A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

eephus league

Geeking out — baseball style

The summer of baseball.

Well, that’s what I am calling it at least. I have a goal of hitting at least 10 stadiums this summer. They will mostly be minor league games (there’s only once on the schedule, so far, of the major league variety), which is the type of baseball I truly love.

I was speaking with somebody this week about baseball and watching games. The discussion was just sports based and he was telling me about some amazingly cool experiences he’s had, but more with basketball. The conversation switched to baseball and I mentioned how I am true baseball nut — and carry  scorebook with me to every game.

He noted that I truly went for the geekdom.

Yes, yes I do.

The reality is, I’ve always been a baseball geek.

Yes… baseball geekdom. With my Eephus League Halfliner scorebook.

When you are a fan of sports, it’s often a situation where you lean toward one or another sport. I’m no different. Many of my friends are football first, the rest after. I have some die-hard hockey fans. Even soccer. But for me? Baseball. It always has been and always will be.

My love affair with the game goes back many years.

I didn’t see my first MLB game until I was an adult, but I remember a lot of watching the game on TV. In my area, when growing up, we got several stations for different teams — most notably WPIX (Yankees), TV 38 (Red Sox) TBS (Braves) and WOR (Mets). The funny part is I disliked them all. Though I still remember the old Yankees jingle on WPIX and I remember lounging on Sundays in the summer watching baseball.

Add to that was playing sandlot baseball. I’d ride my bike with a glove dangled over the handlebars. I usually carried this old, dented up orange bat, too. A pickup game could happen anywhere. It was quite awesome.

So, needless to say, my love of the game goes deep. I’m a believer that football season doesn’t start until baseball ends. Sure, I’ll check scores and maybe see part of a game, but I like watching baseball way more.

And, of course, there’s baseball on the radio — which is always amazingly awesome.

Back to the geekdom, though.

I’m not sure if you ever notice, but at some baseball games people keep scorebooks. I’m one of them. It is a way to stay in tune with the game as it unfolds and, if you keep the book or scorecard, you have a record of where you’ve been or who you’ve seen play. I wish I had kept scorecards from over the years as I’ve seen some amazingly awesome players. But in recent years, I truly like the minor league game, and I try and see as many as I can during a summer. At the end of last year, I backed the Eephus League Halfliner on Kickstarter and that has since become my scorebook I carry to each game. It holds 81 games, so I don’t see me filling it too soon.

Originally, I wanted a smaller scorebook, which is how I found the Eephus League (I received on of the smaller ones, too, but have yet to use it) because it’s how old sportswriters used to do it. I’d love to still find one of the old-school scorebooks the old journalists used. They are pretty cool items. The Halfliner, however, really is perfect for somebody who wants to keep score, have a little extra space and have something easy to carry from game to game. For me, it’s perfect. The original Eephus League scorebook is solid, too, but its smaller and only holds 20 games. It will be nice to use in a pinch and could be perfect for somebody who likes a minimal approach to scorekeeping (which I often do, but I really do like having some extra spaces etc.)

I don’t just travel with the scorecard, however. I also carry a map of every baseball team in the country and the Baseball America Prospect Guide. This is, of course, a way to keep track of the players I see during the course of a season.

A few weeks ago, I went to a game in Binghamton. Not far from me was an older couple and the gentleman was keeping score. However, he had a folded up piece of paper and was writing in pen. He had created a mini scorecard and had his own ways of scoring — which many of us who score d0. I had to talk to him so I chatted for a few minutes and he told me he did it to keep in tune with the game and see what unfolded.

Unfortunately, scoring a game in the stands is a dying art form. There’s always other things going on, whether promotions, kids games, or whatever else. That makes it hard to teach the next generation of baseball fans what it’s like to keep score at a game. I have even seen some kids scorecards out there, so maybe there’s some hope. I have a new nephew and maybe one day I’ll be able to show him why keeping a scorecard is such a good thing.

This summer is one of baseball. My goal is to hit a minimum of 10 stadiums (three so far) and I’ll be keeping score at each one, as well as blogging about each stadium. I’ve hit three stadiums already with a couple more planned for this weekend, weather pending.

Play ball!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Baseball scorekeeping is still fun, despite being a lost art

I’m one of those baseball nerds you might see at a baseball game — a scorebook in my lap.

Sometimes, I’ll have a beer. More often than not, a hot dog or two as well.

But I keep score.

It’s something I’ve always done. It’s not something that was passed down to me from my father or anything, but it’s something I do. When I go to some pro games with one friend, we’ll often pass the book back and forth and take turns with innings. This allows time for bathroom breaks or to grab a drink or a bite to eat.

Scorekeeping at games is a lost art form.

It’s a shame I haven’t kept all of those scorecards. Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of great players. Hall of Famers. Minor leaguers who eventually made it to the show. And everyday guys who had their journey end not long after I saw them play.

Those scorecards showed a lot, including a lot of memories. I still have some. I have one or two of the scorebooks I used for the six years I covered professional baseball.

One thing I’ve always been in search of is a smaller scorebook, one I could carry in and out of parks without feeling like I am lugging a briefcase. I’ve seen the old ones reporters used back in the golden age of baseball. They were small and without frills.

I’ve never been able to find a scorebook like that. They were thicker, too. Thick enough to hold at least a season’s worth of games. But I don’t see those much. And for the few people I know who cover professional baseball, they all seem to use the Bob Carpenter book. I used that for a couple of years, too. But, in all honesty, unless you are on a good beat where there are press boxes and tables and such, Carpenter’s book isn’t easy. It’s about 8.5 x 11 inches, so it’s not tiny. And with so many pages, it’s a bit bulky.

But for a baseball nut, it’s heaven.

The scorebook is filled with everything a writer would need. And if you’re an announcer, this book is even better as it really gives you room to work. I love it, personally. But in my post-sports writing life, when I keep score at a park, I want something a bit more simple. I don’t need a lot of bells and whistles, so to speak. I need a scorebook I can carry into parks with me and not have it be too big. I still carry my camera with me, so if I can tuck it into my camera bag or backpack and have it not add a lot of weight? Bonus.

The art

Scorekeeping is a lost art.

Years ago, you’d be able to go to a park on a sunny Saturday afternoon and, without a doubt, you’d be able to find many father’s keeping score with their sons. Or people would do it on their own.

The scorecard (home team) from the first professional baseball game I covered.

In the six years I covered professional baseball, it was a rarity. There were a few who made every home game for the Single-A team I covered. And they all kept book. I’d say 3-4 of them. It was a way of keeping in touch with the game.

And the team I covered was a no-frills team — so no between-innings shenanigans or anything like that. Just baseball. On a field that had been in places for decades.

This was baseball. Nothing more, nothing less.

Heck, the owner — then in his 80s — used to carry the nightly till out in a lock box. Talk about trust in society!

Scorekeeping is more than just filling in the diamonds to show how many runs were scored. It’s a narrative of the game. The best part? No two scorecards are the same. The beauty of baseball is it allows those who keep score to develop their own way of keeping score, or tweak something from other things they’ve seen.

People mark hits differently. Same with outs. Errors, passed balls, extra-base hits and everything in between can all be marked differently. Some people have systems so complex, only they can decipher them.

For many, keeping score at a game will keep them focused on what’s happening. It also allows people to look at the game in a different way.

A few years ago, while still working at the newspaper, I did a story about those who keep book at games. They all seemed to agree it was a lost art form.

When you go to major league games, your more apt to see more people doing it. There are kid’s scorebooks and cards now, so that often helps getting youngsters involved.

But with so many other activities going on, sometimes it’s hard to keep a kid settled down long enough to be able to keep score.

Still searching for the perfect book

For years, I’ve been looking for that book. The smaller version of a scorebook. Something easier to carry.

I think it finally ended.

The scorecard (visiting team) from the first professional baseball game I covered.

A post by a friend on Facebook got me thinking about scorecards as he noted keeping score at a game. So I decided to — as I do a few times every year — look to see if I could find a smaller book.

That brought me to a Kickstarter campaign from two years ago — The Eephus League Baseball Scorebook Revival. This book is small and made for simple scoring. Maybe a little too simple for me, but the size? Perfect!

But the campaign was over. What to do?

I visited the Eephus League website. Sure enough, the books were for sale. My hesitation is the book only holds 20 games. That would last me a couple of years as I don’t do 20 games per year. Still, I was hoping for something a little thicker.

Then something else caught my eye. The Halfliner. This book, designed by the same person — Bethany Heck — was bigger, but not massive sized like many others. It was hard cover and held 81 games!

Score!

(See what I did there?)

And the best part? This Halfliner isn’t fully ready. She has a Kickstarter campaign going and it was still active. Even better!

Needless to say, I’m a backer. I can’t wait for this to finish up and to eventually get my Halfliner.

This book is almost everything I’ve ever looked for in a scorebook for fan use. It’s a little bigger than I hoped, but the thickness, the hard binding and pretty much everything else is perfect.

I look forward to getting this one when the campaign is all over. After that, I’ll look forward to hitting up a game (or 10) so I can get back into keeping book at games and knowing I’ll have everything in one place.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!