Scorecard! Get yer scorecard here!

The very fine Pitchers and Poets site, declared March 7-13 as “Scorekeeping Week,” featuring a series of entries about the fine art of the craft.

I still have the program from my first game, a 1966 summer day affair between the Mets and Pirates. It’s full of “FO’ and “GB” and “K.” What can I say? when I was a child, I kept score as a child, but when I became a man, I kept score..well, you get the idea.

I worked for a time for STATS Inc., scoring Met and Yankee games using their elaborate computerized system. I wonder if a time will come when the technology will allow for a scorecard that updates statistics in real time and/or incorporates a new generation of sabermetics stats.

Until that time we have the standard cards available at the ballparks which strike meas inadequate as far a spacing, especially given the frequency of pitching changes.

New on the scene: Baseball Scorekeeper (Journal), “by” Stuart Miller. I use the word by catiously, since, really, this is basically a blank notebook with a few pages of instructions about keeping score. Nevertheless, it’s a nicely done package, with room for 40 games. The lineup allows for 27 bated positons, but just four pitchers. How often does that happen these days?

Other articles on the Pitchers and Poets site include:

• An interview with Bethany Heck, host of the also very fine Eephus League site.
• An interview with Patrick Truby, of the No I In Blog blog.
• A collection of links about scorekeeping.
• An interview with Mariners broadcaster Dave Sims.
• An interview with Alex Belth
• And since the week isn’t over as of this writing, check back with P&P for the rest of the story.

Tagged as: scorekeeping