Mets vs. Reds

I caught the first couple innings of the Mets game on TV before social obligations drew me away. I think I've got scorekeeping figured out at this point. The stupid thing about it is that the plays that require the most documentation are also the ones where you really want to just put your snacks down, stand up, and watch the play, and instead you're hunched over writing it all down. And then during the pauses in the action, you don't really have much to do, so your mind wanders.

I said before that keeping score reminded me of rolling up stats for an RPG character, but after spending a little more time at it, it's actually more like filling out a tax return: I think it's sort of fun and satisfying in a way, but I wouldn't want to do it every day, and probably wouldn't at all unless someone was making me. And any anxiety you might have about missing a play while in the bathroom or whatnot is just compounded when you feel like you have to be there to document every single (literally!) thing, or you'll be audited.

It was tied at deuces going into the bottom (nullus) of the third when I left to meet my friends for The Day the Earth Stood Still in the park. It was fun, and then we had some beers, and then I was pleased to come home and find that my much-celebrated New York Mets had triumphed over the Red Communists of Cincinnati.

Update: My Seattle Mariners stepped up against the Tigers last night as well. The video of that play is worth watching. Not even sure how I'd score that one on paper.

Midsummer Classic

I started watching the All-Star Game at home, and was going to keep score until it was time to meet friends for dinner. I hadn't planned on the thing not even starting until nine, so here's the half inning I was able to record:



Notice how I've omitted who was actually involved in the double play.

And actually, I wouldn't have been able to score the whole thing anyway, with all the substitutions. Dumb idea, Travis!

Scorekeeping

At Sunday's game, Kate and I had tried to figure out what the shorthand used to report on batters' previous at-bats meant. We figured out HBP and 1B easily enough, but BB and FC? So I spent my Monday morning reading about scorekeeping and the afternoon trying it out, watching the archived TV broadcast of the Mets' Sunday loss in Houston and following along on paper.

I used the scorecards and tutorial at Christopher Swingley's site, more or less following his conventions. It was kind of difficult to pay attention to every little pitch, so my pitch and strike counts were always a bit off, but otherwise I think it was an alright first attempt.

There were some tricky moments, too, like when Dave Williams gave Carlos Lee a 3-0 count with two outs and a runner on second, and then decided to intentionally walk him. I recorded this as an IBB, but I'm not sure if it technically was, since only the fourth ball was intentional. Then in the eighth, Scott Schoeneweis threw a wild pitch on his fourth intentional ball to Lee, advancing the runner on second. I recorded IBB on Lee's line and the WP on runner Hunter Pence's, which makes sense to me.

I wouldn't say the whole process is fun, exactly, as much as sort of stressful and annoying. And filling in little boxes totally flashed me back to my (non-sexual) role-playing days. I completely don't get how you're supposed to be able to handle this while also participating in the other requisite activities such as beer drinking, eating peanuts, and making fun of the people in nearby seats.