Baseball Scores Big

OK, sports fan, you made it through the first of roughly 30 weekends with no NFL. Never mind that in less than a month the current labor agreement between players and owners expires and then we will be in very real peril of either a delayed season, or---perish the thought...a complete cancellation of the 2011 campaign!

That's probably just "Chicken Little, meet Doomsday" worrying. I am guessing billionaire owners and millionaire players will figure out a way to get things resolved. Regardless, it is time to find something else other than football to entertain you. Maybe it is too soon to get wrapped up in college hoops to hone your knowledge of teams and their intricacies relative to where you should seed them in your office's March Madness Tournament Bracket Challenge, or too early to devote yourself to the NBA as they jockey for playoff positioning for a post-season that does not get interesting for yet another 100 days!

That leaves us with baseball. But, if you are like me, you find the traditional reporting of "Hits, Runs, and Errors" deficient in adequately describing the game's action. So, stay with me as I offer you a way to make baseball every bit as compelling and entertaining an engagement of your time as is football: Big Play Scoring!

Hitting

Points / Big Play Description
1 Triple with No Outs
1 Run
1 RBI
2 Stealing Home
2 Home run
3 Two RBI Home Run
4 Three RBI Home Run
5 Grand Slam Home Run

Fielding

Points / Big Play Description
1 Double Play
1 Bases Loaded Inning-ending Out
1 Runner Thrown Out stealing / leading off / tagging up
2 Inning-ending Double Play
3 Bases Loaded Inning-ending Double Play

Pitching

Points / Big Play Description
1 RISP Strikeout
1 Closer Strikeout
2 Bases Loaded Inning-ending Strikeout


Remember, no "doubling up" on big play points. It's one or the other. But, as always, tally the greater number of "big play points" for any given Big Play. Also, big play points earned are big play points kept. No play, no matter how boneheaded, results in subtraction of big play points.

Play Ball!