Keeping score of a baseball game is a great way to stay involved in the game. It makes you pay attention to details that sometimes go unnoticed. If you’re scoring for a youth team you’re coaching, you can spot trends and see who has done what earlier in the game.

The essential

The score sheet can seem intimidating at first.

They usually consist of 9 or more rows with the following elements: a box where a player’s name, number and position are recorded; 9 diamonds (1 for each entry); and a box for a total of batters. The box for a player’s information usually has enough space for 2-3 players, allowing for substitutions throughout the game.

The diamond is a square that is turned to a corner.

The corners represent the bases and are used to record how far a batter goes. For each base the batter reaches, a line is drawn on the diamond. For example, if a batter hits a double, the line between home plate and first base, as well as the line between first and second base, will be darkened.

To keep track of the defense, numbers are used to identify the different positions. This makes it easier to describe what is happening on the field in such a small box. The positions are numbered as follows:

1 – Launch

2 – Receiver

3 – First Base

4 – Second Base

5 – Third Base

6 – Short stop

7 – Left Field

8- Center field

9-field right

10 – Shortstop (softball)

Most sheet music books will have a visual reference to these numbers. If not, it may be helpful at first to write it down and have it handy. After scoring just a couple of games, it will become second nature.

line up

Each row on the scorecard represents a position in the batting order. Most baseball games have 9 batters in the lineup. There are softball leagues and junior leagues that have 9+ batters, so there are score books to accommodate that. Players must be entered in the score book according to the batting order.

Hits

When a batter gets a hit, it must be recorded on the scorecard. The hit is usually recorded in the middle of the diamond with the following abbreviations: 1B for a single, 2B for a double, 3B for a triple, and HR for a home run.

To keep track of where the runners are, the lines on the diamond are darkened. So if a batter gets a double, a 2B is written above and to the right of the diamond and the line between home and first and the line between first and second are darkened.

If the next batter singles and the runner on second advances to third, the line between second and third will be darkened, as will the line between home and first for the batter.

Careers

When a runner scores, all lines on the diamond are darkened. Also, for clarity, the box is usually filled in to make it more obvious that the runner scored. This will make it easier to count them at the end of the input.

mistakes

Sometimes a batter will reach base or a runner will advance due to a fielder’s error. If the error is the reason the batter reached base, it will be recorded where a base hit would normally be recorded. There will be a notice on the scoreboard or an announcement about the official scoring of a play. For example, if the batter hits the ball to the second baseman, and the second baseman makes a motion with the ball allowing the batter to reach the ball safely, there will be an official indication that there was an error on the part of the second baseman. On the scorecard, it would be recorded as E-4, which is an error from position 4, the second baseman.

If a runner advances due to an error, then the error is marked between the bases the runner would have been on without the error and the base he advanced to. So if a batter hits the ball to right field for a single, and then the right fielder mishandles the ball and allows the runner to advance to second, the single would register as a 1B and there would be an E-9 down the road from base. between the first and the second.

Departures

Most putouts will use the number of the fielders making the out. For example, if a batter groundouts to third baseman, who then throws to first base for the out, it will be recorded as 5-3.

A fly ball that is caught by the center fielder may be called 8 or F8.

Other common outputs include pop-ups (P) and line outputs (L). Fly balls, pop-ups and lineouts can use their letters and position number or just the position number. The difference is the amount of detail that is recorded.

Strikeouts are marked with a K. Some scorers will differentiate whether or not the batter swings on strike three by using a backwards K if the batter did not swing.

If a runner is thrown out, the line between the bases is drawn down the middle and a small perpendicular line ends it. The responsible fielders are then tagged next to that line. For example, if there is a runner on first and the batter hits the ball to right field and the right fielder tags out the runner on third, the line from first to second in runner’s diamond would fill up. Then the line between the second and third would be darkened in the middle with a perpendicular line ending it. Finally, next to that line it would be written 9-5, which means that the right fielder (9) threw out the runner at third and that the third baseman (5) was the one who bunted. If the shortstop had made the tag for some reason, I’d say 9-6.

The other important item to put on the scorecard regarding starts is what it was. This can be done by writing it below and to the right of the diamond and circling it. For example, if the leadoff batter in the inning grounded out to second baseman, 4-3 would be written in the diamond and then a 1 would be circled around to the right and below the diamond.

runs batted in

When a batter scores a run, he is credited with a run batted in (RBI). This can happen by getting a run-scoring hit, hitting a home run, or drawing a bases-loaded walk. This is usually marked along the first baseline.

substitutes

When a player enters the game as a substitute, he is placed in the scorebook according to the space in the batting order he will occupy. His name must go on one of the lines below the player he is replacing. In addition, there must be a mark indicating when the submarine entered the game. Some people put a line on the right side of the box that represents the last entry before the substitute entered. Others put the ticket number the surrogate entered next to his name. The important thing is that it is clear when the submarine enters.

Totals

There are two places where the totals are added, at the bottom and to the right. At the bottom, the batting statistics for each inning are added up. Common stats found here are runs, hits, errors, and how many runners are left on base.

On the right hand side, each batter’s batting statistics are added up at the end of the game. These statistics generally include at-bats, hits, runs, and RBIs. There should be 2-3 lanes for each spot in the batting order to allow for subs stats to be added.

Summary

These are the basics of keeping score in a baseball game. There’s more to keep track of like stolen bases, wild pitches, the number of pitches, balls and strikes, and more. But the basics should give you a good start. The most important thing is to be able to tell what happened by looking at the sheet music book.