Scorecard

“For when the one great scorer comes to write against your name, he marks not that you won or lost, but how you played the game.”
–Grantland Rice, New York Herald-Tribune

My scorecard is a mess.

Who is catching for the Reds?

Number 67, Ryan Jorgensen. Got it.

I am watching television and have a radio to my ear, but it’s still hard to keep up.

I’m out of shape. Winter has made me soft.

Last night’s 10-inning tie was a good start for me and for Andy Pettitte. But long-distance baseball is such a tease. The game is played on a field. Not a screen. But you take what you can get in March.

I use the Bob Carpenter fan-model scorebook at home: 100 games.

It works well, but I’ve always wanted to design my own. I’ve taken more than a few stabs since my grandmother taught me to score.

I’ve sketched my designs in notebooks and done test models in PageMaker and QuarkXPress, but I’ve never gotten it just right. Books don’t work at the Stadium because they get old fast. Sweat, beer, mustard and whatever makes your feet stick to the floor are not things you want to carry around all summer.

Scorecards should be disposable like newspapers and free like, well, nothing in this country. But my scorecard will be free.

When finished, it will be called Steal This Scorecard in honor of Abbie Hoffman.

Score one for the people.