Scorekeeping 101

The Scorebook is important. It is the official game record and is used to record every pitch, at bat, and defensive play. The book is used during the game to confirm who is next to bat, how many pitches the pitcher has thrown and where runners were on base before the last play. The book is used after games to calculate player and team statistics. Here is the good news – Our league doesn’t require that we track everything. This means scorekeeping is much less complicated from the start.

Remember! Home team is responsible for the SCOREBOOK!
If you cannot provide someone to keep the book, you may forfeit a game.

Here are a few tips to help you out:

• Try your best.
• Learn something every time you score!
• Mistakes are inevitable. That’s why we use pencil!!
• Some scorekeepers prefer to add color to their book. If you want to try it, the most common color uses are: 1) RED for outs 2) Any other color to color in runs and to make your squiggly lines
• You are NOT expected to know all the rules of baseball.
• The umpire is a priceless resource. If you’re not sure what happened, ASK!
• You are equally important to the umpire. They’ll often ask you what the count on a batter is, what the pitch count is, etc.
• Always remember that the scorekeeper’s job is documentation. Should something happen during the game that doesn’t get caught (batting out of order, incorrect call, etc.) by a manager or coach, the scorekeeper simply documents what happened. The scorekeeper should NEVER call a manager or coach’s attention to a discrepancy.