SportCon

Unlike in other sports, the official scorer in baseball is a judge, not just a recorder. The official scorer cannot affect the outcome of a game but does affect individual statistics. This presentation, by an official scorer for Major League Baseball and National Basketball Association games, examines the differences in the roles between the sports. The presentation traces the roots of baseball, as the scorer went from being a recorder to a judge. The decline in errors over the last 50 years, and the reasons for it, are discussed in addition to analysis of if there is a home-team bias and what is done by Major League Baseball to standardize how certain plays are ruled. The presentation will include videos of plays, allowing the audience to play the role of official scorer, and will provide information on the appeal system for scoring decisions, the use of replay video by scorers, and stories designed to illuminate and entertain.