Softball StatKeeper

Here is a list of possible scoring notations.

1B *	Base Hit	Batter safely reached first base.
2B *	Double	Batter safely reached second base w/o an error. If a batter is thrown out at second trying to "leg-out" a double, the play should be scored a 1B and an out.
3B *	Triple	Batter safely reached third base w/o an error. If a batter is thrown out at third trying to "leg-out" a triple, the play should be scored a 2B and an out.
HR *	Home Run	Batter safely reached home w/o an error. If the batter is thrown out at home trying to "leg-out" a home run, the play should be scored a 3B and an out. Always circle a HR and credit at least 1 RBI.
BB *	Base on Balls	A Base on Balls does NOT count as an At-Bat for the batter, and therefore does not affect the player's Batting Average. It does however favorably affect the player's On Base Percentage.
SF[n] *	Sacrifice Fly to fielder [n]	Score a Sacrifice Fly if a run scores as a direct result of the batter's caught fly ball. A run scoring on an error should not be scored a sacrifice fly. A Sacrifice Fly does NOT count as an at bat for the batter, and therefore does not affect the player's Batting Average. It does however adversely affect the player's On Base Percentage
SH[n-n] *	Sacrifice Hit (Bunt)	Score a Sacrifice Hit if any base-runner safely advances at least one base as a direct result of the batter bunting, and in the scorekeeper's opinion, the batter deliberately sacrificed his at-bat to advance the runner. This is one of the harder subjective rulings to make. Whether or not a run scored or even if the batter makes it safely to first by way of a fielder’s choice or error or even no action by the defense at all, should not change the score. The key question is whether or not the batter deliberately sacrificed his at-bat. A Sacrifice Hit does NOT count as an at bat for the batter, and therefore does not affect the player's Batting Average. It also does not affect the player's On Base Percentage.
FC	Fielder's Choice	This is probably the most confusing option of all. Score a fielder's choice if an out was made on a preceding runner as a direct result of the batter's at-bat. However, if all runners safely advance one base and the batter reaches 1st safely, then this becomes complicated. It is up to the scorekeeper to decide if an attempt (or choice) by a fielder to try and retire a preceding runner by force, gave up a guaranteed out of the batter at 1st. Just because a fielder makes a “bad choice” does not mean it is necessarily an error, although for this scoring method, it makes no difference since we aren’t keeping defensive stats. The question is, would the batter have been out, in the opinion of the scorekeeper, if the fielder had simply thrown to 1st? More on scorekeeping integrity below.
E[n]	Error on fielder [n]	Batter reached first base by an error. (e.g. E5 is an error on the third baseman.) A player reaching base by error can receive an RBI if there were less than 2 outs, and a run scored as a result of the batters's at bat, and in the score keepers opinion the run would have scored even if there was no error.
K	Strike Out	This is the traditional notation for a srike out. Make the K backword for a Strike Out looking.
F[n]	Fly Out to fielder [n]	Ball caught in the air by fielder [n].
P[n]	Pop Out to fielder [n]	You can just as well use F[n] for this. Bottom-line, the ball was caught in the air.
L[n]	Line Out to fielder [n]	You can just as well use F[n] for this. Bottom-line, the ball was caught in the air.
[n]-[p]	Ground out	Fielded by fielder [n] and thrown to fielder [p]. Fielder [p] is most often 1st base (e.g. 5-3 3rd base to 1st base)
[n]-[q]-[p]	Multiple Touches	This is a common notation for a Douple Play (e.g. 6-4-3, SS to 2nd base to 1st base,) but it is used any time multiple players touch the ball on the way to an out.
GIDP	Grounded into double play	This is my method for denoting a double play. I simply put GIDP for the batter and cross out the other runner that was put out.
NH *	No Hit	To make life really easy, I will sometimes simply replace all notations above that don't have an * with NH to denote that the batter did not get a hit or otherwise reach first base safely. In the end, it really doesn't matter how the batter got out or even how they got to first if they did not get a hit, walk or sacrifice fly.

Final Thoughts
First a word on the interesting problem confronting managers of COED softball. How does one make out a batting order, especially, when you have a un-even number of guys and gals to work with. Well, since we have already discussed the fact earlier that it is rather irrelivent who hit who in, or over or around, then we realize that putting the entire lineup in order is un-necessary, and in fact many coed softball managers have figured this out for themselves. Simply put your lead-off hitter at the top of the score sheet, and then add each player of the same gender in order below them. When you are out of players of that gender, continue down the page with the the other gender. So for example, if you have 6 guys and 5 gals, and your leadoff batter is a guy, then you will have 6 guys at the top of the page followed by 5 gals at the bottom of the page. If your league rules have you simply batting boy-girl-boy-girl, you can see how having an uneven number of guys and gals can become a problem. With this method, the guys just need to remember which guy they follow and the girls, which girl they follow, and that's it.

The problem is that these same managers are still trying to use a standard scoring method with this lineup. But, when we stop to think of what information we really need to keep in order to do our stats, and satisfy those pesky umpires, it really becomes quite easy, even with this funky batting order.

And last, a word on scoring integrity. This is not so much an issue of ethics as, in the end, nobody but you will know if your batting average is legit or not. If you really want to keep stats, my advice is to be honest and show the tough love. If you score a FC or an E, then so be it: score a FC or an E and stick by your decision. Don't let the batter argue the point. If they don't like the method you are using, or your scoring decisions, then offer to let them do it. Sometimes it sucks to be the one to lower a teammate's batting average or slugging percentage, but integrity should rule here, and consensus usually comes out on your side anyway. In the end, it is usually a pain in the butt to keep score AND play at the same time, but most players will agree, it's nice to see their name and stats in lights (or on the Internet), even if they suck.

Happy Scoring,
david

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