FROM Thurs., 8.7.2008, Greensboro, NC – Littered behind home plate of Newbridge Bank Ballpark in Greensboro tonight were packs of scouts from different baseball teams clocking and charting the two starting pitchers and subsequent relievers of the Grasshoppers-Sand Gnats game. The scene is nothing new to minor league parks, but sitting next to a rookie baseball fan, Kaylin Murphy, it shed some new light. Not to overwhelm a rookie fan with the metrics that scouts chart and why, I started with the basics; scorekeeping. IMO, I believe that there are standard ways of scoring a game, a la a grounder to short should read “6-3” in the book. But everyone has their own method of scoring beyond the standard 5-4-3 double play.
I’ve seen fans use highlighters, draw diagonal lines, use colored pens, and their own lettering system for recording outs. Some of my personal favorites include a grounder to first, “3U,” as my dad showed me that one two years ago. My other personal favorite is the “backwards K” for a strikeout looking. While working for the Frederick Keys during two summers, the scoreboard operator, Stan the Man, always had the sharpest pencils. But, he wrote the lineup card as such: right-handed batters would be in blue; left-handed batters would be in red. I record a flyout to right as “F9.” Others may write, “FO-9” or “F/9.” Do you distinguish between a lineout and a flyout to the outfield like me? “L7” vs. “F7.”
To the readers: do you have a personal method of scorekeeping or do you do one quirky thing out of the ordinary in your scorekeeping? I’d be interested to find out some new methods.
2 comments:
I used to watch Braves games (since that's the only team that I could see here other than the Cubs and I hate both teams). I would always pull for the team they were playing. I had a scorebook that I had had for many years. I always LOVED to keep score for the games. It would throw me off when subs came in later in the game and they rearranged the batting order(s). My scoring technique though was really basic. All strikeouts were "Ks." The grounder to short was always 6-3. For he fly or line it was just be "7,8 or 9" with a line drawn to the respective position. I can see the need to know whether a ball is fly or line for the dugout as to let the players know if there's a pattern to which the hitter is apt. But for what I did, it wasn't necessary. Those damned fielder's choice plays always threw me off, too. And how do you score if the hitter reaches base after striking out and the catcher fails to complete the throw to 1st? And fo that matter, how do you score it if he DOES complete the play? Is it still a "K" or is it a 2-3? Hmmmm.... I have renewed my confusion... *sigh*
It would be: K, 2-3. If the batter strikes out and the catcher misses the throw, it's: K, E2. If the batter swings at a wild pitch, it would be: K, WP.
For the fly out, you would write "7," then draw a line to LF (the upper left corner of the box?
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