Baseball Scoring 101 - lesson 1

July 30, 2006

In order to start scoring baseball, the first thing I had to do was memorize field position numbers. I drew a rough sketch on a piece of paper and kept it next to me the first several times I scored because I could never remember if right field was 9 or 7. So study this image and commit it to memory! The way to remember is the pitcher starts with the ball first and throws to the catcher, who’s the second to touch it. So pitcher is #1 and catcher is #2, then it goes around the bases - 1st (3), 2nd (4), 3rd (5), then other field positions. Short stop is still on the infield, so he’s 6. From there, left field is 7, center is 8, and right is 9. So I guess if you think of it as snaking from third base through the outfield, you can remember left is 7. (Or Soriano Seven - ha!). I also used this Wikipedia page as a reference frequently.

To record the outs, there are a couple abbreviations. These are the ones I use (substituting the number for the field position the play occurred at).

• 5-3: Means the runner grounded to third base, and the ball was thrown to 1st for an out. Same goes for short (6-3), 2nd (4-3), or any other position. Frequently, you’ll hear the radio guys describe a play in this manner.
• F9: The player flew out to right field.
• P4: The batter popped out to the 2nd baseman
• FO3: The batter fouled out to the first baseman
• L8: Line drive caught by center fielder
• K: Struck out swinging
• Backwards K: Struck out looking

I found Christopher Swingley’s scorecards to be my favorites, especially once I started tracking balls and strikes. I prefer the duplex grey one as it prints the best for me. It also has little notations in each at bat box to circle for reaching (BB = walk; I add an I for intentional walk, 1B = single, etc.).

So you write the lineup down the left - each team gets their own page. The opposing pitchers are filled in on the bottom (I screwed that up the first couple times putting the Nationals pitchers on the Nationals scoresheet!). There are extra lines for each at bat so you can fill in replacement players as the game goes on. To denote when a player change was made, I draw a line through the previous inning’s at-bat box (usually blank unless they went through the entire lineup). When a pitcher switch is made, I draw a line across the bottom of the last batter who faced the previous pitcher. A diagonal slash after the last out indicates the end of the inning so it’s easy to find where to start in the next column. When an out is made, I write the out number in the batter’s square and circle it. You trace the diamond for each base taken by a runner and I usually put the player’s number next to it that allowed the advancement.

Here’s a computer generated scorecard, although it should give a pretty good idea of how it works without the personalized touches of denoting inning endings and pitcher changes. The lines on the diamond indicate where the ball was hit.

I hope this helps for a quickie first lesson! In lesson 2 we’ll get into scoring errors and double switches ;-)

p.s. I have to give thanks to many in the Natmosphere for helping me through this to learn it myself!

Posted in Baseball - General, Scoring