How to Keep a Scorebook in Baseball // Baseball Scorekeeping Basics Explained

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

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[@ashleyh9214]

Very helpful. This is the first video I've watched that explained what to do in the book if a team bats around. Thank you!

[@jworks3428]

Just FYI, at about 8:15 you say “6-1” is short to first but that should be “6-3”. Thanks for the vid.

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

Oh man you're so right! Wow, that was a huge fail on my part lol. Thank you so much for pointing that out, I'll have to see how I can fix that.

[@adamwedlund2954]

I was also questioning that?

[@biffwellington823]

I would read "6 - 1" as the ball was hit to short (6) and he threw it to the pitcher.(1). Maybe the pitcher was covering first base...?

[@Denise-jt8sr]

Thank you so much for this great tutorial! I will be keeping my 11 y/o grandson's team book and haven't done so since I was in HS! This was the perfect refresher!!

[@Altosax227]

You showed 6-1 when it should have been 6-3.

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

Yupp! Thanks for the heads up - I put a note in the top of the description about it.. totally dropped the ball on that one!

[@mikenorton9970]

I just noticed that to.

[@satvirvia1561]

Scorekeeping tomorrow for my kids first travel team tournament, I’m less nervous because of this video. Thanks 😂

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

Best of luck, Satvir - you’ll do great!

[@joeharlan2990]

Excellent video. I’m looking forward to trying this summer of 2023.

[@LauriMarshall-i7m]

Great video! I watched a lot of them, and this has been one of my favorites! You remind me a lot of my older son's former coach. He's a great guy and loves baseball! ❤️ ⚾️

[@narutoman5740]

Thanks so much for the help I don’t know much about baseball but the baseball coach wanted me to be the manager of the team

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

You’re welcome, glad I was able to help. I understand how baseball can be overwhelming a little, but just like anything else take it one step at a time, you got this! Let me know if you need anything else 👍

[@dogpatch75]

Very helpful video. Look around for better scorebook designs. An 18-player score sheet wastes a ton of real estate on the page. Nowhere outside of perhaps Tee Ball/Coach Pitch are 18 batters in a batting line-up. Eleven batter/9 or 10 inning style books are common, much easier to use, and are adequate for most leagues.

[@rachellee1170]

This is a clear and helpful explanation. Thank you!

[@brianbisesi4706]

Awesome video. Great combination of being thorough yet succinct.

[@maskeel]

Thanks. Very helpful for a newbie scorerer like me

[@mtmollytaylor]

Thank you. Brand new and very easy to understand.

[@naturallynorthwest9748]

Definitely feel like I can do this now. Thanks for the tutorial.

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

You got this!

[@philipeben2851]

this was awesome... great explanation... i learned a lot...thanks much

[@ytube0412]

Do you have a printable for this score sheet?

[@indianajones7197]

Review today, l've learned the last situation, thank you so much

[@MrGoofleAlt]

Question - let’s say player 8 starts the new inning (we’ll say inning 4) Player 8,9, 10 goes when it’s player 1’s turn do we start it on a new inning column or same inning? (4th inning column)

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

Great question Veronica! You would keep it in the same inning. You always want to mark the book in the inning you’re playing. You would only switch to the next inning if they batted around the lineup. Hope this helps!

[@brodyrichard263]

And my goodness to ALL new youth coaches please remember to fill out YOUR roster lineup sheet and then write them down I order on the YELLOW paper located under the page and give it to the team you are playing against. I see this so often PLEASE make sure you do this it’s very important in 10U ball that we follow a strict lineup and we both have to give eachother a receipt of the lineup. Thanks!

[@dezerttim]

I bought a score book and I am going to try keepong score at home warching games on tv before i attempt to try in person. My question is, how do you score the ghost runner in extra innings? Also regarding extra innings and when a team bats around in an inning and you end up using extra columns, do you just move on to the next page in the book for later innings?

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

Hi Tim! To your last question, yes you would just continue onto the next page and mark the proper areas (like title, game, time, etc…) saying it’s a continuation. Your first question is a great question! I honestly never thought about that, so I don’t have a concrete answer for you, but I can look on the mlb website to see if they say anything about it - but if I were keeping score, I would just mark a runner on 2nd in the first box of the inning. So the first batter of the inning would automatically have a runner on 2nd. I’ll see if I can find that answer for you, hope this helps!

[@dogpatch75]

The last batter in the previous inning would be that runner, per the international tie-breaker rule. If you are figuring full player stats, make a note as to who that runner is so he can be properly credited with a run scored or a stolen base.

[@hairyterry5829]

Great explanation

[@skiddwister9143]

In the example at 8:50 why isn't the short to first base throwout 6-3 instead of what you exampled as 6-1? It seems many people have their own variations. Thanks for the video.

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

Yupp, You’re totally right - it should’ve been 6-3. I put a note in the top of the comments, just dropped the ball on that one. Must’ve not had my coffee yet when I created it 😂

[@skiddwister9143]

@@buildingbetterbaseball Thank you. I’m new to scoring, I wasn’t sure.

[@cadesandefer4783]

Very helpful

[@barrytone6581]

My dad taught me that if you were to go across all 9 batters and the inning isnmt over, you can go on it with a new color, which is why I never fill the stuff in all the way

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

That’s an amazing idea, thanks for sharing Barry!

[@MichaelLabriola-f8s]

Know your rule book and the major league rule book inside out. Get the book baseball scorekeeping by Andres Wirkmaa.

[@rohanpai3726]

Helpful thanks

[@chuffman24]

Question: why write the type of hit inside the diamond if you're circling the type of hit on the side?

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

I think it’s just two ways to record, a matter of personal preference. I could be wrong, but I don’t believe all scorebooks / print out sheets have the option to circle 🤷‍♂️ but most people like writing it in because it’s easier to see when they’re referencing it after the fact. You could do either way!

[@andreasaldana5758]

how would it be done if a player that is on base gets out? 😅😅 it will be my first time doing this for my nephews game this thursday so i’m trying to learn now and practice before 😂

[@dogpatch75]

Usually this is a "Fielder's Choice". Example: If the batter hits a ground ball and the runner on 1B is put out at 2B by the shortstop throwing to the second baseman, it would be "6-4 FC" along with the out number MARKED ON THE RUNNER. The shortstop gets credit for an assist and the second baseman gets credit for the put-out and the proper offensive player is indicated as being "out". The batter does NOT get credit for a hit because it was the defense's choice to play on the runner instead of the batter. Notation for the batter would be simply "FC" with no out number since they reached base because of the fielder's choice.

[@kaylerobben1879]

When a batter makes contact and grounds to first. The first baseman has an unassisted out. Does that qualify as a hit? Or is a hit only when they successfully make it on base?

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

Hi Kayle - you’re right! A hit is only when the runner gets on base safely, besides in situations where the defense made an error or a “fielder’s choice”. A ground out to first base would be marked “GO - 3” (ground out 1st base). Hope this helps!

[@NicoleStowe]

What would you put in the book if the catcher drops the ball on the 3rd strike and the batter gets on first?

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

Hi Nicole - I would track exactly what happened on the sheet. In the box, I would write “K” because it still counts as a strikeout for the pitcher and batter - then I would draw a line from home to 1st signifying the batter ran to 1st and is now on 1st. Then at the bottom I would write “D3S” for drop 3rd strike. Or really you can write anything you’d like so when you refer back to it you know what happened. Hope this makes sense!

[@NicoleStowe]

@@buildingbetterbaseball thank you so much!! You video was very helpful!!

[@seanmorter4917]

So because the pitcher is 1 and say for some reason the first baseman couldn’t go back in time to cover the base and the pitcher was the one who recorded the out at first. Would that denotation be 6-1 because of the pitcher’s assigned number or still 6-3 because the out was recorded at first base?

[@seanmorter4917]

Also another question (because I do this in MLB the show lol) what if the batter hits it in the outfield and they have a single but they get greedy and try make it a double but get thrown out; would that be marked as a single still or no? In MLB the Show, in that instance it still credits me as getting a hit even though I was thrown out. Thank you!

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

Hi Sean - you’re correct in both questions! Let’s say the first baseman throws it to the pitcher for the out at first - that would be 3-1 GO (ground out). You can even draw a little line on the paper signifying the pitcher ran to cover first. In the second question- you would mark the “1B” on first base as the single, then mark him out at second base, let’s say RF - SS would be 9-6. You can draw lines on the sheet to help with clarification of where the ball went. Hope this helps!

[@seanmorter4917]

@@buildingbetterbaseball yes thank you very much!

[@bebetiux]

isn`t 6 - 1 from SS to pitcher?

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

Yes it is lol. Totally my fault, dropped the ball on that one - should’ve triple checked before filming! That’s why I have the correction as the first line in the description. Great catch Marian 👍

[@bebetiux]

@@buildingbetterbaseball it happens to the best 🫶🏻⚾️

[@t-lowe]

So, you don’t keep score for both teams, just your team?

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

You’re right! You usually keep both scores because you compare the scorebook with the other scorekeeper whenever there’s a question or discrepancy. But it’s the same method of scoring for both 👍

[@dogpatch75]

Keep score for both teams. The home team's scorebook is considered the "official score", but the visitor's scorekeeper should confer with the home scorekeeper to verify events or resolve discrepancies, especially with the actual score. Accurate books become important in the case of games suspended and restarted because of bad weather. Good scorekeeping becomes very important in older leagues, especially high school, as stats become a criteria for post-season player honors.

[@brisfocus3648]

What is 6-9?

[@buildingbetterbaseball]

Hi there - position 6 is shortstop and position 9 is right field. There wouldn’t really be a time when you would write that on a scorebook since they rarely have any plays where the SS would throw to RF for an out, but you never know!

[@sarahgarcia2850]

If only people paid as much attention to their politicians as they did here in scorekeeping we'd be in much better position as a country....aye yeye yeye

[@banks412]

Can’t thank you enough! My son is playing coach pitch right now at little league and parents have to keep score and run the scoreboard, but there’s no help on how to learn. Much appreciated!