Baseball scorekeeping is the practice of recording the details of a baseball game as it unfolds. Professional baseball leagues hire official scorers to keep an official record of each game (from which a box score can be generated), but many fans keep score as well for their own enjoyment. Scorekeeping is usually done on a printed scorecard and, while official scorers must adhere precisely to one of the few different scorekeeping notations, most fans exercise some amount of creativity and adopt their own symbols and styles.
History
Sportswriter Henry Chadwick is generally credited as the inventor of baseball scorekeeping. His basic scorecard and notation have evolved significantly since their advent in the 1870s but they remain the basis for most of what has followed.
Abbreviations and grammar
Some symbols and abbreviations are shared by nearly all scorekeeping systems. For example, the position of each player is indicated by a number: Pitcher (P) Catcher (C) First baseman (1B) Second baseman (2B) Third baseman (3B) Shortstop (SS) Left fielder (LF) Center fielder (CF) Right fielder (RF) Rover or short fielder (used primarily in softball)
The designated hitter (DH), if used, is marked using a zero (0).
Scorecards
Scorecards vary in appearance but almost all share some basic features, including areas for: Recording general game information (date and time, location, teams, etc.) Listing the batting lineup (with player positions and uniform numbers) Recording the play-by-play action (usually the majority of the scorecard) Tallying each player's total at-bats, hits, runs, etc. at the end of the game Listing the pitchers in the game, including their statistics, such as innings pitched, strikeouts, earned runs, and bases on balls
Usually two scorecards (one for each team) are used to score a game.
Traditional scorekeeping
There is no authoritative set of rules for scorekeeping. The traditional method has many variations in its symbols and syntax, but this is a typical example.
In the traditional method, each cell in the main area of the scoresheet represents the "lifetime" of an offensive player, from at-bat, to baserunner, to being put out, scoring a run, or being left on base.
Outs
When an out is recorded, the combination of defensive players executing that out is recorded. For example: If a batter hits a ball on the ground to the shortstop, who throws the ball to the first baseman to force the first out, it would be noted on the scoresheet as 6–3, with 6 for the shortstop and 3 for the first baseman. If the next batter hits a ball to the center fielder who catches it on the fly for the second out, it would be noted as F8, with F for flyout and 8 for the center fielder. (In some systems, the letter 'F' is reserved for foul outs. A fly out would therefore be scored simply as '8'.) Other systems append a lower-case "ƒ" for foul balls, as in F9ƒ
If the following batter strikes out, it would be noted as K, with the K being the standard notation for a strikeout. If the batter did not swing at the third strike, a "backwards K" (K, see right) is traditionally used. Other forms include "Kc" for a called third strike with no swing, or "Ks" if the batter did swing. A slash should be drawn across the lower right corner to indicate the end of the inning. If a runner is put out while on base, the next basepath is filled-in halfway, then ended with a short stroke perpendicular to the basepath. A notation is then added to indicate how the runner was out, along with the defensive combination that resulted in the out: CS means the runner was caught trying to steal the base ahead. The notation for a runner caught trying to steal second is normally 2–4 or 2–6 for a catcher-to-second-base play. PK means the runner was picked off by the pitcher while he was off the base. This almost always occurs at first base, so the notation is usually 1–3. DP or TP means the runner was out as part of a double or triple play. Usually, the full notation is left on the batter's line (the last out of the play); 6–4–3, 4–6–3, and 5–4–3 are common double-play sequences. FC means the out was the result of a fielder's choice to get out the runner on base rather than force out the batter. This can also be indicative of an unsuccessful attempt at a double or triple play as such a move is often the first move to make such a play.