recorded on the scorecard. Other things that happen in a game, such as, the number of foul balls hit by a batter, ball and strike counts, the location where a base hit first touches the ground, and other such things, may or may not be recorded depending on the individual.

The notations described here are some of the more common ones used by fans. However, there is no one definitive system for scoring a baseball game, and many fans make modifications to the systems to suit their own tastes. It is likely that you will find scorekeepers that use none of the symbols here, just as much as there are those that use all of them.

The scorecard

In the discussion of the scorecard and scoring in general, the baseball rules will be referred to, but not necessarily explained. (Go to the baseball rules link for a detailed explanation of the rules of the game.)

For illustrative purposes, a sample filled-in score card is shown below. Many other examples of completed scorecards and blank scorecards can be found in many places [including this one].

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All scorecards have more or less the same format. In the example scorecard (below), the first columns, "NO." and "", on the left margin are to record the names and uniform numbers of the players from each team. Next, in the "POS." column, the player's fielding position is listed next to their name. The players are listed in the order in which they come to bat in the game (batting order). (Note: Editor failed to write the fielding position in the "POS." column.) Every player has his own row. Next there will be a series of columns divided by the rows (like a spreadsheet) to create "cells." Each column is headed by the inning number. Within each "cells" will be some representation of a baseball diamond (in some score cards the cells are blank, giving the scorekeeper full latitude for symbol placement). In some cases, such as in the exemplar to the right, the baseball diamond will be represented by a simple diamond shape. In others, a more complicated version the basic diamond motif can be more elaborate. (for example having little squares at the corners to designate bases). However it is rendered, the diamond is a graphical representation of the field of play, or more accurately, the infield of the field of play. The bottom corner of the diamond represents home plate. The right corner is 1st base, top corner 2nd base, the left corner is 3rd base. It is on and around this diamond that notations are made to record what happens in a game. At the far right and bottom of the typical scorecard has rows and/or columns for entering game totals. Other features of a scorecard may be a list of the players on each team's roster (as seen at the right margin of the exemplar card), the logo of the home team, etc. Some scorecards also have spaces for entering such variables as the weather, wind direction etc.

The scorecard generally has two halves (or sometimes two sides). One for the visiting team and one for the home team. Both offense and defense are recorded on the card. At the "top" of an inning, when the visiting team is at bat and the home team in the field, the offensive accomplishments of the visiting team and the defensive accomplishments (outs and how they occurred) of the home team are both recorded on the "visiting half" of the scorecard. In the bottom of the inning, the opposite is done (home offense, visiting defense recorded on the "home" half of the scorecard).

Sample baseball scorecard from a game scored on August 8, 2000 at (then) Pacific Bell Park.
Sample baseball scorecard from a game scored on August 8, 2000 at (then) Pacific Bell Park.

Scoring the card

Recording the events of a baseball game is done via a curious and quirky shorthand. While these notations follow a certain set of rules, every scorer has his or her own style in rendering a game down to a scorecard. For example, one scorer may record a single-base hit with the notation "1B" along the right-bottom edge of the diamond. Another might simply draw a single line from "homebase" to "1st base" on the scorecard. Some people do both.

One important basis for scoring is that each fielding position is given a number:

  1. Pitcher P (infield)
  2. Catcher C (infield)
  3. 1st Baseman 1B (infield)
  4. 2nd Baseman 2B (infield)
  5. 3rd Baseman 3B (infield)
  6. Shortstop SS (infield)
  7. Left Fielder LF (outfield)
  8. Center Fielder CF (outfield)
  9. Right Fielder RF (outfield)
When a ball is put into play, if a basehit is recorded, then the scorekeeper enters that basehit along the diamond for that player in that inning. For example, if the player hits the ball into play and reaches 2nd base safely, he has hit a double. The scorer then records that basehit in his or her own style (e.g. the notation "2B" along the right-top edge of the diamond, a double line along the right-top of the diamond, or perhaps as an angle line tracing the batters "path" from home to 2nd base).

If an out is recorded, then the defensive players executing that out is recorded. For example, if a batter hits a ball on the ground to the shortstop, who then throws the ball to the 1st baseman, ahead of the runner, to record an out, this would be noted on the scoresheet as "6-3", "6" being the shortstop and "3" being the 1st baseman.

Using the exemplar scorecard (right), let's examine the Milwaukee Brewers' 1st inning of play:

:BBB
:SSF
  • 2nd (2nd spot or 2nd hole) batter, #9 Marquis Grissom (the Brewers' Center Fielder) on a 2-ball, 2-strike count grounds out 5-3 (3rd baseman to 1st baseman).
  • 3rd batter, #5 Geoff Jenkins (the Brewers' Left Fielder) grounds the ball to the 1st baseman (3) who takes the ball to the base himself for an unassisted put out (3U).
    • One hard and fast rule of baseball scorekeeping is that every out and every time a baserunner advances must be recorded. The scoring can get a little more complicated when a batter who has reached base, is then "moved up" (i.e. advanced a base or bases) by the actions of a hitter behind him, or as is the case in the Giants' first inning by his own subsequent actions. Let's examine the Giants' first inning:

    Stranded baserunners might be notated as being "LOB" (Left On Base) for that inning, with a number from 1-3 likely at the bottom of the inning column. For example, if two runners are left on base after the 3rd out, the scorekeeper might note "LOB:2", then at the end of the game calculate a total number of LOB for the game.

    For a more complicated inning, let us examine the bottom half of the 5th inning:

    Here are other notations to indicate offensive or defensive events on a baseball scorecard -- note that individual scorekeepers will almost certainly use only a subset of these.

     

    From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
    All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

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