BONUS - From The Clubhouse: The Beauty And History Of Baseball Scorecards (Bonus Episode)

Welcome to Classic Baseball Radio’s Clubhouse, where we step back from the hectic pace of the games and take some time to talk about the history of baseball. Consider these bonus episodes as the pre-recorded explainers and profiles you normally see on sports broadcasts. As always, we look forward to your feedback.

Joining us in the Clubhouse is Liz Thompson from Diamond Scorecard Designs. Her mom taught her to score at an early age, and since then, she has tried various scorecards and books to find the right one. Finally, she decided to stop trying to settle and design the scorebook she always wanted. 

Those scorebooks, and the opportunity to have a custom designs scorebook, are available through the Diamond Scorecard Designs website.

As part of her personal mission to get people to keep score again, she visits the Classic Baseball Radio Clubhouse to talk with Ewan Spence on the beauty and history of our scorecard.

FEATURING…

Scorecards as a fundamental part of Baseball’s history.

Learning Baseball through scoring and scorecards.

The archaeology of scorecards.

The earliest scorecard (Atlantics at Athletic, Oct 11, 1866).

Various scoring systems from the 19th century to the present day.

Why there’s no wrong way to score a game.

A warning… keeping score may be habit-forming.

LINKS

Liz Thompson’s Diamond Scorecard Designs

https://diamondscorecarddesigns.com/ 

​​Baseball Basics: How to Keep Score (MLB)

https://www.mlb.com/official-information/basics/score 

Skeleton Key Unlocks Game (Washington Post, 1979)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1979/08/17/skeleton-key-unlocks-game/979879db-0465-46d4-8d4d-471b26191546/ 

Brooklyn Atlantics at Philadelphia Athletics, October 11th, 1866.

https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/october-1866-a-return-on-their-investment/ 

The tiny scorecard ballyhooing "The Great Game for the Championship of the United States"

https://www.inquirer.com/philly/sports/phillies/20110914_A_chance_to_own_a_bit_of_baseball_history.html 

Henry Chadwick, the Father of Baseball.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Chadwick_(writer) 

The Man Who Made Baseball's Box Score A Hit.

https://www.npr.org/2009/07/30/106891539/the-man-who-made-baseballs-box-score-a-hit 

A. G. Spalding & Bros: Spalding Scorebook.

https://digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A132213 

Joe Posnanski’s Blog

https://www.joeposnanski.com/ 

Stratomatic’s Baseball Board Game.

https://www.strat-o-matic.com/baseball-board-games/ 

Harry Wright scorecard example.

https://lelands.com/bids/1881-boston-scorecard-signed-by-scorer-harry-wright--psa 

Cricket scorecards by Andy Zaltzman.

https://thesportscommentators.com/collections/andy-zaltzman 

SABR: Official Scoring Research Committee.

https://sabr.org/research/official-scoring-research-committee/ 

ABOUT THE PODCAST

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