Sports – Page 5 – Unfiltered Thoughts

Pass The Bucket

One of the interesting (charming?) traditions at QuikTrip Park is the passing of the bucket. There is actually a hand-out for new fans explaining the practice, since many have never seen it done before.

When an AirHog batter hits a home run or an AirHog pitcher tosses a three-up, three-down inning, the ushers wander the park and collect donations for the batter or the pitcher, respectively. On a good night, a player could probably bump his salary, or at least cover his bar costs after the game. We know it’s important to the players, because if the press box forgets to announce it, they complain in the dugout. We’ve had to text the announcers or Tweet Ace Bacon to get it announced before. (This may be a bit crazy – we actually are asking that they come take money from us.)

The first season, the team only passed the bucket for home runs, but the pitchers must have complained, since after that, someone added 3-up, 3-down which is as close to a home run as you will find for pitchers.

I usually try to give $2 or $3 depending on the number of singles in my wallet, although I’ve given $5 or $10 for critical RBIs or pitching performances. Some of the players are still talking about the $20 somebody [my little brother] dropped in one night.

[A side benefit – you can have a load of singles in your wallet and your wife won’t ask where you’ve been.]

I was rather surprised that they didn’t pass the bucket in the Frontier League, since it’s basically the same level as the American Association – when one of the Lake Erie team hit a home run, I instinctively reached for my wallet, and then realized I was alone.

It’s not done in the affiliated minor leagues, which says the players are paid reasonably well. I guess.

That said, tt seems to me this is a great motivator for any baseball players, and it could be used on more levels of the sport.

Specifically, it occurred to me that if Derek Jeter hit a home run at Yankee Stadium, there would probably be 50,000 fans to pass a bucket around. (I looked it up just now and there are 52,325 seats.) So, figure a quarter of the people donate an average of $2 each – some of the people are cheering for the opposition, some are just cheap, some will ask if they take plastic. Still, that’s over thirteen thousand people donating to the home run buckets. That home run just made Mr. Jeter over twenty-six thousand dollars.

At that level of income, this could be quite a motivational tool. (Plus, I’d just like to see the usher tossing a roll of cash that big into the dugout for delivery!) It not only motivates the players, it could lower the salary cap. Owners? A plastic bucket costs $10. Figure you need 50 of them in Yankee Stadium. $500 bucks worth of buckets and training some ushers to wander around – which they are supposed to do anyway. Jeter hit 24 HRs in his best season, he hit 10 last year and he probably averages 15 or so. Wouldn’t you like to pay him $392K less because the fans are paying him directly? You could almost pay off your boat. Well, one of your boats.

Maybe the bucket needs to be called up to the big leagues.

We Win!

The AirHogs beat the Captains tonight, 3-1, so the teams split the four-game series. The AirHogs are in first place in the division by six and a half games, with Shreveport in second. It’s interesting that on the way home, I realized that I wasn’t happy or elated by the win, I was relieved. That’s how bad this umpiring crew has been. (Yes, I’m bitter.)

Since tomorrow starts a new series with Ft. Worth, hopefully, we’ll have a new officiating crew. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many crews in the area, so I’m sure we’ll recognize them. If nothing else, a change would be good, even if it is the equivalent of changing a dirty diaper for one that is merely wet.

My next project in my copious spare time is to learn how to become an umpire in the American Association. The procedures for affiliated and major league ball are on the MLB website, but the only mention of umpires on the American Association’s website is the email address for the director of umpires. I think I will drop him a short note, asking about the procedures and qualifications. Hopefully, if I’m polite, he’ll answer it when he gets through all of the hate mail and protests he must receive.

I must apologize for bitching about the umpires as much as I do, but after seeing AAA ball in Nashville and the Frontier League in Lake Erie (with a two-man crew), I have to say that many of the American Association umpires would not last in another league. Their indecision and their wrong decisions make you start to question every call. When I hear players yelling at them about the strike zone moving, and see someone thrown out at first because there was another out on the play that wasn’t called verbally so the defense threw to first for a force-out double-play, I started to realize that I may not be paranoid, they may actually be incompetent.

To me, this is unfair to the players and the fans. The players deserve to have a consistent strike zone and umpires that keep the game moving and officiate fairly. The fans deserve umpires that don’t interfere with the outcome by making bad calls.

The most distressing aspect to me is that the umpires often seem hesitant. This just builds distrust. You’re a freakin’ umpire – you cannot be second-guessed. There is no video replay. Just make the call and stand by it. If you can’t make the call with confidence, right or wrong, you need to find another profession.

Blind

Shreveport-Bossier Captains 4, AirHogs 3

I’ve calmed down enough to not say “A day that will life in infamy”, but I’m still pissed.

An umpire is not supposed to affect the outcome of a game, but Danny Hymel and the rest of the truly inept officiating crew at QTP tonight did just that. Hymel called an obviously foul ball fair, which gave Shreveport a two-run home run in the top of the ninth. They won the game by one run.

I was in the stands, watching the ball fly off towards the outfield, thinking “F*ck!”, and then I saw it turn foul and land far outside the foul pole. Whew. Then Danny called it fair. F*ck! Everyone with functional eyes protested, but the Three Blind Mice gathered together and discussed it, and I have never seen a call reversed, so the ruling stood. AirHogs lose.

It is disappointing to me that a game can be lost by an umpire unable to be in the proper position to see a ball go foul. This is the second time this week a foul ball has been judged fair, but this is the first one that lost a game and doubled our closer’s ERA.

After some of the bizarre calls last year, I really hoped that we might get some umpires that actually knew the rules and how to work a baseball game. Unfortunately, no.

The real pity is that the league’s umpiring crews must be local, as we see the same idiots again and again. It’s hard enough beating our opponents without having to put enough extra runs on the board to beat the umpires as well.

It’s interesting that the American Association website doesn’t say anything about requirements for being an umpire. I think I will ask, because now I’m actually interested in the procedure, assuming there is one. MLB and MiLB sites have detailed instructions on how to become an umpire, and the progression from minor league to major league. I guess in independent ball you just need a blue shirt.

Sold!

The El Paso Diablos announced new ownership yesterday – the Tigua Indian tribe which lives in and around the city are now the majority owners. The Diablos were a sister team to the AirHogs until the AirHogs were sold earlier this year, as both were owned by Ventura Sports Group. With the sale, Ventura goes from owning two teams to none in less than six months. Their website still shows both, and all the rest are “coming soon.”

Ventura will have an American Association expansion team in Laredo, TX starting next year, and Pete Incaviglia has been announced as manager.

I find it very interesting that a lot of the comments in the El Paso press about the sale echoed what was heard in Grand Prairie a few months back – team not doing well, attendance falling, stadium needs repairs.

If Ventura ever update their website (an unlikely proposition), I will be interested to see how this is actually declared a victory for them – which is how all sales will be spun by both sides.

The other parallel is that both the AirHogs and the Diablos now have “local ownership.” The AirHogs new owners live in Dallas (and own Shreveport and Amarillo teams – but field and team management are local or semi-local) and the Diablos owners are in El Paso and own other businesses there.

I never thought that “local” would be critical to team ownership, but it was mentioned in both sales as a positive. The El Paso press actually specifically mentioned that Ventura was from Wisconsin – and it reminded me of a Pace Picante sauce commercial long ago: “New York City???? Get a rope.”

Hopefully, the finances in El Paso aren’t in the same disarray the AirHogs apparently were, so the tribe can make it work. The Diablos do seem to have a relatively large, dedicated fan base, and very little competition in the area, so that will help. They also have the worst record in the division, which will make a negative difference eventually.

It will be interesting to see how long the “Wisconsin” company stays in Laredo. Since their website says they are owners (not any more, but coming soon), operators (“we put fans in stands”, except in Grand Prairie and El Paso) and developers (perhaps, it may be secret), they don’t seem to have a lot to do.

Magic

I’ve now been in three different ballparks in the past week. After missing AirHogs games because of a business trip, it occurred to me that the Metroplex is not the only place in the universe with minor league baseball.

So, last week, while I was in Nashville, I did a quick Google Maps search for “minor league” nearby the hotel, and found the Nashville Sounds. In a bizarre coincidence, they were playing the Round Rock Express, so there was actually a Texas team for me to cheer on. When I realized I was probably the only Texan in the crowd, I cheered quietly. They lost.

I got home in time to see the AirHogs sweep El Paso this weekend.

Now, I’m in Cleveland on yet another business trip. The AirHogs are in Shreveport, so I’m not missing any games, but I might as well find a game if there is one around. There are a number of minor league teams, but AA is having its All-Star game, so teams aren’t playing.

Then, I found the Lake Erie Crushers who play in the Frontier League and their stadium was about a half-hour from the hotel, so I bought a ticket online and headed out after work. They were playing the Windy City Thunderbolts, so since I had no obvious loyalties, I cheered for the home team. It’s safer.

The ticket was $14 online with a dollar service charge. Here’s the view from the seat:

I decided I might as well keep score since I was alone, so there were fewer distractions than usual. (If you have an Android, look at 6-4-3 for keeping score.)

Since I was keeping score, I had to get the lineups. While I was copying down player names and numbers, I saw an interesting fact on the wall – Windy City is leading the division. Guess who is in last? Maybe I was cheering for the wrong team after all.

The game started and I realized the Frontier League uses a two-man crew for umpiring. While this is one less person to blow a call, it’s a lot less coverage in the field.

Windy City scored two in the first to jump out to an early lead. Uh oh. Lake Erie added one in the bottom of the first to keep it close.

Three up, three down for Windy City in the second. Perhaps there was a chance. Lake Erie scored four in the bottom of the second and chased Windy City’s starter. Yes, there is a chance, indeed.

After that, the pitchers settled down. Windy City added two runs in the fourth to draw within one.

Now, the magic.

It’s difficult to get the soul of a team from reading lineups a half-hour before the game. So, you have to go by the sound of the crowd. Lake Erie was still leading 5-4 going into the ninth inning, and there was one last pitching change.

The PA said “Ruben Flores” and the crowd roared. It was the minor-league crowd equivalent of Mariano being introduced. Since the final Windy City pitcher had used only nine pitches to close out the eighth, I thought “This guy must be good.”

Three outs from victory.

First batter. Two strikes. Then, a foul. Then, a third strike that got past the catcher, so a man on first. Hmm.

Second batter. One ball. Pop-up – 1-3 for the out, but a man is now on second. Don’t you usually try to throw out the lead runner? No panicking. Yet.

Third batter. Strike. Lined to short, 6-3 for the second out. Tying run is now 90 feet from home. Again, lead runner, no? Ruh-roh.

Fourth batter. Thinking this would have been a good time for “three up, three down”, but so it goes.

The fourth batter is the one player I actually recognize – Chase Porch, who played for Pensacola last year. He’s 0-3 on the night, so he may be due. One good hit, and we’re going to extra innings. One really good hit and we lose.

Suddenly, I’m very involved emotionally.

Foul. Strike one.

Foul. Strike two.

The magic of baseball is that a great defensive play can win a ball game just as easily as a great offensive play. Sometimes, you get a great hit to win a game. Sometimes, you need defense. With two out and a man on third, you need perfect defense.

Third pitch. High foul pop-up behind the plate. I was sitting almost directly behind home plate, and I lost the ball, but I saw the catcher running towards the backstop, almost directly at me.

He fell into the backstop (which was mesh, so flexible), almost falling into the first row of seats. He came out of the mesh. The ball was in his glove.

Ball game.

Wow.

That is the first time a ball game ended because of something that happened literally three seats from me. I couldn’t get a photo because I couldn’t react that quickly. (So much for “baseball is slow.”)

Lake Erie wins, 5-4.

I’m a Crushers fan now. I’m especially a Kyle Shaffer fan, because that was one hell of a catch.

Here’s the box score, for posterity.

Scattered Thoughts

I can’t believe hockey season went longer than basketball season – and they both go on too freakin’ long. Congratulations, Mavericks! Next year, try to close it out sooner.

On to more important sports.

Baseball can make anyone an obsessive-compulsive about statistics. I was in Nashville for a customer meeting, and after my wife mentioned she was late for the AirHogs game, I thought “This is the South. There has to be a baseball game around here somewhere.” So, a couple minutes with Google later, I found the Nashville Sounds – the Milwaukee Brewers’ Triple-A team, and they play a couple of miles from my hotel. As an added bonus, the Round Rock Express was in town, so I could see a Texas team, specifically a Texas Rangers’ team.

Side note – parking $3, ticket $14, beer $6, beef brisket sandwich & fries $7. Total $30. I think that’s under my meal limit.

This was a pitchers’ duel – the Express had three hits but couldn’t score any runs. The Sounds had one hit, but it was a home run, so they won 1-0.

I looked at the stats at the end of the game – Scott Feldman, the Express starting pitcher (on rehab assignment from the Rangers) went 5 innings, walked 2, struck out 5, gave up no hits. He only faced 17 batters and he only threw 73 pitches. (I was surprised he came out, actually.) Derek Hankins came on in relief and faced 7 batters. He didn’t walk anyone, struck out 4, got 2 to ground out (the six outs that made up his two innings of work), and gave up one hit – a home run. 24 pitches, 17 strikes … one over the fence. Beau Jones closed by getting three batters out – two ground-outs, one fly-out. Three up, three down. So, three pitchers, a one-hitter, a 1-0 loss.

For some reason, I’m now just obsessing about this. 4 out of 7 struck out. 57% strike-out rate. 17 strikes out of 24 pitches is 71%. 1 pitch out of 24 is 4%. 96% not bad is usually good, but not in baseball. Almost three-quarters of his pitches were strikes, but he still lost the game.

On the other hand, if three pitchers can limit your opponents to one hit, don’t you think somebody should score them some runs in support?

I am going to try to stop obsessing now.

The other thought wandering around my head lately has been how a team is directed – inward or outward, and does it make a difference to the fans? With the change in managers in Grand Prairie, the team seems much more focused on the game – not that they weren’t focused over the last few years, but it seemed like they were more accessible to the fans. Once the game started, that was it – it was heads down, back to work, but the rest of the time, they either chose to interact with the fans or were directed to do so.

It made being in the Booster Club fun, because the players were always around, and they recognized the booster club members.

This year, they’re off to a great start and they’re kicking the crap out of some of their opponents, but sometimes the fans almost seem to be an afterthought. They are circling the wagons and the team is in the center. While I do think it helps minimize the possible prima donna issues on the team, it means the team is looking inward and not outward.

I assume that a lot of the attitude trickles down from the management – do they see the team as family entertainment playing a game or as a unit that must win all the time? (A related question – is the manager supposed to be a baseball evangelist who draws fans to the park or a general waging war, assuming victory alone produces fans?)

So, a question I’ve been asking myself – Is it preferable to follow an average to above-average team that will acknowledge the fans readily and interact with them when possible or follow a championship quality team that apparently doesn’t know you’re there?

I’m too old to hang with the players or try to keep up with them, so it’s not about socializing for me. There are quite a few players (and a few alumni) who are on Facebook, so I can ask questions and get feedback. A few of the guys will always say “Hi” before the games. It’s just I’ve sensed the overall mood has changed.

I’m not sure I prefer winners who are playing for themselves. I think I would prefer winners that were playing for the fans.

Maybe I’m thinking too much about baseball.

Some questions answered

On the field, the AirHogs look pretty good so far this season. They spent the weekend sweeping the defending champion Shreveport-Bossier Captains, and they are leading their division. So, for those of us worried about teams in the same division with the same owners, maybe it’s not that big an issue, but it’s still early in the season. It’s weird seeing the managers meet at the beginning of the game and realize they work for the same people. It’s a department meeting with the umpires.

From a personnel perspective, as one of the coaches said last night, “We have pitching.” (For some reason, everyone knows that pitching is critical to the game, and yet many teams still have mediocre pitching.)

Winning against Shreveport was a good start to the season (this was the second home stand) although having “Cajun Weekend” while they were here was a bit much for some of us. Our new manager (Ricky VanAsselberg) is their old manager, and he’s from Louisiana, but celebrating the opposing team (even if a coincidence) is just not cool. There are some of us who still remember the stolen base late in a game last year by one of our former players while we were getting blown out, which was a horseshit move. Pete Incaviglia was yelling at Ricky about respecting the game (that move does violate “the unwritten rules”), and now Ricky is our manager, so some of us are still trying to wrap our heads around the whole issue.

Off the field, the AirHogs are still deer in headlights, although it seems to be improving. It’s interesting to see that the new ownership apparently didn’t read any of the agreements made with the season ticket-holders by the old ownership. There are any number of promises made that either were ignored or are just now getting implemented. While I applaud them for trying to make things right, it would have been preferable to just do what the contracts said in the first place.

To me, it’s a bit like the old Van Halen “brown M&Ms” story – if you don’t know your season ticket-holders were promised free drink refills (and have no easy way to provide them), what truly critical part of the team financing or operation did you miss?

I have a feeling the old ownership managed to put quite a bit over on the new owners, and most of that was because the sale process dragged on so long. There were rumors of a sale last year, but the sale went through only a couple of weeks before the season started. In the meantime, the owners bought Pensacola and moved them to Amarillo.

I would love to see a business student do a paper on the team and its history, because they constantly seem to be skating on the edge, and I’m not sure I understand why. (It would make an interesting book, but I think you would find it difficult to get information from the insiders.) If you’re not making enough money, you’re either priced too low or you’re not bringing in enough people (marketing dollars misspent or underspent.) The corporate America solution would be to cut costs – say, pay the players less – but I don’t think that’s possible. So, the challenge should be to get butts in seats. The current solution seems to be discounted tickets (which tends to piss off those of us who paid full price in advance) and the new $40 all-you-can-eat seats in one of the suites. I’m hoping we don’t end up like the Stars and the Cowboys and the Mavericks, where the vastly over-priced seats for people who don’t pay attention to the game finance the team and the cheap seats are empty because eventually they get over-priced as well.

There is certainly competition – there are any number of baseball teams in the Metroplex, so it is a crowded market. However, the AirHogs are in an area that serves a good portion of Dallas and the MidCities – people who are probably unlikely to drive north to Frisco for affiliated ball, don’t want to drive to Ft Worth to see the Cats (same division as the AirHogs) and they’re priced below the Rangers for people who don’t want to pay big-league prices.

So, I’m hoping the new owners get their act together. The field management seems to have done a good job building the team, so now it’s time for the front office to catch up.

Go AirHogs!

Which one is Cinderella?

A bit more rambling on the concept of one company owning three teams in a five-team division … who gets the most attention? Let’s take a quick look at the teams:

Amarillo Sox – no history (new team) but a town that has supported baseball for a long time in the United League. If the previous team had made rent, the Sox wouldn’t be there and Amarillo would be watching a defending champion play. So, good community support to start.

Grand Prairie AirHogs – 2707 average attendance per game last year (above the league average) – dismal start to the second half that may have chased some people away, core fans have probably been concerned about new ownership, team direction, what the players think and so on. Located close to two other minor league teams (Ft Worth Cats, in the same American Association division as the AirHogs, and the Frisco RoughRiders, the AA team for the Texas Rangers) and the Texas Rangers, current AL champs.

Shreveport-Bossier Captains – 1588 average attendance last year but league champions. We’ve been to the ballpark, it’s certainly no QTP.

So, if you own all three, where do you put your money?

You have a new ballclub in a town that already supports baseball. You have an existing ballclub in a crowded market. You have the league champions with low attendance.

My concern as an AirHogs fan is that a market saturated with baseball will fall low on the totem pole even if management lives here. I would think investing in two championship towns with limited entertainment options (do locals really gamble in Shreveport?) would provide a better return.

The AirHogs have a good fan base, the newest stadium of the three teams and a market that is larger than both the others combined. The market size is important for possible spectators, but I think it’s also important as a draw for players. Many of them have mentioned that Dallas-Ft Worth is preferable to many of the smaller markets in the American Association. If you’re going to toil away for low pay, best to have a place to go at night.

The AirHogs also have a lot of concern in the fan base about an ownership change, so the owners need to come press the flesh and assure season ticket holders (especially) that they know how to run a team in Dallas, not just Shreveport, and that the AirHogs will be independent of the rest of the teams in the fold.

Amarillo has a market that is used to baseball and the advantage of the “newness” of the team.

Shreveport has the league champions.

Then, the concern all fans must have – if a company owns three teams and one of them starts making a run at the championship, are the other teams going to “decide” to trade their best players to help the winning team? I know it happens all the time between managers even if the teams don’t have the same ownership, but I’m very concerned that it will be directed from the front office now.

This will be an interesting year.

Sold!

The rumors were finally confirmed this week – the AirHogs have been sold. The new owners are Southern Independent Baseball, LLC. Last year, SIB was the owner of the Shreveport-Bossier Captains. This year, they own the Captains, the AirHogs and the Amarillo Sox (newly moved from Pensacola.) So, one company owns 60% of the Southern Division of the American Association, leaving El Paso and Ft Worth as the other teams.

Frankly, I’m surprised there aren’t rules against this. Of course, El Paso is owned by the company that just sold the AirHogs, so it’s not like it’s new news, but even with independent subsidiaries running each team, there just seems to be a lot of possible conflicts of interest. However, teams are already helping other teams stockpile talent for playoff runs, so I guess this will just make it more efficient.

If you read the bios for the SIB management, they’ve been around independent baseball a lot – owning teams, managing leagues and various other positions.

Independent baseball is a very small pond, I suppose.

So, the front office management is in place. Next, is field management. Then, play ball!

The Joy of Keeping Score

First of all, go find a copy of Paul Dickson’s “The Joy of Keeping Score” and read it. It’s a fun book, even if you never keep score at a game. However, you really should keep score. Here’s my journey.

I got a new phone recently and when I was cleaning all the files off my old phone, I found my scoresheets (well, spreadsheets) from a number of last year’s AirHogs games. I realized it’s time to start practicing on my scoring, because baseball season is upon us.

While some people complain that baseball is too slow (this is a bad thing?), I’ve found the best way to keep my head in the game is to keep score. (It also lessens the cross-talk from the Spousal Unit.) However, since I didn’t grow up in the 1950s, this was not as simple to learn as one would think – as in, my Dad did not just teach me as a part of growing up while we were going to baseball games. Luckily, unlike the 1950s, we have the Internet to find information on anything. For example, here is the official MLB page for keeping score. There is a very useful site with sample scorecards. David Cortesi has a good writeup on Project Scoresheet (RIP.) Google will lead you to hundreds of other examples. If you can find a sporting goods store, they will have scorecards.

Being a geek, I found any number of computer programs to keep score, but really didn’t think taking a laptop to games was a very good idea. Plus, I didn’t relish the thought of tossing an extension cord into the dugout and asking one of the players to plug me in when the battery ran low.

While being a secretive baseball geek, I really didn’t relish the thought of having scoresheets all over the top of the dugout, while trying to keep score the old fashioned way – on paper.

So, I was left with the only computer with batteries that would (probably) last an entire game – my phone. There was some software for WindowsMobile but I didn’t really like any of it.

Then, an epiphany. What is a scoresheet? It’s rows and columns. What is on a computer with rows and columns? A spreadsheet.

The reality is that you can keep score pretty much any way you want – you just need to find a system and stick with it. After all the research I did, and all the systems I tried to learn, one day at QTP, I decided to just do it. So, I opened up a spreadsheet on my phone and started keeping score.

It’s actually pretty easy. Here’s the first inning of the AirHogs vs the Diablos, August 17, 2010. (The AirHogs lost the game.)

Diablos		1
23/CF	Vincent	(Schmidt)Ks
20/2B	Santana	1B
8/SS	Ponce	(CS 20)Ks
30/DH	Nichols
10/1B	Smith
33/3B	Reininger
29/2B	Hulett
24/LF	Reynoso
14/C	Deleo

AirHogs		1
4/CF	Perry	(Ellis)BB
2/2B	Gray	(SB 4 2B E2 4 3B) 1B (4 RBI)
7/SS	Espinosa	(SB 2 2B E2 2 3B) BB
44/3B/C	Porter	pf5
28/1B/3B	Banks	BB
16/DH	Hollimon	1B (2 RBI 7 RBI 28 2B)
27/LF/1B	Stokes	(CS 16)
13/RF	Garza
8/C	Jordan
17/LF	Incaviglia

Daniel Schmidt on the mound for the AirHogs. He struck out the first batter (swinging.) He then gave up a single to Santana, who was caught stealing. He struck out Ponce to end the inning. (Good job, Daniel!)

AirHogs are up against Ellis. Robert Perry walked. Antoin Gray batted second. Perry stole second, and went to third on an error from the catcher. Gray singled to bring him home. 1-0 AirHogs. David Espinosa batted third. Gray stole second and advanced to third on another error. Espinosa walked. Greg Porter popped out foul to the third baseman. Ernie Banks walked. Mike Hollimon singled in two runs and moved Banks to second. 3-0 AirHogs. He then got caught stealing to end the inning.

That’s my system. It’s not as elegant as some, it’s probably too wordy (symboly?), but it works for me – as in, I haven’t looked at that spreadsheet since the night of the game, but I can reconstruct it now.

The reason I need to get warmed up is because I need to go back through the scoresheets from last year and see if my abbreviations were consistent. I have a feeling they varied from time to time.

Still, it’s nice to be able to put a game back together again after seven months.

The other major advantage of having a scorecard is that you can decide arguments after the game. “How many people did Daniel strike out last night?” Look at the spreadsheet. Count the “K”s. “Four.” Done.

So, if you’re at the ballpark this summer, keep score. It’s a great way to stay connected to the action, and it gives you a permanent record of the game.

Also, remember one critical symbol that’s not in any scorecard – “WW”. As Paul Dickson mentions in “The Joy of Keeping Score”, “WW” was Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto’s notation for “Wasn’t Watching.” You have to go get beer sometime.

Diablos		1
23/CF	Vincent	(Schmidt)Ks
20/2B	Santana	1B
8/SS	Ponce	(CS 20)Ks
30/DH	Nichols
10/1B	Smith
33/3B	Reininger
29/2B	Hulett
24/LF	Reynoso
14/C	Deleo

AirHogs		1
4/CF	Perry	(Ellis)BB
2/2B	Gray	(SB 4 2B E2 4 3B) 1B (4 RBI)
7/SS	Espinosa	(SB 2 2B E2 2 3B) BB
44/3B/C	Porter	pf5
28/1B/3B	Banks	BB
16/DH	Hollimon	1B (2 RBI 7 RBI 28 2B)
27/LF/1B	Stokes	(CS 16)
13/RF	Garza
8/C	Jordan
17/LF	Incaviglia