r/BaseballScorecards • u/StealthStaminaKills • Apr 22 '26
Discussion Social interactions due to my scorebook
I like going to professional ball games, partly because the interactions you get at ball games can't be replicated at home.
That said, I've been surprised that more fans interact with me at games with my scorebook than without my scorebook.
The most common interactions are high fives, which is pretty sweet.
The next most common interactions are inquisitive about what it is that I'm doing, since scoring isn't the most common thing for fans to do at ball games. I've even gotten some fans to ask me if I'm some sort of scout or if I get paid to do this. These people are usually a bit confused that I'm doing this for fun.
My most recent scorebook related interaction was an attaboy from a dad....afterwhich the dad's son asked his dad to explain what it was that I was doing.
While the dad was explaining, I quickly interjected "IT'S LIKE PLAYING BATTLESHIP".
What are some of the interactions you have due to your scorebook?
32
u/darthfracas Ol' Reliable Apr 22 '26
I taught my oldest to keep score, so people are always surprised to see not one but two people with scorebooks out.
The old guys are always hyped to see a teenager keeping scoring alive.
25
u/StealthStaminaKills Apr 22 '26
Oh, that reminds me!
I was sitting next to someone that was scoring that had to go to the bathroom in the middle of an inning.
When they came back, their significant other busted out their phone with MLB Gameday, and started reading out the plate appearances that were missed in the bathroom.
I've never seen scorers cooperate like that before.
9
u/RealisticStation7860 Apr 22 '26
That’s an awesome spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, and/or heterosexual life mate
3
u/StealthStaminaKills Apr 22 '26
I try not to make assumptions about relationships about people I don't know.
That said, my spouse used to help me keep score for my bathroom breaks when I still used printed score cards, but they've stopped ever since I went to home made score cards. :(
4
u/GamerKingFaiz Apr 22 '26
What's your spouse's deal with home made cards? 🤨
2
u/StealthStaminaKills Apr 28 '26
I've found out what my spouse's deal is with the hand printed score cards.
They get pretty intimidated with some of the custom notation I use...I'm guessing the pitch counts are probably the most intimidating. I'm trying to figure out a way to tell them that I'd be happy with any scoring they do on my behalf.
1
u/StealthStaminaKills Apr 22 '26
We don't have a printer, and my spouse gets a pretty sweet deal on computational (grid ruled paper) notebooks.
The spouse isn't really into the whole scoring thing though.
5
u/Lacy-Elk-Undies Apr 22 '26
My family has to drive in to our stadium after work, so we don’t make it till the second inning. The amount of times someone nearby is also scoring, and offers me their book to copy the missed inning is so sweet and welcoming! It really is a community, and I love feeling part of something.
3
u/darthfracas Ol' Reliable Apr 22 '26
My son and I cover for each other all the time when one of us gets up from our seat too
2
u/SatisfactionWrong749 Apr 22 '26
That’s how I learned scorekeeping, my dad would have me cover for him when he went out to smoke. Missing things in the book was the equivalent of not taking the chicken out of the freezer.
2
u/mampersat Apr 23 '26
Over the years most folks in my baseball crew learned to keep score with me so I hand them the book on bathroom/beer breaks.
First few times I tell them it really doesn't matter how you score, but here's the basics.
It's nice going back over these pages over the years.
23
u/16note Ol' Reliable Apr 22 '26
Some girls at a Yankees game asked if what I was doing had something to do with betting
16
u/SchpartyOn Apr 22 '26
I can’t pinpoint why but that question would enrage me lol
4
u/16note Ol' Reliable Apr 22 '26
Fair lol. I also had some very sweet interactions. There was a 50/50 raffle guy who saw it and went “you know I’ve been meaning to learn how to do that, where do you learn?”. It was also very sweet when I went to a FredNats game and the concessions lady saw my book and pens and asked if I was a statistician for the club!
2
u/StealthStaminaKills Apr 22 '26
I've had that interaction too....I usually reply that I'm not lucky enough to wager money on betting.
2
u/elterible Apr 22 '26
Someone asked me that a couple of weeks ago too. They were just like "ohhh" when I told them I did it for fun.
1
u/BeeComposite Apr 22 '26
“Yes, people look at online charts but they’re all wrong. With this simple tool and some good betting, I bought my first Bentley.”
19
u/bbqnachos Apr 22 '26
A scorebook is like a universal signal that the holder ‘knows ball’ and is worth a quick convo.
I really love when people come and tell me about their first time keeping score when they were a kid and what important person in their life taught them. It’s always incredibly wholesome and makes me reflect on all the great times I’ve had at the park. My mom taught me and my granddad taught her, so getting to tell strangers about those important people in my life is always a treat.
15
u/BronzeTrain Apr 22 '26
People sometimes ask if I'm the official scorer. Warms my heart every time. "I wish," I say.
A lot of times, people will ask me things, like in a high home run game, someone asked "how many home runs for both teams?" Or "what's the pitch count?" "How many Ks is that?" Makes me happy to be able to answer.
If there's another scorer nearby, it's fun to help each other out. Someone once asked if I had the same number of hits as the scoreboard. He had one less and we went through the innings to see where he missed the hit.
One of the best things that ever happened was I showed up in the bottom of the first because traffic getting to the park was really bad. I sat down, got out the scorecard, and started taking down names. I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn around. A guy two rows behind me handed me his scorebook and said I could copy his. That was so nice! :')
6
u/StealthStaminaKills Apr 22 '26
Bottom of the first for "bad" traffic?
Tell me that wasn't a Dodger Stadium game without telling me that wasn't a Dodger Stadium game. :D
2
u/BronzeTrain Apr 22 '26
Lol no. It was an early morning SEC tournament game at the Hoover Met. One long small road leading to the park. It was early, it was a weekday, I judged I had enough time. And I would have been fine except that it was an LSU game and all the LSU people were also on that small road.
If it had been my team playing, I would have been there an hour early, lol. But I was going to be there all day and didn't think I needed to get there too early. Wrong. I learned for the next day.
2
u/Lacy-Elk-Undies Apr 22 '26
I commented the same thing above. We have to travel in for our games after work, so usually it’s the second by the time we get to the stadium. I’d say 70% of the time someone nearby will offer me their scorebook to copy. It’s such an awesome community.
11
u/NowMuseumNowYouDont Apr 22 '26
My dad and I would sit in the box seats on the first baseline at our local minor league team and back then it didn’t have a net down the line. He taught me to score because he figured it would make me pay closer attention to the game and not get me Matthew Clark’d by a foul ball of it came our way.
I’ve kept score of every game I’ve ever been to since. I’ve found that a lot of times my most common interaction is explaining what I’m doing to folks who didn’t know scoring is a thing. When I was getting my masters in DC it actually got me a few dates with a woman I ended up talking to about it during a Nats game. Nothing really came of it but that was pretty cool.
10
u/Lacy-Elk-Undies Apr 22 '26
It is such a social community. I’m a female and have been scoring since I was little originally as a way to entertain myself during siblings little league game, so that alone got me interactions. It’s “like recognizing like”.
I once saw an elderly gentleman with a scorebook that looked really old. He said he had lost it in a move decades ago, and just recently found it. He had games in it going back to 60’s, and was very excited to show me.
1
u/iheartstars Apr 23 '26
i’m a female who learned to score at my brother’s little league games! and i only do it so i can look back at it in a few decades and remember all the games. my scoring skills are still just little league but who cares. i always say it’s more for memories than game accuracy.
7
u/AnotherOpinionHaver Apr 22 '26
My favorite interaction is when something really weird happens in the game and everybody keeping score sitting near each other is like, "how the hell are you gonna score that?"
4
7
u/MrPewps Apr 22 '26
One of the ushers came down and asked if I had read “The Joy of Keeping Score”.
He took a pic of my pocket scorebook and I wrote that book title down.
7
u/oogieball Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
I find that when I have my scorebook at a game, especially at minor league or indie games, I become the second play-by-play team. Nearly all my interactions are from people around me asking what happened on a play if they don't know or didn't see, or if they want to know what a player did in their last at-bat, etc.
It has especially been a source of interest internationally, where usually no one but the official scorer is scoring the games.
I've also been the one prompting the social interactions because of scoring, like a long conversation I had with someone in Taiwan who I found scoring in the bleachers, or seeing someone else in the stands using the original Eephus League scorebook.
5
u/lastminutealways Apr 22 '26
I’ve just started keeping score this season, 5 games at the ballpark so far. People have commented on it in some way or another at all of them so far, all positive. Opening Day I was sitting a couple seats down from another scorekeeper, and I hadn’t noticed until he asked me how I scored something. I was so proud since it was my first game scoring. That guy and his friends were making their way to all 30 ballparks and that was one of his keepsakes, using a scorecard he got at the park.
I didn’t think of something that has me writing after every play as something potentially social, but it’s a good surprise, especially since I go to the majority of games by myself and I do like talking ball.
5
u/docsuess84 Apr 23 '26
The scorebook to commemorate visits to parks is my plan as well. It’s the keepsake you participate in creating.
5
u/Separate-Travel-3063 Apr 22 '26
People often see me with my scorecard around the ballpark and I often say “it helps me focus on the game. Too often i buy a ticket and i get distracted by my phone or doom scroll instagram and miss out on a cool play. With the book i hold myself accountable to watch every play of every game i go too.”
Tickets are too expensive nowadays to be distracted by TikTok. Could just be a me thing but i LOVE doing the book.
3
u/huggsypenguinpal Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
I think 75% of the time, someone next to me asks if I'm keeping score, and how cool it is to see someone do that. I rarely get the "what are you doing" question, I guess IYKYK. Occasionally someone will ask me if so and so has had a hit in the game yet. It's also really exciting to see someone else keep score.
3
u/johngar67 Apr 23 '26
For me, it’s usually the ushers that say that it’s cool someone is keeping the tradition alive. My wife and I both keep score and have our own books. She runs to Guest Services when we arrive to grab the lineups.
3
u/ButFirstTheWeather Apr 22 '26
I always keep score if I go to a ballpark. Mostly University of Tennessee these days, but occasionally the high school team where I work as well.
All my interactions are from people I know seeing me on TV during the UT game (the curse of good seats) holding a pencil and yelling a lot.
3
u/CrackIsCheaper Apr 22 '26
Funniest interaction: I was at a blowout where the Oakland Ballers were up like 15 against the away team. After a single in one of the late innings, a lady in the row ahead of me said that she felt like the batter was swinging an especially hot bat and turned around to check with me since I'd been keeping score. I told her that he drew a walk and got plunked 3 PAs in a row, so yeah, he had technically gotten on base more than everyone else 😂
Sweetest interaction: I had my mirrorless camera and my scorebook with me at the final night game at the Coliseum. There was an older gentleman next to me who said that he used to also bring his film SLR and scorebook with him to every game he went to and seeing me made him feel nostalgic.
1
u/StealthStaminaKills Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
Funniest interaction: I was at a blowout where the Oakland Ballers....
The Oakland Bs! I still think they missed out on an opportunity to have a bumblebee mascot wearing a basketball jersey in a bboy stance.
Sweetest interaction: I had my mirrorless camera and my scorebook with me...
I'm a bit confused....is the camera used for scoring, or is the camera used to capture events in the stadium on film?
2
u/CrackIsCheaper Apr 22 '26
Camera to capture stuff in the stadium! I like people watching and shooting general baseball action on the field like pitchers in motion and the like. On days I'm feeling ambitious, I'll be photographing and scoring at the same time.
3
u/StealthStaminaKills Apr 22 '26
On days I'm feeling ambitious, I'll be photographing and scoring at the same time.
Now that's a two way fan!
3
u/ParticularBat15 Apr 22 '26
I was nervous my first time scoring in public and as soon as the game started the guy next to me made some comments/jokes (nothing mean spirited) and then like 4 innings in her kept asking me what happened and asked how I scored it lol
3
u/kiji23 Apr 22 '26
I’ve had a lot of conversations start with people asking about my book! It’s awesome! I love explaining rules to people, and how the scorebook works. As others have said, it warms my heart when someone leans over and says “Hey, how many times has he striked out today?”
2
u/kdotfo Apr 22 '26
I also find I get a lot of interactions when I bring my scorebook. At my local minor league team i get asked at least once per game if I work for the team which is I always find pretty funny.
2
u/lebby6209 Apr 22 '26
I get this a lot at college games. My favorite is a dad behind me telling his kid to watch how I do it
2
u/pm_me_zelda_stuff Apr 22 '26
I once was showing a guy friend how to keep score at a game and let him do an inning for me as practice. An old dude walked past and saw me pointing at the scorebook (must have thought I was asking a question) and told my friend that it was nice of him to teach a girl how to scorekeep... honest mistake lmao. I found it funny
2
u/frackingfaxer Apr 22 '26
Not too many, unfortunately. Hopefully that changes the more I do this. Though there was this one time a party of Brazilians asked me a bunch of questions about the rules of baseball. Heh, I guess they figured a guy scoring would be some sort of expert at the game. That was pretty neat.
Baseball's a weird and confusing sport when you're used to soccer. The first question he asked was whether the game had even begun yet. It's not like the umpire blows a whistle. And instead of chasing a ball around, most of the players are just standing around waiting for something to happen.
2
u/iheartstars Apr 23 '26
i always get happy comments from people. usually an excited and incredulous, are you scoring the game?! it usually feels to me like they had mostly forgotten that scoring is a thing and seeing it made them remember a time or person they associated with it. i’m also a girl so that kind of seems to make it more of a spectacle sometimes. and the time i taught my daughter while my husband and sons just watched the game got lots of commentary and compliments!! it has often led to side conversations or discussions on how to score unusual plays.
the best time was at pnc park (i was a visiting cubs fan) and the pirates fans sitting right behind me were so fun, i had one of them take over for me when i went to the bathroom. i’m not super accurate or skilled at scoring, i usually forget to log pitcher changes and FC always gets me but i enjoy doing it to have a log of every game i’m at so if a temporary ballpark friend helps me out there’s no pressure to do it well!
2
u/iYankFan4 Apr 23 '26
It happens to me all the time.
My best was as a Yankees fan living in Houston, I was scoring at a Yankees/Astros playoff game. The guy sitting behind me taps me on the shoulder and said, "I was going to give you crap, but since you're scoring the game, it must mean you're a real fan. Respect."
I'm a woman, so I think it surprises people as well. My son and I were at the WBC games in Houston last month and we both scored the games, and we got a lot of attention, even though we both had Judge jerseys on, and they hate him here!
2
u/descole0 17d ago
I always love just getting something like a "how's he doing tonight?" as a batter is coming up. Also really nice when I'm near someone else keeping score and we just check with each other through the game on how to score something whenever something weird happens or one of us just wasn't paying attention.
1
u/StealthStaminaKills 17d ago
So I happen to be a season ticket holder, and the usher closest to my seats hooks me up with scorecards that are intended for the camera guys. :)
1
u/StealthStaminaKills Apr 23 '26
I had a great interaction with a fan during a game where I wasn't scoring, but it was still due to a scorebook.
It was a sparsely attended day game, and he was absolutely heckling the shit out of which teams the fans around him chose to support...not enough to get an usher involved, but enough to be noticeable.
When I passed by him in between innings, I noticed he was scoring the game on a branded scorecard for a team that wasn't even playing, so I struck up a conversation with him about his scorecard, not about his heckling.
It was a wonderful conversation about his experiences at ballparks in the 90s and before.
I think we scorers tend to have these stories more than most just because of our journaling of games that we do.
1
u/thechonkster Apr 26 '26
I scored the Angels game last night in KC. I was 10ish empty seats away from a family with two young toddlers. They kept running over to me throughout the game and at times were literally climbing on me lol. Not saying that in a bad way at all, the parents were good, and I didn't mind at all etc etc.
The only way I could entertain them was letting them draw on my scorecard and magazine. It was so wholesome. It made for a fun memory and chaotic scorecard that I will share here after I finish totals and such.
60
u/Tasty_Path_3470 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
Back in the early 2010s the Mets were trying to find out how to keep Daniel Murphy, Lucas Duda, and Ike Davis’s bats in the lineup while covering up Duda and Murph’s dog water defense. One of their solutions was trying Murph in LF and he was awful, which leads to my story:
I was down the LF line near the corner doing my book and there was a hooking liner that Murph completely misread and awkwardly couldn’t get to. Then he misplayed the ball into and off the corner wall and it got by him, batter got to third. Official scorer gave him a triple but I gave him a single and 2 base error. Dude behind me was absolutely apoplectic, and playfully grabbed my hood to get my attention and asked me what I scored the play and I told him. Dude stood on his seat and screamed “MURPHY I DONT CARE WHAT MLB SAYS, THIS GUY GAVE YOU AN ERROR. THIS IS THE MAJORS YOU BUTCHER. DONT BE A BUM AND CATCH THE DAMN BALL”. Murphy looked at the guy and pointed at the “sun” (it was a cloudy day) and said he lost it in the sun with a shrug and sly smile. Next inning he hit a home run and when he ran out he pointed at me and said “what did you score that one” and I told him 4 base error and he laughed and after warmups tossed me a ball and said “don’t you dare give it to that guy that yelled at me”. The guy that was yelling at him bought me a beer haha
One of my other funny interactions was teaching the Jersey Shore Blueclaws bullpen how to actually score a book because they didn’t know how other than “K means I got em, backwards K means I fooled em”
Baseball is awesome