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Whether you are looking to get hired as a scorekeeper at a major league ball park, have been assigned to keep the book for a Little League team, or just looking for a new hobby, this page will help you learn how to keep score in baseball.
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How to Keep Score in Baseball : How to Score Rare Plays in Baseball
Once you've mastered the basics of baseball scorekeeping, you'll want to learn how to score the more unusual plays. This video discusses how to record what the expert refers to as "rare plays". The situations covered in the video include batter interference, catcher's interference, hit by pitch, wild pitches, and passed balls.
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Introduction
- A baseball scoreboard generally shows the runs earned by each team, as well as the current number of outs. Occasionally it will also show totals for hits and errors, and the current count of balls and strikes. A baseball scorecard, sometimes called a scoresheet or scorebook, tracks the individual plays that combined to produce the runs and outs that are displayed on the scoreboard. If you want a detailed record of the game, you meed to learn how to keep score in baseball.
Step 1: Learn the Basics of Baseball
- Althogh you don't need a deep understanding of the game in order to keep score, you do need to understand the basics of baseball. The determination of whether or not a runner is out or safe is the umpire's&m dash;the scorekeeper just records the decision. The one area a scorekeeper does need expertise in, however, is determining what constitutes a hit. A batter who hits a ball can reach base safely as a result of a hit, an error, or a fielder's choice. The distinction is important if you will be using the scorebook to calculate statistics, as hits, errors, and fielder's choices are all treated differently.
Step 2: Get a Baseball Scorebook
- You can purchase a scorebook at most sporting goods stores, or a find a scoresheet in most programs at ball parks. You can also create your own, or download forms online. The Baseball Scorecard has a variety of forms that are available to download for free. The Excel versions can be customized, if you like.
Step 3: Fill Out the Game Information
- Before the baseball game begins, fill out the scoresheet with basic information about the game.
- Record the names of the teams and the date.
- Some scoresheets also have spaces for the time, the weather, the name of the umpires, and the name of the ballpark.
- Fill out the line-up. This is a list of the players, in the order in which they will be batting.
- There will be a box for each batter, that may have two or three lines.
- The lower lines are to be used to record a substitute player, so make sure to put the original player on the top line.
- Also note the uniform number, and the position of each player. Positions are referred to by numbers, as follows:
- Pitcher
- Catcher
- 1st base
- 2nd base
- 3rd base
- Shortstop
- Left field
- Center field
- Right field
Step 4: Mark Each Play in Your Scorebook
- The scoresheet is divided into columns representing innings, and rows representing batters. As each batter takes his turn in the lineup, you record what happens in the box next to his name that is in the column for the current inning.
- The scoresheet may have bubbles that can be filled in to record balls and strikes. If your score sheet doesn't have bubbles to fill in, you can note balls and strikes across the bottom of the box as follows:
- Use B to represent a ball
- A strike is shown as a K, with a backwards K representing a called strike
- An F can be used to denote a foul ball
- If a batter reaches base safely, fill in the legs of the the diamond in the box that represent which base he reached. If he reached first base, you'll draw a dark line from home to first;if he hit a double, you'd also connect first and second. Next to the line, write how he reached the base:
- 1B: Single
- 2B: Double
- 3B: Triple
- HR: Home run
- BB: Walk
- HP: Hit by Pitch
- E: Error, usually followed by the position number of the player committing the error—so, E6 would mean that the short stop had dropped or overthrown the ball
- FC: Fielder's choice
- When an out is made, record how the out occurred, and place which number out it is (1, 2, or 3) in circle in the lower right corner of the box. A few examples of ways an out is made:
- FO9: Pop fly to right field
- 5-3: Ball hit to third baseman who threw it to the first baseman, who made the out
- 3U: Ball hit to first base, where the first baseman made the out unassisted
- 8K: Struck out
- As each player moves around the bases, go back to his box, and fill in the leg representing the advance, with a note of how he got there and during which player's at bat the advance occurred. So, for example, if a player advances from first to second because he steals during player 33's at bat, you'd go back to his box, fill in the line from first to second, and write S-33 next to it.
- When a player safely reaches home, darken the entire box to represent a run.
