Still Americas Pastime

Scoring a ball game is a great way to stay involved in a game.  Also, it’s an invaluable skill to have if you have youngsters playing baseball.  Teams always need someone to score the game, and volunteering to score is a good way to support your kid(s) without undertaking the huge time commitment that coaching requires.

The need for fans to score MLB games themselves has decreased as JumboTron® displays and TV broadcasts are able to display the results of the batter’s previous plate appearances.  Accordingly, there are less people (in my experience) who know how to score a game.

The first thing you need is a scorecard.  These are usually available at the ballpark for Major League games.  Also, you can go out and buy a book of scorecards,or even buy them online.  There are different options to choose from.  I prefer ones with an empty box as opposed to ones with a diamond already there.

Once you have the scorecard, you need to do all the pregame work.  It’s pretty obvious where to put the starting lineups.  Just remember that almost all scorecards have two lines per lineup spot so that subs can be inserted in the correct part of the batting order.  Any other information you want to add is really a matter of preference.  I usually put the date on the scorecard, and maybe the time of game.  Some people add comments about the weather and the umpires.

Before the game is also a good time to remember/learn the numerical representation for the defensive positions.  1-Pitcher, 2-Catcher, 3-First baseman, 4-Second baseman, 5-Third baseman, 6-Shortstop, 7-Left Fielder, 8-Center Fielder, 9-Right Fielder.

Now you just have to wait for the game to start.

I’m currently watching the Civil Rights Game being played in Cincinnati, OH.  At present the Reds have squandered their 5-0 lead and are now losing to the Chicago White Sox 8-7.

But that’s not the real reason I’m posting on the game.

The Civil Rights Game had traditionally been played as an exhibition game.  This year it’s a regular season game, and it will be again next year (and the Reds will be involved again).

It doesn’t really mean more to me because it’s a regular season game.  True I haven’t normally watched the game, but to be honest, if it wasn’t a Reds game, I might not be watching it this year (depends on what other games were on).

Still I think it’s really cool that baseball has the Civil Rights Game.  Yes, most baseball fans (and most people in general) have heard the Jackie Robinson story, but it wasn’t as if Jackie showed up at the ballpark one day and everything was equal.

If the Civil Rights Game makes even just a few people realize both how far we’ve come and what we have left to do, then it’s been a success.

Congratulations to the Beacon Award Winners: Muhammad Ali, Bill Cosby, and Hank Aaron.

On a side note, if find the Civil Rights Game icon very interesting.  As you might have noticed, it’s a white and black player holding a bat. 

If you don’t understand the significance, one way to decide who’s up first in a sandlot game is for one player on a team to grab a bat somewhere around the middle.  A player from the other team places his hand on top of that, and they continue up the bat.  Now the way I’ve always played, the way to win was to be able to play your hand over the knob of the bat and touch the other player’s hand.  I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but it seems to me that the white player is going to win.