“Who Scores Games by Hand Anymore?”

The NYTimes has an article about keeping score at baseball games.

But today’s fans go to ballparks that feature upscale restaurants, play areas for children and other attractions besides the game. Digital apps aside, there are also e-mails and social media sites to check, photos and videos to shoot, phone calls to make.

I didn’t become a baseball fan until after I graduated high school and I didn’t go to my first baseball game until I was 21 years old.  A friend and I drove from my hometown of Sioux City, Ia to Kansas City to watch the Royals play the A’s and Jose Canseco.  I was too excited to see my first game to even think about keeping a record of the game and, admittedly, didn’t realize there was such a thing as formally keeping score.  So I was well into my adult years before I learned to keep score.

The first time I remember keeping score was at an Omaha Royals game, probably in 1989.  I bought a program and found a scorecard inside, got a pencil, read the program’s instructions on how to keep score, and, well, kept score.  It wasn’t a hard thing to do.

I usually don’t keep score when I go to games these days and I can’t tell you the last time I kept score at a professional game.  If I’m at a game, I’m likely there with my family and I’d rather talk to them and take in the atmosphere of the game.   Oh, and I must use my smartphone.

The last time I kept score was a couple of weeks ago at my 11 year-old’s baseball game.  If you’ve ever seen 11 year-old baseball, there are a few hits.  But there are lots of BB’s, K’s, HBP’s, WP’s, PB’s.  Oh, and there are lots of E-x’s where x = (1,2,…,9).  So they kept me busy.

And off my smartphone.