KEEPING BASEBALL SCORE

We had the pleasure of going to a Cardinal's baseball game the other night and as usual, Bonny and I kept score in our homemade score books. The wife of the friends we were with mentioned that she would like to try keeping score so I told her I'd send her the files I use to make those score books. By the time I finished with the E-mail explaining my system of scoring, I decided I had enough information for another BLOG entry, so here goes...

First of all, why keep score? I do it simply to keep track of what has happened so I can enjoy the game more. By the time the batter comes up in the 8th inning, I don't remember what he did when he came up in the second and sixth. I also don't remember how many strike outs the pitcher has, how many ground balls he's induced, how many fly balls etc. etc. The score book gives me the tools to see the trends so I can better anticipate what may happen next or put plays in better context. I know people who don't want to keep score because it's a distraction to them. God love them, they keep all that information in their brains as the game progresses and I'm a jealous man, but for those of us who can't, a few stroke of the pencil can. When the kids were little, I taught them how to score almost from the "get-go". It helped them to keep their interest in the game longer, just as it helps me to focus today.


Here are the files I used for making my score books. You can go on the Internet for dozens of different score cards. Everyone wants to keep track of different information. Some want to keep track of balls and strikes; some keep track of where the ball are hit to. I've seen simple scorecards with "out" for any out, then "XB" for the hits and that is the extent of the scoring.

Most of the scoring systems are just small variations. I have my own and after you do this for a while, you will too. To me, there is the trade off of keeping track of what happened, but not keeping track of so much detail that you miss the action by writing instead of watching the ball game.

Here is my system:

Fielding positions:
1 - Pitcher
2 - catcher
3 - first baseman
4 - second baseman
5 - third baseman
6 - short stop
7 - left fielder
8 - center fielder
9 - right fielder

For each square, you record what each batter does at the plate.
1B -single
2B - double
3B - triple
HR - home run
BB - base on balls
IBB - intentional walk
HBP - hit by pitch
FC - fielder's choice
SF# - sacrifice fly out
SACB - sacrifice bunt
F# - fly out (# - position of fielder who made the out, i.e. F9 means the batter flew out to the right fielder)
L# - line drive out
P# - pop foul out (I use P for any foul ball caught for an out)
K - swinging strikeout (printed backwards for strikeout looking)
E# - advanced on error
DP - double play
! - great defensive play

running and pitching plays

SB - stolen base
CS - caught steeling
PB - pass ball
WP - wild pitch
BK - balk

I use the diamond method of keeping track of what the base runner does. I add one side of the diamond for each base the runner gains plus a "tick" at each base they stop at.

In the corners, I keep track of if the runners advance by anything other than batter's performance.

In the lower right hand corner, I add a dot for every run batted in.

In this picture of a single square, the opposition has just brought in a new pitcher, the batter hits a double driving in two runs, then steals third and scores on a wild pitch.

Unless it is a really big game, I don't bother adding up the totals. When I get home, I staple my ticket to that page for a keepsake. You may want to score a couple of games before you make a whole book.

So, that's it. If one reason you don't like baseball is because it is too slow, you're not paying attention to enough detail. Your score card will help you out.