Have you ever been asked to do the scorekeeping for your kids’ team at a little league baseball game? Maybe it’s one game or maybe it’s the whole season. Either way, were you totally confused when you got the book and looked inside to see that it wasn’t necessarily what you were thinking? If this is you, you’re not the only one. I think a lot of parents, whether hardcore baseball fans or not, don’t know how to score keep.
There isn’t exactly a right or wrong way to do this as long as it makes sense and is understandable. Something you are going to want to know before trying to score keep are the position numbers and then symbols or letters for certain situations. These things will help you as you start to keep score. Here are the numbers in ascending order with their corresponding positions and then words to remember with their symbols.
1. Pitcher
2. Catcher
3. 1st base
4. 2nd base
5. 3rd base
6. Shortstop
7. Left field
8. Center field
9. Right field
Double: 2B
Triple: 3B
Home run: HR
Strikeout swinging: K
Strikeout looking: backwards K
Double Play: DP
Error: E
Stolen Base: SB
Base on Balls: BB
As you watch the game, you will start using this information above for every play that happens on the field. Here are some examples:
- Let’s say the batter hits a single. You will write 1B inside the box and darken the line from home to first base.
- If the next batter hits a double you will write 2B and darken the line from home to first and then from first to second. The previous batter who hit a single is now and third and so you will darken the lines all the way to third base. Can you see the trend here?
If the batter hits the ball and gets out you will use the numbers to show how the batter got out.
- Let’s say he hits a grounder to the shortstop and gets thrown out at first. You will write 6-3 inside the diamond.
- If he hits it to the third baseman and gets thrown out at first you will write 5-3 in the diamond and so on.
- If it’s a double play you will just add one more numbers according to how it happens. If it’s a double play with the shortstop throwing to second and then to first it will be written as 6-4-3 and then you can use DP for double play if you so choose.
If it’s a fly ball you will just write the number of the position that caught the fly ball inside the diamond.
- Let’s say the batter pops it up to the left-fielder, you would write 7 inside the diamond. If the catcher catches the fly ball you would write 2.
- If the batter strikes out you will write a K or a backwards K.
- If he gets walked you will write BB. Hopefully you’re catching on to how this is done.
- If somebody scores you will darken the lines all around the bases and shade in the diamond.
- There are also little boxes in the left corner where you can keep track of balls and strikes. If you want to keep track of where an inning ended. Just darken the line underneath the batter who last got out.
Like I said before, there really isn’t a correct way to score keep. You just want to make sure that the coach can look at the book and know exactly what happened in every inning of a ballgame. If you can do that, then you have succeeded. Always use a pencil. You never know when you’re going to make a little mistake and need to erase. Hopefully this information gets you on the right track to score keeping in little league baseball. Who knows, you might enjoy it and want to do it every time you watch a baseball game.
