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Baseball & Softball

How to Keep the Official Scorebook

You keep the book that says what happened — every at-bat, out, and run. It looks like secret code from the bleachers, but up close it's really just a grid and a handful of shorthand, and the umpire is your tiebreaker all game.

Level
A little practice
Time
Full game, about 1.5–2.5 hours
What you fill in
A grid: rows = batting order, columns = innings
Fielder numbers
1 pitcher … 6 shortstop, 7 left field
Write in
Pencil — plays get corrected
Your seat
Behind the backstop or in the booth

Quick start

  1. 1

    Copy both lineups in first

    Write each team's batting order down the left column before first pitch. This is the spine of the whole book — every at-bat hangs off it.

  2. 2

    Learn five symbols, not fifty

    K = strikeout, BB = walk, 1B/2B/3B/HR = hits, and a number combo like 6-3 = a groundout shortstop-to-first. That's enough to survive your first game.

  3. 3

    Keep the count and the outs current

    Track balls, strikes, and outs as the inning goes. If the umpire and your book ever disagree, ask — that's exactly why you're here.

  4. 4

    Reconcile between innings

    Compare your run total with the other team's scorekeeper each half-inning. Catch a one-run difference now, not in the last inning.

  5. 5

    Keep it legible

    You don't have to be fancy. You have to be readable, so the book still makes sense to the coach tomorrow morning.

Watch first

How to Keep a Baseball Scorebook — Basics

Fills out a scorebook play-by-play: position numbers, hits, outs, and diamond notation.

Keep Score in Baseball or Softball (3-min guide)

A fast, concrete primer on the notation system — a great quick-start refresher.

The scorebook is the official record of the game — who batted, who's on base, how many the pitcher has thrown, and what the score really is. It can look like a wall of code from the stands, but up close it's just a checkerboard: nine or ten rows for the batting order going down, a column for each inning going across. You drop a quick shorthand note in each batter's box as their at-bat ends, and you draw their path around the little diamond as they move up. That's the whole job.

The rhythm of one at-bat

  1. 1

    Note the count

    Track balls and strikes as the pitches come. A swinging strikeout is K; a called third strike is a backward K.

  2. 2

    Record the result

    Hit? Mark 1B, 2B, 3B, or HR. Walk? BB. Out? Use the fielder numbers — a grounder to short and over to first is 6-3; a fly out to left is F7.

  3. 3

    Advance the runners

    Draw the batter's path around the little diamond in their box as they move up on later plays. Color the diamond in when they cross the plate to score.

  4. 4

    Update outs and score

    Tick the out count for the inning and add any runs. Three outs, draw a line, start the next inning's column.

Shorthand cheat sheet

K / backward-K
Strikeout swinging / called looking
BB
Base on balls (walk)
1B 2B 3B HR
Single, double, triple, home run
6-3
Groundout, shortstop to first base
F7 / E6
Fly out to left field / error on the shortstop
FC / SAC
Fielder's choice / sacrifice

Before you hand off the book

  • Final score matches the other team's book
  • Both lineups and any substitutions are written in
  • Pitcher's pitch totals are noted (if you're also tracking that)
  • Pages are legible and in pencil, not smeared
  • Book is back with the coach or in the team bag

More resources

Little League University — Scorekeeping 101

Official walkthrough of fielder numbers, shorthand, and the scorebook grid — free.

Sources: Little League University — Scorekeeping 101; NFHS / standard baseball scorebook conventions