Baseball Scorekeeping Symbols: How to Keep a Scorebook
A baseball scorebook turns nine innings into a paper record anyone can read back. The system is old, tight, and universal: nine numbered positions, a handful of shorthand marks, and a diamond you fill in as a runner circles the bases. Learn the symbols once and you can reconstruct an entire game from a single page. Here is how the code works, mark by mark.
5 min read · Reviewed July 2026
The nine position numbers
Every fielder wears a number in the scorebook, and those numbers never change. They are the backbone of the whole system. Memorize them and most of scorekeeping falls into place.
The order runs from the pitcher out through the infield, then left to right across the outfield. One quirk trips up beginners: the shortstop is 6, not 5, and third base is 5. Say them out loud a few times and they stick.
These numbers do all the heavy lifting. When you write down how an out happened, you are just stringing these numbers together in the order the ball traveled.
1 pitcher, 2 catcher, 3 first base, 4 second base, 5 third base, 6 shortstop, 7 left field, 8 center field, 9 right field.
How to notate an out
An out is written as the path of the ball, using the position numbers. A ground ball to the shortstop who throws to first base is scored 6-3: the 6 fielded it, the 3 caught the throw for the out. That is the most common notation you will write all game.
Fly balls and line drives use an F or L in front of the fielder's number. A fly ball caught by the center fielder is F8. A line out to the shortstop is L6. No throw is involved, so there is only one number.
Double plays chain the numbers the same way. A grounder to short, to second, to first is 6-4-3. Read it left to right and you can see exactly where the ball went and who was standing there.
6-3 is a groundout, shortstop to first. F8 is a flyout to center field. 6-4-3 is a shortstop-to-second-to-first double play.
Strikeouts: K and backwards K
The strikeout gets its own letter: K. But scorekeepers split it in two to record how the batter went down. A regular K means the batter struck out swinging. A backwards K, written as the mirror image, means the batter struck out looking, caught watching a called third strike.
That one distinction carries a lot of information. A page full of backwards Ks tells you a pitcher is painting the corners and freezing hitters. A page of forward Ks tells you hitters are chasing. Same out, different story.
The letter K traces back to the 19th century, when S was already taken by other terms. It stuck, and it is now the most recognizable mark in the book.
K means strikeout swinging. A backwards K means strikeout looking, called by the umpire on a pitch the batter never offered at.
Marking hits and walks
Hits are scored by how many bases the batter reached. A single is 1B, a double is 2B, a triple is 3B, and a home run is HR. Many scorekeepers also draw a line from home toward the base the batter reached, so the diamond shows the hit at a glance.
A walk is BB, short for base on balls. It puts the batter on first without a hit, so you mark BB and move the runner to the first-base corner of the diamond. A hit-by-pitch is usually HBP.
The base a runner reaches matters as much as how they got there. Whether it was a single or a walk, the runner is now standing on first, and the diamond in that batter's box should show it.
1B is a single, 2B a double, 3B a triple, HR a home run. BB is a walk, base on balls, which puts the batter on first.
Filling the diamond to score a run
Each batter's box holds a small diamond, and that diamond is how you track a runner all the way home. As the runner advances, you trace their path around it: to first, to second, to third, and back to home.
When a runner completes the trip and scores, you fill in the diamond completely, often coloring it in solid. A filled diamond means one run. Count the filled diamonds in an inning and you have the runs scored that inning. Count them down the page and you have the final score.
This is the payoff of the whole system. The position numbers tell you how each out happened, the hit and walk marks tell you how runners got on, and the diamond ties it together into runs. One page, one game, fully readable.
A batter singles (1B), advances to second on a teammate's hit, to third on a groundout, and scores on a sacrifice fly. You trace each leg and fill the diamond solid: one run.
Key takeaways
- Position numbers 1 through 9 are fixed: 1 pitcher, 2 catcher, 3 first, 4 second, 5 third, 6 shortstop, 7 left, 8 center, 9 right.
- Outs are written as the ball's path using those numbers: 6-3 is a groundout short to first, F8 is a flyout to center.
- K is a strikeout swinging; a backwards K is a strikeout looking on a called third strike.
- Hits are marked by bases reached (1B, 2B, 3B, HR) and a walk is BB, base on balls.
- Fill in the batter's diamond when the runner scores; each solid diamond equals one run, and counting them gives the final.
Frequently asked
What do the numbers 1 to 9 mean in a baseball scorebook?
They are the fielding positions, fixed for every game: 1 pitcher, 2 catcher, 3 first base, 4 second base, 5 third base, 6 shortstop, 7 left field, 8 center field, 9 right field. You string them together to record how an out happened, like 6-3 for a ground ball from shortstop to first.
What does a backwards K mean in scorekeeping?
A backwards K means the batter struck out looking, caught watching a called third strike without swinging. A regular, forward K means the batter struck out swinging. Splitting the two lets the book show whether a pitcher is freezing hitters or getting them to chase.
How do you mark a hit versus a walk?
Hits are scored by bases reached: 1B for a single, 2B for a double, 3B for a triple, HR for a home run. A walk is BB, short for base on balls, which puts the batter on first without a hit. Both move the runner into the diamond in that batter's box.
How do you show that a run scored?
Each batter's box has a small diamond. As the runner advances you trace the path to first, second, third, and home. When the runner scores, you fill the diamond in solid. Each filled diamond is one run, so counting them by inning gives you the score.
Is there an easier way than keeping the book by hand?
Yes. Statside keeps the book for you from a phone. You tap the play as it happens, box score or play-by-play, and it records every out, hit, and run and computes the rate stats automatically. Team pages, embeds, and season leaders update live, so nobody has to decode a paper page later.
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