The Joy of Keeping Score: How Scoring the Game Has Influenced and Enhanced the History of Baseball

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Summary: The evolution of baseball scoring
Review: ... I bought this book when I became my son's youth leagueasst. coach/scorekeeper. The advice that scorekeeping can become individualized to suit the needs of the scorekeeper and team led me to incorporate several techniques and created what I think was more interesting and revealing portrait a game on the page. This book reveals the many ways of keeping score and the true reason for the existence, to recreate the game on paper. The author offers baseball history and many interesting and funny anecdotes (LL Bean devised a scorekeeping method). Well illustrated, a must for all baseball fans.

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Summary: The history is well-researched, but a few errors appear.
Review: An excellent source for those interested in the history of scoring and famous incidents involving scorers. Unfortunately, several errors relating to the scoring rules appear. Intended more for those who already know how to score than those who are trying to learn.

Rating:
Summary: The history is well-researched, but a few errors appear.
Review: An excellent source for those interested in the history of scoring and famous incidents involving scorers. Unfortunately, several errors relating to the scoring rules appear. Intended more for those who already know how to score than those who are trying to learn.

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Summary: Fun, a nice read, buy it! But, it's lacking in areas.
Review: Don't expect this book to teach you how to score games. The book lacks a full-size sample scorecard to use, which I would have liked. It doesn't go into enough detail about scoring; being a beginner I was flummoxed attempting to score double-switches, bunts and teams batting around in an inning. It will get you going, but if you're like me and don't know how to score a game yet, you'll be looking for more. That aside, the anecdotes and illustrations make this a fun book to read. The subtitle "How Scoring the Game Influenced and Enhanced the History of Baseball" is an accurate description of the gist of the book. It's less of a how-to and more of a why-to.

Rating:
Summary: Fun, a nice read, buy it! But, it's lacking in areas.
Review: Don't expect this book to teach you how to score games. The book lacks a full-size sample scorecard to use, which I would have liked. It doesn't go into enough detail about scoring; being a beginner I was flummoxed attempting to score double-switches, bunts and teams batting around in an inning. It will get you going, but if you're like me and don't know how to score a game yet, you'll be looking for more. That aside, the anecdotes and illustrations make this a fun book to read. The subtitle "How Scoring the Game Influenced and Enhanced the History of Baseball" is an accurate description of the gist of the book. It's less of a how-to and more of a why-to.

Rating:
Summary: a nice bit of ephemera
Review: I agree with the reviews already written. This is a nice book and reasonably priced, but not fully satisfying. It is an outline for an outstanding book, but it is not itself outstanding. Use it as a mid-winter meditation on the game or lend it to friends who don't understand why you bring pencil and paper to the ballpark.

Rating:
Summary: a nice bit of ephemera
Review: I agree with the reviews already written. This is a nice book and reasonably priced, but not fully satisfying. It is an outline for an outstanding book, but it is not itself outstanding. Use it as a mid-winter meditation on the game or lend it to friends who don't understand why you bring pencil and paper to the ballpark.

Rating:
Summary: Nice book for those who already know how to score
Review: I bought this book for help me keeping score, but really I don't feel I learned all that much. The best thing about the book is that it goes into the history of keeping score. Overall I wouldn't recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Nice book for those who already know how to score
Review: I bought this book for help me keeping score, but really I don't feel I learned all that much. The best thing about the book is that it goes into the history of keeping score. Overall I wouldn't recommend this book.

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Summary: Wonderful little gem.
Review: I rarely take the time to write reviews here but when I read something this enjoyable, I have to make time. Baseball, as the author points out, is the only sport(oxymoronicly)in which the spectator can participate -- by scoring. While the title sounds trite, it couldn't be more apt. In short this is not a "how to", it is a "why to". And the answer is that it is such inscrutable fun. Loved it.