Scorekeeping

I'm concerned about the scorekeeping I've seen so far this season. I'm afraid some of the batting averages are inflated due to the generous nature of some volunteers doing the "books." For example here are a few things I have seen thus far that have not been considered Errors.

Two outs R2 and R3. Fly Ball to Left Field hits the LF in the glove (waist high). Scored: 1B (2 RBI's)

Two Outs - Pop Foul to the First Baseman who misses it. Scored: Foul Ball - No Error. Next batter drives in 2 (earned?) runs.

Ball stays down and goes right under the glove of the 2nd Baseman just to the outside of his ankle. Scored: 1B Surely had it actually gone through his legs they might have given it an E.

I've also seen several "Bobbles" at 3B and SS that caused a late throw to First. No Bobble and no R1! Scored: Infield Single

Pickoff thrown away at 1B advances R1 to 3B. NO ERROR?

I've watched several games where I counted 5 or 6 E's for one team and 2 or 3 for the other and the scoreboard and scorer have missed most of them.

This gives me concern that the BA's are too high and that the ERA's are too high too! I'd hate to be a high school pitcher with this kind of scoring.

Defense (and Pitching) win games! Hitting comes and goes. I count the Walks, WP's, PB's and of course Errors and it never fails. The team making the fewest mistakes wins every time.

Here are the Scorekeeping Rules on what an Error is (and is not).
ERRORS

10.13 An error shall be charged for each misplay (fumble, muff or wild throw) which prolongs the time at bat of a batter or which prolongs the life of a runner, or which permits a runner to advance one or more bases.

NOTE (1) Slow handling of the ball which does not involve mechanical misplay shall not be construed as an error.

NOTE (2) It is not necessary that the fielder touch the ball to be charged with an error. If a ground ball goes through a fielder's legs or a pop fly falls untouched and in the scorer's judgment the fielder could have handled the ball with ordinary effort, an error shall be charged.

NOTE (3) Mental mistakes or misjudgments are not to be scored as errors unless specifically covered in the rules.

(a) An error shall be charged against any fielder when he muffs a foul fly, to prolong the time at bat of a batter whether the batter subsequently reaches first base or is put out.

(b) An error shall be charged against any fielder when he catches a thrown ball or a ground ball in time to put out the batter runner and fails to tag first base or the batter runner.

(c) An error shall be charged against any fielder when he catches a thrown ball or a ground ball in time to put out any runner on a force play and fails to tag the base or the runner.

(d) (1) An error shall be charged against any fielder whose wild throw permits a runner to reach a base safely, when in the scorer's judgment a good throw would have put out the runner.

EXCEPTION: No error shall be charged under this section if the wild throw is made attempting to prevent a stolen base.

(2) An error shall be charged against any fielder whose wild throw in attempting to prevent a runner's advance permits that runner or any other runner to advance one or more bases beyond the base he would have reached had the throw not been wild.

(3) An error shall be charged against any fielder whose throw takes an unnatural bounce, or touches a base or the pitcher's plate, or touches a runner, a fielder or an umpire, thereby permitting any runner to advance.

NOTE: Apply this rule even when it appears to be an injustice to a fielder whose throw was accurate. Every base advanced by a runner must be accounted for.

(4) Charge only one error on any wild throw, regardless of the number of bases advanced by one or more runners.

(e) An error shall be charged against any fielder whose failure to stop, or try to stop, an accurately thrown ball permits a runner to advance, providing there was occasion for the throw. If such throw be made to second base, the scorer shall determine whether it was the duty of the second baseman or the shortstop to stop the ball, and an error shall be charged to the negligent player.

NOTE: If in the scorer's judgment there was no occasion for the throw, an error shall be charged to the fielder who threw the ball.

(f) When an umpire awards the batter or any runner or runners one or more bases because of interference or obstruction, charge the fielder who committed the interference or obstruction with one error, no matter how many bases the batter, or runner or runners, may be advanced.

NOTE: Do not charge an error if obstruction does not change the play in the opinion of the scorer.

10.14 No error shall be charged in the following cases:

(a) No error shall be charged against the catcher when after receiving the pitch, he makes a wild throw attempting to prevent a stolen base, unless the wild throw permits the stealing runner to advance one or more extra bases, or permits any other runner to advance one or more bases.

(b) No error shall be charged against any fielder who makes a wild throw if in the scorer's judgment the runner would not have been put out with ordinary effort by a good throw, unless such wild throw permits any runner to advance beyond the base he would have reached had the throw not been wild.

(c) No error shall be charged against any fielder when he makes a wild throw in attempting to complete a double play or triple play, unless such wild throw enables any runner to advance beyond the base he would have reached had the throw not been wild.

NOTE: When a fielder muffs a thrown ball which, if held, would have completed a double play or triple play, charge an error to the fielder who drops the ball and credit an assist to the fielder who made the throw.

(d) No error shall be charged against any fielder when, after fumbling a ground ball or dropping a fly ball, a line drive or a thrown ball, he recovers the ball in time to force out a runner at any base.

(e) No error shall be charged against any fielder who permits a foul fly to fall safe with a runner on third base before two are out, if in the scorer's judgment the fielder deliberately refuses the catch in order that the runner on third shall not score after the catch.

(f) Because the pitcher and catcher handle the ball much more than other fielders, certain misplays on pitched balls are defined in Rule 10.15 as wild pitches and passed balls. No error shall be charged when a wild pitch or passed ball is scored.

(1) No error shall be charged when the batter is awarded first base on four called balls or because he was touched by a pitched ball, or when he reaches first base as the result of a wild pitch or passed ball.

(i) When the third strike is a wild pitch, permitting the batter to reach first base, score a strikeout and a wild pitch.

(ii) When the third strike is a passed ball, permitting the batter to reach first base, score a strikeout and a passed ball.

(2) No error shall be charged when a runner or runners advance as the result of a passed ball, a wild pitch or a balk.

(i) When the fourth called ball is a wild pitch or a passed ball, and as a result

(a) the batter runner advances to a base beyond first base;

(b) any runner forced to advance by the base on balls advances more than one base, or

(c) any runner, not forced to advance, advances one or more bases, score the base on balls, and also the wild pitch or passed ball, as the case may be;

(ii) When the catcher recovers the ball after a wild pitch or passed ball on the third strike, and throws out the batter runner at first base, or tags out the batter runner, but another runner or runners advance, score the strikeout, the putout and assists, if any, and credit the advance of the other runner or runners as having been made on the play.

WILD PITCHES - PASSED BALLS

10.15 (a) A wild pitch shall be charged when a legally delivered ball is so high, or so wide, or so low that the catcher does not stop and control the ball by ordinary effort, thereby permitting a runner or runners to advance.

(1) A wild pitch shall be charged when a legally delivered ball touches the ground before reaching home plate and is not handled by the catcher, permitting a runner or runners to advance.

(b) A catcher shall be charged with a passed ball when he fails to hold or to control a legally pitched ball which should have been held or controlled with ordinary effort, thereby permitting a runner or runners to advance.

 

agree but

The "bad scorekeeping" issue and resulting inaccurate stats has been debated many times on this forum.

 

Thats why you should be training and even if you are, all scoring decisons should be thought through and the scorekeeper open to suggestions.

Actually when I am scoring WHS baseball our radio guys say that I am too harsh of a scorer. I expect fundamental baseball.
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I wish all scorekeepers were more like you whs, but the truth is that most have little credibility and the college coaches scoff at HS stats.

In reality, the only things that most HS stats are good for (discounting your credibility) is for the parents and for war stories the kid will tell his children in the future.

 

It's the ERA's that suffer

I'm not as concerned about the BA's because you can always deduct points in your true assessment but the ERA's are really hard to make sense out of.

 

The year I kept all of our stats, we finished 3rd in the state, and our stats weren't nearly as good as the teams we were playing. I did it the right way. We're going up against teams who have guys batting .600 in May and shut them down. It's sad how inflated some of em are.

 

Highschool stats

So now we know the real reason why there are so many .600 avg hitters in high school. I have never met a scorekeeper in 20 years that could really keep track and calculate true ERA.......so remember hitters stats are overated and pitchers stats are underated at 99% of the schools.

 

Yes sir, creative score keeping can sure help the BA and ERA. Early this season my son’s team played an away game in which his team committed a minimum of 6 errors in the game. Next morning the home team reported it in the paper as 3 errors and gave their players 3+ extra hits. At our next game one of our dads came up to me and said “did you see the box score in the paper the other morning? I know we had at least 6 errors”. To which another dad stated, “welcome to ********** scorekeeping! You should have heard their players complain this past summer when I kept the books the right way.”

Another creative way to up BA and ERA without really fudging the rules, is to leave your starters in against an obviously overmanned team. I see this fairly frequently. Team A easily 10 runs Team B in 4 ½ innings and when I look at the box score, Team A’s starters all went 4-4 or 3-4 and their pitcher only gave up 1 hit. Sure helps the BA and ERA.

Another way some averages are upped, through no fault of the player or coach, is when an overmatched team has only one or possibly two good players. The better team saves it’s starting pitchers by pitching a sub or pulls up a JV player. The good player on the undermanned team feasts on the weak pitching but the team still gets hammered.

These are just a couple of the reasons a D1 recruiter recently told me he doesn’t want to hear or see HS stats. He wants a recommendation from a reliable source and he’ll then go judge for himself.

 

Coaches...

themselves ought to be the ones who monitor/decide on scoring decisions... Even tho they are/can be biased too. However, the book and keeper should stay in the dugout and under the close scrutiny of the coaching staff to ensure credible and accurate stats! MHO

 

Yes, but........you are assuming that all coaches have the ability to "ensure credible and accurate stats". If that were the case, we might not be having this discussion.

Right?