You don’t need to worry about different sheets being radically different—baseball scorecards are universal in terms of the information that they contain, even if the design is a little different. The differences between different sheets are pretty minor. If you’re keeping score at the ballpark to enjoy a professional or minor league game, ask an usher for a scorecard. They typically give them out for free or sell them for cheap.
If you’re scoring little league games where there are lots of substitutions, find a scorecard with 3 or 4 lines per player. You only track 1 team’s performance on a single scorecard. If you want to score both teams, use 2 separate cards. There are some scorecards that are double-sided so that you can track both teams on one sheet. There is usually a column on the left of a player’s name for their jersey number. The “Pos” column on the right is shorthand for “position” so that you can enter the player’s fielding position. There is often an extra row at the bottom for a tenth player in case your team uses a pinch hitter or your screw up on a row. Some scorekeepers use this row to take notes.
You work from the top to the bottom to indicate which batter is hitting. You work left to right to indicate when things happen in the game. This means that you won’t use every single box on a scorecard unless your team has 9 at-bats every single inning. If your team bats around the lineup, cross out the innings at the top and re-label them. There are usually 2-3 extra columns for this purpose. They can also be used for extra innings if the game is tied at the end. For example, the box in the top left indicates the first batter’s at-bat in the first inning. The box all the way at the end of the row would indicate the first batter’s at-bat in the last inning of the game.
If your team is home, that means they’re playing on their regular field. If they’re away, it means that they’ve travelled to play on another team’s field. A team at home is generally considered to have a slight advantage in a given matchup. Fill in any other boxes, like time, field, or league if you want. This information isn’t always essential, but if your league has time limits it may be important. Start the time as soon as the first pitch is thrown.
Remember to skip a line (or 2) for each player so that there is one name in each row of baseball diamonds. When a player is substituted in, write their name, number, and position below the player that they went in for and draw a vertical line in between the baseball diamonds in the inning that it happened. If there is a pitching change, draw a horizontal line in the diamonds between the last batter of the old pitcher and the first batter of the new pitcher. Write the new pitcher’s name in the next row at the bottom in the “pitcher” section.
There is no fourth box for balls because the at-bat is over if they throw 4 balls. This is also why there is no third box for strikes. If the pitcher throws a strikeout, write a big K in the middle of the diamond. If the batter didn’t swing and took the third strike “looking,” write a backwards K. If a pitcher throws 4 balls and walks the batter, write BB. If they hit a batter, write HBP to indicate that they were hit by a pitch.
You do not have to do this if you don’t want to. It is completely optional, but the information is really helpful if you’re trying to track a hitter’s tendencies.
For example, if a player hits a single, darken the line from home to first base. If they steal second base successfully, darken the line from first to second. If they get thrown out trying to reach home plate after a single, leave the final 2 base paths blank, since they did not reach them successfully. Some scorekeepers indicate stolen bases with a broken line instead of a solid line. You can write SB, PO, or CS above a base path; these abbreviations stand for stolen base, pick-off, or caught stealing.
The abbreviations for hits are 1B, 2B, 3B, and HR; these abbreviations stand for single, double, triple, and home run. The abbreviations for outs are F, LO, or GO; these stand for flyout, line out, or ground out. Some scorekeepers also use PO for pop out. DP stands for double play. For example, if a player flies out to left field, you would simply write F7 in the diamond (or next to it) to indicate that the batter flied out and the left fielder caught the ball. If the first baseman caught a ground ball and touched first base for the out, you would write GO3. A more complicated play may read DP3-6-1. This means that the defense scored a double play when the first baseman fielded the ball and threw it to the shortstop. The pitcher went to go cover first base and then caught the throw from the shortstop for the final out.
If you’re making your play notations outside of the diamond, you can fill in the diamond fully so that it’s dark. If you’re writing the play in the diamond, keep it light so that you can still read the original notation.
For a play with an error later in the sequence of the play, put the E next to the player that made the mistake. For example, 4-6-E3 means that the second baseman threw it to the shortstop. The shortstop then threw the ball to the first basemen who proceeded to miss or drop the ball. You don’t include the type of hit on an error because it’s irrelevant; it doesn’t count as a hit for the batter, and it doesn’t count as a hit for the pitcher. It is a separate category of play. It’s up to you who you want to blame on certain plays with unique mistakes. If the shortstop fields a ground ball and throws in the dirt in front of the first baseman, is it the first baseman’s fault that he missed a tough throw, or is it the shortstop’s fault for making a bad throw? This can be scored E6 or 6-E3 based on your assessment of the play.
For example, if there is a runner on first base, and the player hits a ground ball to the shortstop, there is a fielder’s choice if the shortstop throws the runner out at second but the batter reaches first base safely. Similarly, if the shortstop ignored the first runner and threw the hitter out at first, this would also be a fielder’s choice. If a player intentionally bunted or hit a fly ball to move a baserunner, it doesn’t count as a fielder’s choice. Write SAC to indicate that a player hit a sacrifice bunt or fly ball.
There are other columns for balks, wins, saves, and innings pitched, but the key information that you need for a single game performance are the number of runs, strikes outs, and walks. These will tell you what a pitcher’s overall performance was like.
If you just enjoy the act of keeping score, don’t feel like you have to hold on to your scorecard after the game is over. If you like keeping score and you have a child or friend in little league, ask the coach if he’d like access to your scorecards. The coach will be able to use them, and this may free up an assistant coach to do something else.
This is a great way to track game balls or MVP awards for your players.
If you see a player hitting a lot of fielder’s choices, stick them either at the top or bottom of your lineup. Fielder’s choices can turn into double plays quite easily, so you don’t want them in the middle of your lineup when the number of base runners is usually high. If a player is particularly good at bunting or hitting sacrifice fly balls, bat them fifth or sixth. This will give them more chances to bring runners in.
