Keep Score - Get Connected!!

A few weeks ago I was watching a game in which Bob Costas was announcing.  At the conclusion of one of the innings the batter grounded out to the shortstop.  Costas said something most broadcasters say - "If you're scoring at home that's 6-3 on your scorecard.  Does anyone even do that anymore?".  Yeah Bob, I do.  I see Bob Costas' point though.  Besides the broadcasters and official scorers, I too was wondering who keeps score these days. I don't even see it being done at baseball games too much any longer. 

I enjoy keeping score.  Two or three times a season I try to set aside some time to take in an entire game and keep score.  At the left is my scorecard from the game where Jeter got his 3000th.  The process of keeping score connects an individual to the game via pencil and paper.  You become a part of the game.  I encourage every baseball fan to try it.

 If you don't know how to keep score or if you do and  you need to sharpen your skills a fan named Christopher Swingley created a fantastic tutorial on his site - 

http://swingleydev.com/baseball/tutorial.php

The tutorial works through a game (the game which Mark McGwire hit his 60th home run).  Chris readily admits that his tutorial is somewhat incomplete.  I'm going to take his system and create a fictional game that covers more plays and (hopefully) making the tutorial close to complete.  I received Chris' permission to do this.  I'll be working on it from time to time and should complete it by the end of the season.

In the meantime, grab a scoresheet (free on Chris's site) and pencil (not a pen - trust me) and try it out.  I bet you'll like it and you'll receive a new perspective on the game.

Thanks for reading,
-Tom