The Baseball Scorecard Patrick A. Mcgovern

The Baseball Scorecard Patrick A. McGovern
Copyright © 1999-2000 by Patrick A. McGovern. All Rights Reserved. http://www.baseballscorecard.com/

Keeping Score
What's happened? What do you say when somebody asks you this question? If you're like most people, you probably repeat the information that's available on the scoreboard along with a couple of the more memorable plays. Keeping scoremakes it possible to give an accurate, concise run down of the game's events. People seem to appreciate this. I've met a lot of new people this way, which adds to the enjoyment of a ballgame. Play Ball! I know that umpires are supposed to just say "play", but I couldn't think of anything else to get things started. Follow the links below. Hopefully, they will help you learn to score a baseball game.The Scorecard
Getting a Scorecard If you go to a baseball game, you'll notice a vendor selling programs. Where I go to games the official program sells for about $3.00. Outside some ballparks you can find a vendor who is selling an unofficial program for about $2.00. Programs are great sources of information about the teams and players that are playing that day. They also contain a scorecard.If you don't want to use the scorecard from the ballpark, you can buy a book of them at a sporting goods store. You may also create one yourself. It's not difficult. If you prefer, you may download and use one of the simple scorecards that I created. Looking at the Scorecard Now that you've got a scorecard, take a look at it. There will be areas for different kinds of data such as game dayinformation, batter performance, inning totals, and pitcher performance. Most scorecards will also contain an area to record a summary of the players' game performance afterwards. I didn't include a summary area on one of the scorecards I created, but creating a card of your own which contains one shouldn't be that difficult. The summary area should contain the following information for each batter:atbats, runs, hits, runs batted in, and errors. Once you have this information tallied, you'll be able to compute all sorts of statistics if you wish.

Getting Started
Game Data Once you've familiarized yourself with the scorecard layout, it is time to start filling it in. Normally at the top you'll find places to log information such as team names, date, and time. Some scorecards also containspaces for location, temperature, weather, team win-loss records, and several other statistics. Some cards will even provide space for umpire and coach names. Fill in as much as you want, but be sure to fill in the team names, date, and time. If you don't, you won't know what game you were scoring when you find the scorecard in the bottom of a drawer a few months later. Player Data Next, find whereyou'll be entering player data. This will be a grid with inning numbers and other designations running across the top and spaces for the players' names, numbers and positions down the side. Fill these in when the batting order is announced. Before entering the player positions, you should be aware of one standard way of recording them. Instead of alphabetic abbreviations, most people assign numbersto the positions. The standard position numbers are shown below.

1 - Pitcher; 2 - Catcher; 3 - 1st Base; 4 - 2nd Base; 5 - 3rd Base; 6 - Shortstop; 7 - Left Field; 8 - Center Field; 9 Right Field

A designated-hitter is represented by "DH". These numbers are easy to remember if you start with the pitcher and then work your way around the bases. The only hitch is the shortstop. You wouldthink that the numbers for shortstop and third base should be reversed. One explanation that I've read was that the shortstop was not originally considered part of the infield. It was originally part of the outfield as a "short fielder." I don't know if this is true or not, but it does explain the number system. Finally, you'll notice an area where you can register the statistical totals. Some of...