A Fan's Guide To

A FAN’S GUIDE TO 1 KEEPING SCORE 2 By Bob Brown 3 Never Scored a Baseball game? Want to learn how? Here’s a system for you. It’s the one the Orioles Public Relations staff has been 4 using for more than 40 years. 5 There are countless scoring systems, and we don’t claim ours to be better than anybody else’s, but it has been effective and we think it’s relatively simple. 6 Why would you want to score a game in the first place? Well, if you like to keep track of what’s going on in the game, and your memory doesn’t retain each play, scoring is for you. Any system worth its salt should, in a condensed, shorthand-like 1 Pitcher 6 Shortstop 7 format, tell you not only what each batter does at the plate, but should he become 2 Catcher 7 Left Fielder a baserunner, how he moves around the bases. In short, when you look back at 3 First Baseman 8 Center Fielder your scorecard later, you should be able to recreate the entire game. 4 Second Baseman 9 Right Fielder 8 5 Third Baseman Lesson 1 9 The first thing you should do is memorize the numbers that identify each position (illustrated to the right). Terminology Single Kc Called 3rd Strike Also, you should familiarize yourself with the other symbols listed in the table. + Double Ks Swinging 3rd II Triple Strike Now, look at the basic batter block, below, and notice the III Home Run B Walk Lesson 4 position of home plate and the three other bases. SAC Sacrifice Bunt IB Intentional Walk Here’s an example of how a game can be scored: SF Sacrifice Fly E Error * RBI GDP Grounded into 1 Frank Robinson flies out to center field. FC Fielder’s Choice Double Play Lesson 2 / Force Out PB Passed Ball 2 Paul Blair singles to center field. To give you the feel of scoring, here are a number of simple entries: R Right W Wild Pitch U Unassisted Putout F Foul 3 Brooks Robinson doubles to left field. Blair moves to third. LOB Left on Base LD Line Drive Batter grounded out, shortstop to Grounder caroms off pitcher’s SB Stolen Base D Deep 63 143 4 Davey Johnson is intentionally walked. st nd CS Caught Stealing BT Bunt 1 base glove, deflects to 2 baseman, HP Hit by Pitch BK Balk who throws batter out 5 Andy Etchebarren strikes out. 7F Fouled out to left fielder st Ground ball to 1 baseman who 2nd 1st 6 3u Base Base Dave McNally hits a grand slam to left field. Blair, Robinson, and Johnson all score, giving McNally four RBI. Kc Called out on strikes steps on the bag for the unassisted putout SAC 7 Don Buford grounds out to the pitcher to end the inning. SAC Sac bunt, batter out, catcher to 24 24 2nd baseman, covering 1st base SF9 Sacrifice fly to the right fielder, 3rd * batter credited with RBI Base Home 9LD Line drive to right field Note: If something happens for which you don’t have a symbol, like a manager’s ejection, a rain delay, or an injury, just jot down a note in Lesson 3 the margin…Do the same thing if, for example, a batter is caught stealing 2nd base after a long rundown with a lot of fielders taking part, e.g.: 13436345, and you don’t have room in the block for all the numbers. Then draw a line to the runner’s 2nd base corner. If Now let’s look at some situations with runners on base. If the batter singles, enter the singles symbol in the + 1st base corner in his block, along with the symbol to indicate where the hit went. L R // you keep track of putouts and assists, remember that in a rundown, each fielder can be credited with only one assist, no matter how many times he touches the ball. nd rd (Note: L = left, 3B = third base, etc.). If he doubles or triples, you put the appropriate symbol in 2 or 3 E7 base corners (see diagram)…The home run symbol goes into the bottom righthand corner, meaning a run * scored. Note the asterisk to indicate RBI…In the box in the lower right corner, the batter reached 2nd base when the left fielder made a two-base error. About Bob Brown: Bob Brown was the Orioles Director of Public Relations for more than 30 years. During his tenure, he established this method of scoring, which the team has used ever since – a consistency no other Major League team has in its scorebooks..

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