Scoring Games

Saturday night the Boston Red Sox played the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Lately I haven't been able to watch too many games due to work and stuff, but I had Saturday completely free and planed on watching the game. However, my brother was finishing up his game in NCAA 2005 dynasty we started 2 years ago and are currently on year 5, so I was forced to listen to the beginning of the game on the radio. Lately for some reason I've had trouble focusing on baseball broadcasts. I bet its cause the Red Sox switched from Sports Radio AM 850 to Talk Radio WRKO AM 680. In order to help focus, I decided to score the game.

My brother finished his game around the second inning, so I switched to watching it (which, by the way, I have no problem focusing on since the games are still on NESN). However, I decided to keep scoring it. I hadn't scored a game in probably 10 years. I use to do it all the time as a little kid, especially when I went to games. Usually I'd get board of it in the fifth or sixth inning, but I was determined to complete this game. I had a pretty good score card too. I forgot to mark two batters all in all, but found out what happened to them their next at bat. I also stopped keeping track of who was pitching for Tampa Bay after the 6th, figuring I could get that later online. I used the standard scoring system, though sometimes I wrote more indepth descriptions. For instance, in the third, the official scorer gave Ortiz a double. I said it was a single and charged the shortstop with an error. Had he caught the perfectly thrown ball from the cutoff man, Ortiz would have been out. I therefore charged the official scorer with an error for mis-scoring the play. Also, in the 4th, Gomes hit a ball that seemed destined to bounce into the seats, but Manny came out of no where and made a spectacular running catch while slamming into the wall. I scored it "7... WHAT A CATCH!!!!" Manny's awesome.

Come the ninth, I was pumped, thinking that with Papelbon on and a 2 run lead, all I had to do was three more hitters and I'd have a complete score card. Unfortunately, checking my score card, I see D. Young RF lead off the inning with a single, which if memory serves correct was a broken bat single on the first pitch. J. Gomes LF came up next and hit a 2 run homer to tie the game. Gomes also hit a homer his previous at bat, a solo shot off Jon Lester according to the score card (which by the way, was is a couple of pages from a class notebook I didn't use up...).

The game went on into the tenth, and I was on my last column on the page. Still, I faithfully kept score. Then it went into the 11th. I had to use two more sheets and recopy the lineups and everything, but I was determined to finish sans the Tampa Bay pitchers. Finally, the Red Sox rewarded me in the 12th. With 2 outs, Julio Lugo drew a bases loaded walk (his second of the game!). All Star Snub Kevin Youkilis followed with a base clearing double. Ortiz drew a walk, and Manny came up and hit a liner to center that curved really weird. Red Sox analysis Jerry Remy said the Devil Rays had to have the airconditioning on too high or something, cause the ball was heading straight for CF B. J. Upton, but it curved around him at the last second. No one was backing him up either, and the ball was destined to roll all the way out to the wall. As the camera showed Ortiz rounding third, I thought to myself "Manny's gonna get a triple, might even get an inside the park homerun..." But alas! As the Devil Rays got the ball in, the camera showed a smiling Manny standing at second. That's one of the many reasons you gotta love him. Ortiz, on a bad knee, goes from first to home, and Manny jogs into second. I'd curse anyone else, but you can't curse Manny. He's pretty much the greatest player ever.


So yeah, the Sox got six in the 12th and Lopez came out and retired the Devil Rays in their half, giving the Red Sox the win. I'm glad I scored it. I don't know if I'll be doing it again anytime soon, unless of course, the Devil Rays want me to be their official scorer cause they obviously need a new one. But, yeah, it's fun once every few years or so.