Henry Chadwick, deemed the “Father of Base Ball,” is also the ancestral progenitor of baseball official scorers. Basing his system off the scorecard for cricket, Chadwick kept notes on games on which he wrote in the New York Clipper. Chadwick’s scoring system and the modern system of today are, at their hearts, based on double-entry book keeping. That is, every event on the diamond is a positive for one player, and a negative for another. And the language of bookkeeping is woven throughout Baseball’s Rule 10:
Rule 10.04 (a) - The official scorer shall credit the batter with a run batted in...
Rule 10.12 - An error is a statistic charged against a fielder whose action has assisted the team on offense...
Rule 10.16 - An earned run is a run for which a pitcher is held accountable.
and the most explicit,
Rule 10.12(a)(7) comment - [T]he official scorer shall charge an error to an outfielder whose accurate throw to second base hits the base and caroms back into the outfield, thereby permitting a runner or runners to advance, because every base advanced by a runner must be accounted for.
So too, in our cute whiffle version of base ball. Each event captured on the scoresheet is a credit to one player, and a demerit to another. This system makes explicit which players are responsible for achievement, and which are accountable for failure. It is as the Tea Party folks say, “Karmic.” But, in games like today’s we are confronted with the question, “Is it fair?”
The scoresheet shows that Stats led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo homer off The Artist. To be sure, it was a high fly ball to straight away center. High enough, in fact to get up in a swirling wind that was blowing out. Swirling enough to put some tricky movement on the ball’s flight. Tricky enough for the ball to come off the waiting center fielder's hand and land for a dinger.
Now I ask you, should this batter be “credited,” and this pitcher “charged” with a home run?
Under our rules, “YES, YES, YES!!!” But this is a cold and heartless rule, for sure.
The run proved to be just insurance anyway as the Home team took this game 2-0, having already plated a run in the bottom of the first off Peter. Other than their dominating pitching the Homestanders were quite hospitable hosts. Matt brought pumpkin bread and Kurt provided SUV-delivered Starbucks coffee (courtesy of Robyn). Regarding these pleasantries the Visitors were heard to say that the bread was more like cake as one “could not make a sandwich with it,” and that the coffee tasted “Turkish.”
Well.
No matter; Kurt and Matt went gaily about the business of pitching seven shut out innings, recording 18 of 21 outs by strikeout, enjoying coffee and cake throughout.
Rule 10.04 (a) - The official scorer shall credit the batter with a run batted in...
Rule 10.12 - An error is a statistic charged against a fielder whose action has assisted the team on offense...
Rule 10.16 - An earned run is a run for which a pitcher is held accountable.
and the most explicit,
Rule 10.12(a)(7) comment - [T]he official scorer shall charge an error to an outfielder whose accurate throw to second base hits the base and caroms back into the outfield, thereby permitting a runner or runners to advance, because every base advanced by a runner must be accounted for.
So too, in our cute whiffle version of base ball. Each event captured on the scoresheet is a credit to one player, and a demerit to another. This system makes explicit which players are responsible for achievement, and which are accountable for failure. It is as the Tea Party folks say, “Karmic.” But, in games like today’s we are confronted with the question, “Is it fair?”
The scoresheet shows that Stats led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo homer off The Artist. To be sure, it was a high fly ball to straight away center. High enough, in fact to get up in a swirling wind that was blowing out. Swirling enough to put some tricky movement on the ball’s flight. Tricky enough for the ball to come off the waiting center fielder's hand and land for a dinger.
Now I ask you, should this batter be “credited,” and this pitcher “charged” with a home run?
Under our rules, “YES, YES, YES!!!” But this is a cold and heartless rule, for sure.
The run proved to be just insurance anyway as the Home team took this game 2-0, having already plated a run in the bottom of the first off Peter. Other than their dominating pitching the Homestanders were quite hospitable hosts. Matt brought pumpkin bread and Kurt provided SUV-delivered Starbucks coffee (courtesy of Robyn). Regarding these pleasantries the Visitors were heard to say that the bread was more like cake as one “could not make a sandwich with it,” and that the coffee tasted “Turkish.”
Well.
No matter; Kurt and Matt went gaily about the business of pitching seven shut out innings, recording 18 of 21 outs by strikeout, enjoying coffee and cake throughout.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | LOB | |
| Hansoo, Glen, Peter | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Kurt, Matt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 2 | 7 | 5 |
W: Matt Lindsay
L: Peter Berwald
S: Matt Lindsay
| Visitors | AB | H | RBI | IP | H | R | K |
| Hansoo | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Glen | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2.0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Peter | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2.0 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Home | AB | H | RBI | IP | H | R | K |
| Kurt | 13 | 5 | 0 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| Matt | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
Notes:
- Both teams today, emulating the New York Yankees, announced that they would be cheating in today’s contest.
- Looks like we're week-to-week from this point forward, based on weather and all. Stay tuned, and look for announcements about the end of season BBQ and the Whiffies @ Tanks.
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