Home Keeping score Keeping Score Season – An Introduction

Keeping Score Season – An Introduction

by Matt Smith

Keeping Score SeasonToday marks the start of a month-long feature here at BaseballGB.  Our ‘Keeping Score Season’ will run throughout February, accompanied by our usual mix of news about MLB, British/International baseball and much more besides.   

Both Joe and I are keen scorers and we first thought about dedicating a month to the topic mid-way through last year.  Joe provides the ‘official’ perspective on the discipline, being one of just five Brits on the international scoring list, while I have been keeping score of ballgames as a fan since 2000 (which I guess means that I provide the ‘amateur’ perspective). 

The season is intended to appeal both to newcomers and and also to baseball fans who have already caught the scoring bug.  As part of the season we will:

  • convince you why baseball fans should learn to keep score,
  • provide a comprehensive introduction to the discipline in the latest installment of the Baseball Basics for Brits series,
  • offer some BaseballGB scorecards that can be downloaded and used for free,
  • highlight various examples of completed scorecards (ranging from MLB games in 2008 to a British National final from 1962), introducing you to some of the scoring systems and scorecards out there,
  • explain some of the ‘fan’ scoring systems as well as the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) method.
  • continue our regular Friday lunchtime feature: “You are the scorer”.

A ‘Keeping Score Season’ page can be found via the blue bar under the main BGB logo.  This includes a provisional schedule of posts/articles that will be updated as every new feature is published.  Once the season is over, the page will remain as a reference point for all of the content.

Bill Frindall 1939-2009

It is a very sad coincidence that our ‘Keeping Score Season’ should begin just days after the passing of Bill Frindall.  More commonly known as ‘Bearders’ or the ‘Bearded Wonder’, Bill joined the BBC Cricket Test Match Special team in 1966 as statistician and scorer.  He developed his own unique cricket scoring system and was by far the most well-known exponent and advocate for the activity.  We will be adding in a feature on cricket scoring later this month in his honour.

We hope you enjoy following the ‘Keeping Score Season’ as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it together.

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8 comments

Paul Taylor February 1, 2009 - 5:12 pm

First post here after a while of following the site. This got my interest though, a little history will tell why.

I live now in southern Catalunya in Spain having left Sheffield in the UK just over two years ago. Between 1997ish and 2000ish I was scorer for the Sheffield Bladerunners and was selected as joint scorer for the Nationals in 1999 and was BBF Scorer of the Year for 1999 [you can look it up…].

My partner got cancer [she survived and is well now] and scoring baseball was one of the bits of my life that got dropped and never picked up again.

I haven’t found baseball here yet, but I think my scorer’s itch is going to get scratched again somehow.

Thanks
pault

Reply
Matt Smith February 1, 2009 - 5:23 pm

Hi Paul. Great to hear from you. I think there is a decent standard of league play in Spain, so hopefully there will be a club somewhere near where you live.

Reply
Paul Taylor February 1, 2009 - 5:29 pm

Thanks Matt

Having just looked it up:

http://www.britishbaseballdata.co.uk/Finals.htm

It must’ve been 1998 I scored the finals and won the award as I remember the Patriots winning in two. My apologies to those whose glory I tried to steal…

pault

Reply
Matt Smith February 1, 2009 - 6:32 pm

Mark Tobin’s site always comes up with the answer!

Reply
Joe Gray February 1, 2009 - 6:59 pm

Nice to hear from you Paul. Hope you enjoy the Keeping Score Season.

Reply
Matthew Crawshaw February 1, 2009 - 9:07 pm

Looking forward to seeing this series as I am keen to develop scoring throughout this season.

Regards,

Reply
Matt Smith February 1, 2009 - 9:18 pm

Hi Matthew. That’s good to hear. I hope you enjoy the season and if you have any questions along the way, just ask.

Reply
Joe Gray February 2, 2009 - 12:38 am

Matthew: It’s great to see you checked this out. I hope it is helpful to you.

Reply

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