Baseball Scoring Glossary: Stats, Abbreviations & How to Read a Box Score

Why This Glossary Exists

You're sitting in the bleachers, someone hands you a scorecard, and suddenly you're staring at a grid full of letters and numbers that look like a secret code. K? 6-4-3? IP? This guide breaks all of it down so you can follow along — or keep score yourself — without feeling lost.

The 7 Ways a Batter Can Reach Base

Not every baserunner gets there by hitting the ball. Here are all seven ways a batter can end up standing on a base instead of walking back to the dugout.

#	Way to Reach	Abbr.	What Happens	How It's Scored
1	Hit	1B, 2B, 3B, HR	The batter puts the ball in play and reaches base safely without a defensive mistake. A single (1B), double (2B), triple (3B), or home run (HR).	Credited as a hit. Counts toward batting average.
2	Base on Balls (Walk)	BB	The pitcher throws four pitches outside the strike zone and the batter doesn't swing at them.	Not counted as an at-bat. The batter goes to first base.
3	Hit by Pitch	HBP	A pitch hits the batter's body. The batter is awarded first base automatically.	Not counted as an at-bat. Noted as HBP on the scorecard.
4	Error	E	A fielder misplays a ball that should have been an out — a dropped catch, a wild throw, a bobbled grounder. The batter reaches base because of the mistake.	The batter is not credited with a hit. The fielder is charged with an error (e.g., E6 means the shortstop made the error).
5	Fielder's Choice	FC	The batter hits the ball and reaches base, but only because the defense chose to get a different runner out instead.	Counts as an at-bat but not a hit.
6	Dropped Third Strike	K (special)	The catcher fails to catch a third strike cleanly, and the batter runs to first before the throw arrives. Only applies when first base is unoccupied (or there are two outs).	The strikeout still counts against the batter. The catcher is charged with a passed ball or error.
7	Catcher's Interference	CI	The catcher's glove makes contact with the bat during the swing, obstructing the batter. Rare, but it happens.	The batter is awarded first base. Not counted as an at-bat.

Scoring Abbreviations

These are the shorthand notations you'll see on scorecards, in game recaps, and on stat sheets.

Batting & Baserunning

Abbr.	Meaning
K	Strikeout (swinging)
Kc	Strikeout (called — the batter didn't swing)
BB	Base on balls (walk)
IBB	Intentional base on balls (intentional walk)
HBP	Hit by pitch
1B	Single
2B	Double
3B	Triple
HR	Home run
GDP	Ground into double play
SF	Sacrifice fly (batter is out, but a runner scores)
SAC	Sacrifice bunt (batter bunts to advance a runner)
FC	Fielder's choice
E	Error (followed by position number, e.g., E5)
CI	Catcher's interference
SB	Stolen base
CS	Caught stealing
R	Run scored
RBI	Run batted in
LOB	Left on base

Pitching & Defense

Abbr.	Meaning
WP	Wild pitch (a pitch so far off target the catcher can't stop it)
PB	Passed ball (a catchable pitch the catcher lets get by)
BK	Balk (an illegal pitching motion; runners advance one base)
W	Win
L	Loss
SV	Save
HLD	Hold

Defensive Position Numbers

Every position on the field has a number. These numbers are how plays are recorded on a scorecard.

Number	Position
1	Pitcher (P)
2	Catcher (C)
3	First Baseman (1B)
4	Second Baseman (2B)
5	Third Baseman (3B)
6	Shortstop (SS)
7	Left Fielder (LF)
8	Center Fielder (CF)
9	Right Fielder (RF)

How Play Notations Work

When you see numbers strung together, they describe who touched the ball:

• 6-3 — the shortstop (6) fielded the ball and threw to the first baseman (3) for the out. A standard groundout.
• 6-4-3 — shortstop to second baseman to first baseman. A double play.
• 4-6-3 — second baseman to shortstop to first baseman. Another common double play.
• F8 — a fly ball caught by the center fielder.
• F9 — a fly ball caught by the right fielder.
• L6 — a line drive caught by the shortstop.
• U3 — unassisted putout by the first baseman (they fielded and stepped on the bag themselves).

Batting Stats Explained

These are the stats you'll see on a lineup card or in a post-game summary.

Stat	Full Name	What It Means
PA	Plate Appearances	Total trips to the plate. Every time the batter completes a turn — hit, out, walk, anything.
AB	At-Bats	Plate appearances minus walks, hit-by-pitches, sacrifices, and catcher's interference. The denominator for batting average.
H	Hits	Times the batter reached base on a fair ball without an error or fielder's choice.
AVG	Batting Average	Hits divided by at-bats. A .300 average (3 hits per 10 at-bats) is excellent.
OBP	On-Base Percentage	How often a batter reaches base by any method. (Hits + Walks + HBP) divided by (At-Bats + Walks + HBP + Sacrifice Flies).
SLG	Slugging Percentage	Total bases divided by at-bats. A single = 1, double = 2, triple = 3, homer = 4. Measures power.
OPS	On-Base Plus Slugging	OBP + SLG added together. A quick snapshot of overall offensive value. An OPS above .800 is strong.

Pitching Stats Explained

Stat	Full Name	What It Means
IP	Innings Pitched	How many innings a pitcher recorded outs in. Each out is a third of an inning — see the box score section below for more on this.
ERA	Earned Run Average	Earned runs allowed per nine innings. (Earned Runs times 9) divided by Innings Pitched. Lower is better. Under 3.00 is elite.
WHIP	Walks + Hits per Inning Pitched	(Walks + Hits) divided by Innings Pitched. Measures how many baserunners a pitcher allows. Under 1.20 is very good.
K/9	Strikeouts per 9 Innings	(Strikeouts times 9) divided by Innings Pitched. Higher means more dominant.
BB/9	Walks per 9 Innings	(Walks times 9) divided by Innings Pitched. Lower means better control.
FIP	Fielding Independent Pitching	An ERA-like number that only counts things the pitcher directly controls: strikeouts, walks, hit-by-pitches, and home runs. Strips out luck and defense.

How to Read a Box Score

The Linescore (R-H-E)

At the top of every box score you'll see something like this:

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Visitors	0	1	0	2	0	0	1	4	8	1
Home	0	0	3	0	1	0	X	4	7	0

• Each numbered column is an inning, showing how many runs scored that inning.
• R = total Runs. H = total Hits. E = total Errors.
• The X in the home team's last inning means they didn't bat (they were already winning or the game was tied going to the bottom of the last inning and they walked it off).

The Batting Lines

Each batter's line shows their name followed by columns like AB, R, H, RBI, BB, K. Read left to right: how many at-bats they had, how many runs they scored, how many hits, how many runs they drove in, walks drawn, and strikeouts.

The IP Quirk

Innings pitched uses a decimal that does not mean tenths. It means thirds:

• 6.0 = six complete innings (18 outs)
• 6.1 = six innings and one out (19 outs)
• 6.2 = six innings and two outs (20 outs)

This trips people up constantly. Just remember: the number after the dot is outs, not a fraction.

Start Tracking with Stathlon

Keeping score on paper is a great way to learn the game, but when you're ready for something faster, Stathlon makes it easy to track stats, record highlights, and share box scores from your phone. No clipboard required — just tap and watch the stats build themselves in real time.