The scoring system recommended to official scorers in Great Britain is the one promoted by the International Baseball Federation. It is perhaps not the most visually elegant of systems, but its thoroughness and flexibility more than make up for that.

A large manual is available to cover every detail of this system, and this is fine for scorers wishing to learn about the system who already have some experience of keeping score. However, the level of detail in the manual may be quite daunting for total beginners, so to complement the manual I am launching a series of modules to assist scorers looking to get up to speed. These modules can be found here on the GBBSA website. Modules one and two have just been published.

Free-to-download scoresheets for the system can also be found on the GBBSA website (an A3 9-inning scoresheet and an A4 7-inning scoresheet are both available).

If you are interested in these modules, then there are two things you could do to help make them as useful as possible. The first is to let me know of any technical difficulties. The second is to suggest ideas for modules. Please leave comments below.

Today’s example looks at not only a different type of scorecard, but a different method of scoring.  In the traditional method of keeping score, a player’s progress around the bases is charted in isolation in one box.  However, the Reisner Scorekeeping method makes every square on the scorecard reflect the game situation during every at bat.  Continue reading →

So far we have been concentrating on the BGB scorecards that you can download from this site, but I thought I would also show you two examples of other scorecards that I use.  The scorecard highlighted today is particularly useful to anyone who wants to track every pitch thrown in a game.

Continue reading →

(McFarland & Co, 2003) 278 pages.

Despite having always been an avid baseball fan, Andres Wirkmaa’s serious participation in the sport did not begin until he was in his early forties, when, in 1991, he began coaching youth baseball. Ten years later, having participated in many areas of the great game, he was invited by McFarland & Co to write a definitive dissertation on the official rules of baseball scoring. The result, published in 2003, was Baseball Scorekeeping: A Practical Guide to the Rules. Continue reading →

The latest installment in our Keeping Score Season is also the latest volume in our Baseball Basics for Brits series.  Volume Six is concerned with ‘Keeping Score’(pdf) and it looks at the activity as a whole alongside introducing various scorekeeping methods for you to learn. 

Sensibly enough, it begins at the beginning by focusing on what you need to start scoring, the tools of the trade and the pre-game work to prepare your scorecard for action.  This introduction to keeping score then takes you through a basic ‘plate appearance outcomes’ method, before moving on to a standard ‘tracking base-progression’ method, while providing tips on general scorecard management and additional details you can record. 

It also covers post-game work (totals and proving your scorecard), examples of a few tricky plays, features on Official Scorers and the Reisner Scorekeeping system, a handy resources page and a list of abbreviations.

(Note that the link to our review of “Baseball Scorekeeping: A Practical Guide to the Rules” by Andres Wirkmaa will go live on 11 February).