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The Joy of Keeping Score: How Scoring the Game Has Influenced and Enhanced the History of Baseball | 
 enlarge | Author: Paul Dickson
Publisher: Walker & Company
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
Buy New: $3.50
You Save: $14.45 (81%)
New (9) Used (21) from $0.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 1017184
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 7.6 x 0.6
ISBN: 0802713076
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.357021
EAN: 9780802713070
ASIN: 0802713076
Publication Date: June 1, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
There are two reasons to head out to the ballpark. One is to passively watch the game, the other is to actively see it, and you can't do the latter without a scorecard. In this slim gem of a volume, Paul Dickson clearly explains and translates the quirky documentation system, which looks like cuneiform to the uninitiated, for recording what happens on the ball field, and why true fans are so adamant about doing it. Filled with history, anecdotes, and rules, it also reproduces--to the joy of scorers everywhere--the official scorer's records for some of baseball's most significant moments, including Don Larson's perfecto and Babe Ruth's called shot.
Product Description
Baseball has no other book like this.
In The Joy of Keeping Score, Paul Dickson celebrates one of the most unusual traditions in all of sports—the baseball scorecard.
To Dickson and to fans everywhere, baseball without a scorecard or box score is unthinkable. And within the history of the scorecard are some of baseball's greatest moments. From the first scorecard introduced in 1845, to the scoring system devised by direct-marketing genius L. L. Bean; from presidential scoring habits to batting titles decided by official scorers to Phil Rizzuto's inspired scoring symbol "WW,* Dickson delights in his subject. Henry Chadwick (the inventor of the scorecard), Ty Cobb, Mel Allen and Red Barber, FDR and Ike, concessionaire Harry M. Stevens, California Angels' official scorer, Ed Munson, and many others all play their parts in this history.
Among this book's many illustrations is a gallery of historic scorecards, some of them from baseball's most memorable contests, including Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series, Babe Ruth's "called" home run, and Cal Ripken's record-breaking 2,131st consecutive game. In addition, Dickson provides basic and advanced scoring techniques for fans who record the games they see, a year-by-year timeline of rule changes, a guide to baseball's quirkiest statutes, stories of famous scoring blunders, and many more unexpected rewards.
For those who keep or have kept score, this book will be an elixir. For those who haven't, it will be a revelation. For baseball fans everywhere, it will be a treasure.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
Entertaining book with the basics of scorekeeping March 22, 2008
We've become avid baseball fans in the last few years, and felt the need to know at least the basics of keeping score. If nothing else, it meant that we'd have a better idea what the announcers were talking about when they'd say, "That's a 4-6-1."
This book, while far from extensive, suits our needs very well. The "how to" is really only a chapter or two long, but you'll find plenty of other anecdotes, such as the reasons why a strikeout is recorded as a K (it's a debatable point), and discussion of L.L.Bean's "simplified baseball scorebook" (yeah, *that* L.L.Bean). Lots of black-and-white photos, too.
It's a short book, about 100 pages, but a fun read. Nothing deep or "meaningful" here, but it'd make a dandy gift for any baseball fan. Including yourself.
Informative and fun, a easy read gem you must have October 9, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I found this book while looking for an informative reference on how to score the game. I looked at two other titles and chose this one because it contained the information I was seeking and loads of extra "fun facts" regarding the history of the game. It is a fun read and I think you will find this a "gem" of a book. This would make a great present to any youngsters who start an interest in baseball.
Interesting and Fun Book August 6, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I would recommend this book for those wanting to learn MORE about scoring, not how to score. After reading, we went to a Major League Baseball game and kept score...lots of fun.
 More Interesting Than Informative July 12, 2005
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book contains an excellent history of scorekeeping (and thus lives up to its subtitle). As a fan of baseball history, I appreciated it for that. It was also a quick read, and I read it all in less than an afternoon. I recommend it if you are interested in the history of scoring.
It was lacking, however, in the "how-to" department. I was just learning to score games. I had been using the guide contained in baseball programs and was looking for a little more depth. This book did provide a little more depth, but not a great deal. It contains information about marking plays, but does not go in to a lot of detail about the rules (which are essential to being a good scorekeeper). I did find it helpful to learn that not all scorers mark their card identically because as I developed some of my own techniques, I didn't feel like I was doing a disservice to the history of the game.
It is a good starting point for the beginning scorer and an excellent reference on scoring background; but if you have scored a few and are looking to get more complex, you may want to pass on this.
 Comprehensive and Fun July 10, 2005
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Author Paul Dickson's love of baseball flows from every page of this delightful little book. It's not a how-to book, but rather an appreciation of the art form of scoring a baseball game. It includes a comprehesive list of abbreviations used in scoring, many anecdotes, and photos of scorecards from famous games.
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