A good scorekeeper is invaluable to the team, and scorekeeping is a great way to be involved in the game if one does not have the time or knowledge to coach. Scorekeeping is very much an art, but is the art behind the science and statistics of the game. Besides the score book, a scorekeeper should come prepared with pencils, erasers, colored pencils (or pens) of different bright colors and a pencil sharpener.

I also recommend bringing a comfortable foldable chair with two cup holders. One cup holder can hold your water or soda (other parents will frown if you put a beer there), and the other holds all the pencils, pens, erasers and team lineups. Also bring an umbrella if the chair does not have an awning – that sun can get awful hot, and once the game starts the scorekeeper is essentially confined to her spot because between innings is usually a busy time.

The scorekeeper needs to sit as close as she can to the umpire so that she can hear ball and strike calls, and so that the umpire can tell her about any substitutions that occur in the game. Also, the home team usually is in charge of the “official” book, so the umpire will check with the official scorer regarding the score and official game time often. Umpires treasure a good scorekeeper, so if you do a good job, you have made a friend for life! Of course, sitting so close to the action gives you the best seat in the house, which is a great perk. If someone is already set up where you feel you need to be, just politely ask them to move. If they do not, you can give them the stink eye for the whole game and mutter dark curses under your breath.

Before the game starts, make sure to get a lineup from each coach and enter players and their player numbers in their batting order in the score book (enter positions also, if they are given). One of the scorekeeper’s responsibilities during the game is to make sure batters bat in the correct order. If they do not, they are out, so make sure the batting order is recorded correctly. Open the score book so that two blank pages are facing each other. Put the visiting team’s lineup on the first page (the top page and/or the page on the left), and put the home team’s lineup in the other page. The home team always bats last, and putting the teams in the book in this order will help prevent scoring mistakes (which is why we use pencils for most of our scoring!).

Sometimes the home team is decided by a coin flip right before the game starts. If you are like me and like to get things done early, enter your team’s lineup on the first page of the score book and then the other team on the second page. Once the home team is known, write “HOME” on the top and side margins of the home team’s page and “VISITOR” on the top and side margins of the visiting team’s page. If you are like my wife Julie and wait until the last minute, enter the home and visitor team lineups after the coin toss. Just be advised that Julie’s way means frantically writing down a couple dozen of players and player numbers in the few minutes before the game starts. My way is more leisurely, but can end up with the home team on the wrong page if there is a coin flip. Neither way is wrong – do what suits you best. You are the score keeper! Take charge!

PHEW!! I bet you will never volunteer for anything else ever again! All this work and the game has not even started yet. However, being prepared, comfortable and close to the action is half the battle, so you are on well on your way to being a scorekeeper.