#131---BAL @ NYA, 3/2/2017

When I’m not scoring a spring training game pitch-by-pitch, using my scoresheet with field diagram is a great way to avoid the need for scrap paper to track defensive substitutes, allowing them to be penciled-in in a visually-pleasing manner. This early spring night game in Tampa featured a 1-2-3, 2 K inning from Aroldis Chapman in his return to the Yankees and a prodigious longball clubbed by Greg Bird (returning from missing all of 2016 with injury) in the fourth. Other than Caleb Joesph’s leadoff third inning homer off Adam Warren, Baltimore did not manage until Aderlin Rodriguez blooped a single to center with two outs in the ninth. New York would go on to notch a spring no-no against Detroit on St. Patrick’s Day.

#130---CIN @ CLE, 2/25/2017

This was the first spring training game I had the opportunity to watch in 2017, and a rare February scoresheet with the early start due to the World Baseball Classic. The first weekend of spring training is always a fun time to score, jumping back into the deep end of the pool by having to keep track of myriad substitutions. This task has been greatly eased with the availability of Gameday for spring training contests, but beware defensive substitutes - Gameday often does not correctly place them in the batting order. I usually keep a list of defensive substitutes on scrap paper, then write them in to the batting order as they actually come to the plate (and sort out anyone who hasn’t batted at the end).

The game featured lots of offense, but Cleveland did a much better job of converting it to runs, particularly in the seventh when Nellie Rodriguez and Guillermo Quiroz singled leading to Bradley Zimmer’s three-run homer. With Quiroz coming up to bat in the eighth, the sprinklers came on for about twenty seconds, leading to a humorous seen as Reds pitcher Ariel Hernandez hopped off the mound to avoid getting an early shower. He proceeded to walk the next two hitters and get one anyway.

#129---MIA @ CLE, 9/2/2016

Usually I keep score on a single-sided sheet; as long as I devote the whole page to scoreboxes and not stat summaries, I have plenty of room to keep score, and I like seeing the whole game without having to flip back and forth. However, sometimes it’s nice to give yourself a lot of room, and use both sides of the page. When I do so I keep the same basic design, except as a landscape to take advantage of the extra spance, and including room for pitcher’s statistics (Since pitchers face many batters and span multiple innings, while batters might only have 3-5 PA, I find it’s easy to see how a batter performed with a click glance of his row, so if I’m going to devote space to statistics, it makes a lot more sense to give it to pitchers).

The Indians jumped on Andrew Cashner early, scoring three in the first thanks largely to three walks. Abraham Almonte’s two-run double in the fifth made it 6-0. That was more than enough for Carlos Carrasco as he pitched 7.1, scattering six hits and a walk but fanning eleven. JT Realmuto’s homer off Jeff Manship made it 6-2, but Cody Allen got the Marlins 1-2-3 in the ninth to finish it off.

#128—TB @ CLE, 6/19/2015

Many people only keep score when they attend games in person. I keep score of any game I plan to watch from start to finish, but of course that includes games I attend. To remind myself, I have the “LIVE” notation in the box at the top of the sheet.

This game was unremarkable, as the Indians mustered only one run in the bottom of the first, aided by two wild pitches. The highlight of attending this game as a fan was it was just the fifth game of top prospect Francisco Lindor’s career. Lindor had two infield singles (including the bunt back to the pitcher that contributed to the first inning tally). Carlos Carrasco didn’t pitch poorly, but he would still get revenge on Tampa Bay within the span of a month.