How to Read a Baseball Scorebook
- 1). Acquaint yourself with the numerical system that allows scorekeepers to tell you the positions for each player on the field. This system allows scorekeepers to refer to these positions without writing them out, which is impossible in the small space provided in a scorebook. The numbers are as follows: 1=pitcher; 2=catcher; 3=first base; 4=second base; 5=third base; 6=shortstop; 7=left field; 8=center field; 9=right field. Memorize these numbers and the scorebook will start to make much more sense.
- 2). Learn the different symbols that correspond to whatever the batter does when he comes to the plate. Any possible outcome that can occur when a batter steps up can be rendered using just a few numbers or letters. Some of the more important of these symbols are as follows: 1B=single; 2B=double; 3B=triple; HR=home run; K=strikeout; FO=fly out; PO=pop out; GO=ground out; HBP=hit by pitch; BB=base on balls; E=error. If you then combine these symbols with the numbers for the fielders, you can read practically any result in a scorebook. For example, a ground out in which the shortstop fields the grounder and throws to the first basemen to get the out would be rendered "GO 6-3" in the scorebook.
- 3). Follow the lines on the diamond to determine each base-runner's progress. In a scorebook, each batter's time at bat is represented by a miniature baseball diamond. If he reaches first, the scorekeeper will darken the line from home plate to first. If he reaches second, the line from first to second is darkened, and so on. Most scorekeepers will color in the center of the diamond if a batter makes it all the way home, scoring a run. You can count the number of colored-in diamonds in the scorebook to quickly determine how many runs a team has scored in a particular game.
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