How to Score a Baseball Game

Filling out a scorecard by hand allows for a more engaging and personalized baseball experience.  Using each team’s batting lineup and a shorthand code for the defense positions, you can learn how to quickly record a game’s happenings. Read on to learn how to score a baseball game.

What you’ll need:

A baseball scorecard

The game’s program

Your favorite pencil (I use a Blackwing 602 because it lays down a dark line and holds a point through nine innings.)

A surface to write on

Shop Baseball Scoring Tools

[av_productgrid categories='1213' columns='4' items='4' offset='0' sort='0' paginate='no' av_uid='av-188bmep']

Setup

Get out your program and your scoring card.  Here’s what your blank scoring card should look like:

Source: baseballscorecard.com

The first thing you’ll need to do is write down each team’s batting lineup onto the left hand side of the card.  Each batter gets a row.  Put down their jersey numbers and their positions on either side of their names.

Shorthand Symbols

Once you’ve set up your program, you’re ready to score with shorthand.  Write these keys on the back of your first few cards:

Position Numbers

Pitcher	1
Catcher	2
First Base	3
Second Base	4
Third Base	5
Short Stop	6
Left Field	7
Center Field	8
Right Field	9
Designated Hitter	DH

Plays

Single	1B
Double	2B
Triple	3B
Walk	BB
Error	E
Fielder’s Choice	FC
Hit by Pitcher	HBP or HP
Home Run	HR
Interference	I
Intentional Walk	IBB

Outs

Caught Stealing	CS
Double Play	DP
Fly Out	F (followed by the position number flied out to)
Foul Out	FO
Ground Out	G
Strikeout Swinging	K
Strikeout Looking	Backwards K
Line Out	L (followed by the position number lined out to)
Sacrifice Fly	SF
Sacrifice Hit (Bunt)	SH
Triple Play	TP
Unassisted Put Out	U

Scoring the Game

Now that you’re prepared, you can start scoring the game! 

You’re going to track the game by each batter’s progress per inning.  You’ll notice that in each batter’s row, there are nine diamonds – one for each inning.  These diamonds are what you’ll use to mark each at-bat. 

Once the batter hits, draw a line showing the direction the ball went – to third base, short stop, etcetera.   

Whenever you batter makes it onto base, fill in the corresponding line on the diamond.  In the corners, you’ll use your shorthand codes (1B, 2B, 3B) to tell how many bases the batter ran. 

Fill in the entire diamond with your pencil when the batter scores.

When the batter gets out, you want to write the number out (1 for first out, 2 for second, 3 for third out) in the left hand corner and circle it.  If the batter strikes out, write a K in the middle of the diamond. 

If the batter gets out while running bases, say, as the result of a single or double play, you’ll want to record where the ball went in the middle of the diamond.

Say the batter hits the ball to third, and the third baseman throws the ball to first, forcing the batter out.  You’d write 5-3 in the middle of your card.  The five shows that the third baseman picked up the ball, and the three shows that he threw it to first. 

Final Tips

Much like visual note taking, scoring a baseball game becomes all about personalization.  Modify the shorthand to make more sense to your brain; make a different doodle on the batter’s diamond.  Your objective is to accurately score the game in a way that will make sense to you whenever you pick the card up. 

Don’t forget your shorthand symbols, have fun and play ball!