How To Read A Baseball Scoreboard

How To Read A Baseball Scoreboard

The scoreboard is one of the most important pieces of information for any baseball fan. It tells you everything you need to know about what’s happening in the game. Here’s a quick guide on how to read a baseball scoreboard.

Score

The first thing you’ll notice is the score. This is typically displayed in the scoreboard’s top left or right corner. The home team is always listed first, followed by the away team. Beneath each team’s name is the runs scored for that inning. Inning scores are cumulative, so if the home team has scored two runs in the first inning and one run in the second inning, their total score would be three runs.

Inning

To the right of the score, you’ll see the inning. In baseball, there are nine innings in a game. The inning is typically displayed as a number (1-9) but can also be represented by an “X” if the game goes into extra innings.

Outs

Beneath the inning, you’ll see the number of outs. An out is when a batter is retired, or a baserunner is tagged. There are three outs in an inning, and teams switch sides after every three outs. So, if the home team has two outs at the bottom of the ninth inning, they will bat in the tenth inning.

Pitchers

On either side of the score, you’ll see the names of the team’s pitchers. The pitcher for the team at bat is listed on the left, while the opposing pitcher is on the right.

Ball/Strikes

Above the pitchers, you’ll see the number of balls and strikes for the current batter. A ball is when the pitcher throws a pitch that is not struck by the batter and is not caught by the catcher for an out. A strike is when the batter swings at a pitch and misses or when the pitch is thrown in the strike zone and not swung at. A batter gets three strikes before they are out.

Batting Order

Finally, you’ll see the batting order for both teams. The batting order is typically displayed as a list of numbers (1-9) but can also be represented by player initials or last names. The batting order indicates the order in which the team’s batters will come to the plate.