In Scoring Position: 40 Years of a Baseball Love Affair

by Bob Ryan, Bill Chuck

A love letter to the game of baseball from one of America's foremost scribes

Bob Ryan has scored every baseball game he's attended, at every level, since the start of the 1977 season. It's a deeply personal tradition still going strong at more than 1,400 games and counting.

The tattered scorebooks he's filled are worn from age, travel, and countless summer days, but their grids and scrawled symbols tell the stories of milestones, rivalries, rare historic achievements, and more.

In Scoring Position captures the incomparable spirit of baseball, with its infinite possibilities and madcap anomalies. Ryan, alongside baseball historian and statistician Bill Chuck, has scoured his scorecard archives for the most singular events—a switch-hitter being hit by a pitch from both sides of the plate in the same game; a player batting for the cycle off four different pitchers; even back-to-back pinch-hit home runs with two outs in the 9th.

Featuring some of the game's biggest names and wildest scenarios, this is a fascinating romp through baseball history, exuding a pure zeal for this sport that fans of all teams will recognize in themselves.

Part of the collection at the library of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, this volume also features reproductions of dozens of scorecards from Ryan's collection.

Genres: Sports, Baseball, Nonfiction, Audiobook, History

464 pages, Hardcover

Published May 10, 2022

Reviews

[Ryan H · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a baseball fan I enjoyed the numerous oddities, statistics, and player references to names I've grown up with. If you're a Boston Red Sox fan, this should be a must read as Bob Ryan was their chief report for the Boston Globe.

[Richard Canale · Rating 4 out of 5]

any time you can put Randy Kutcher into a title name, I'm in. The cover artwork @ToddRadom made this one jump off the shelf for me.
A lot of fond memories of undermentioned players like Troy O'Leary brought back some good memories.

[Dick Peller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed Bob Ryan’s writing and analysis, and share his love of baseball. His accounts of the many games he scored, and especially Bill Chuck’s great research, made this a fun read. I was frustrated by the size of the box scores, which made reading them very difficult. And I was surprised by a significant number of typos- they were let down by their editing team. But reliving some of the great moments in Red Sox history is always fun.

[Christopher Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book. I met Bob Ryan and have read his articles in The Boston Globe for years. He has also been a great and fair writer and sports reporter. But in this book both he and Bill Chuck come across as curmudgeons.
More importantly they do Not hide their Boston bias. They criticize many Non Boston players for steroid use. Yes fail to mention steroid users from The Red Sox.
Additionally, there are many mistakes in this books which is surprising for two well know writers.

[Tim Karr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the premise of this book. Boston-based sportswriter Bob Ryan has always been compelled to keep score of every baseball game he has attended. He helped create this book by selecting certain games from his scorebooks through the years and commenting on what made the game interesting to him. Fellow sportswriter, Bill Chuck, added further commentary and statistical context. That sounded great to this baseball fan.

The execution is so poor that I am sorry I spent the money on this one. The reproduced scoresheets are so small that they are nearly unreadable without a magnifying device. About a quarter of the way through the book I quit trying to decipher the scoresheets. My guess is that somebody decided to make the scoresheet reproductions smaller to save money.

The copy editing for the hardback edition is poor. This is picking nits, I know, but having to reread sentences to figure out what the writer intended gets old after the 20th time or so.

A Boston baseball fan would probably get more enjoyment from the book than most because it is definitely centered on the Red Sox and their exploits.

[Russ Bertetta · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sorry to say that I'm disappointed with this book. I heard Bob Ryan talk on the radio one day about and thought this was a cool idea and went out and bought it thinking I could read this in between other books, read it leisurely. Those things remain true.
What I didn't know was just how boring the format could be-reading the same types of things over and over. I'm a huge baseball fan and have been for nearly 65 years now but the stories about the games Ryan scored just became too repetitive. Don't get me wrong, there was a lot of interesting stories, some unusual, some funny, some strange stories but it was just one after another.
Since Ryan covered the Red Sox for a long time, there are far too many Red Sox stories included which didn't surprise me but it just got too much.
Ryan's work setting up the box scores and basic information is a minor part of the book. Bill Chuck's research is the central element of the book and he should get most of the credit for what's in here but Ryan has the bigger name. Too bad.
It's hard for me to only give 2 stars to a baseball book but unfortunately that's my grade and I'm sticking to it.

[Andrew Langert · Rating 5 out of 5]

You need to be a hardcore baseball fan and a lover of statistics to appreciate this book. As such, I loved it.
Bob Ryan is a very well-known national sportswriter based in Boston. He keeps score of every baseball game he attends and has kept all of them: 1,400 scorecards. This book is about the most noteworthy of those scorecards. These are Bob's scorecards, but really this is Bill Chuck's book.
Each chapter starts with a scorecard (barely legible) and some game highlights recounted by Bob. But then Bill Chuck comes in to add further detail to either some of the players involved or some interesting statistics pertaining to the game.
Some of what Bill Chuck comes up with is amazing and I will give an example from late in the book relating to two recent sluggers: Chris Davis and Khris Davis. Khris Davis hit EXACTLY .247 in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. And even more amazing is that between July 9, 2015 and July 27, 2016, each of these guys had EXACTLY 143 hits, 45 home runs and 111 RBIs. As is stated numerous times in this book, you can't make this stuff up.

[Diane Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

I let out a massive sigh after finishing this book.
It was SO CLOSE to getting 4 stars for me, but then I read the last chapter. Going in, I knew the writers had a Boston bias and I was fine with that because before the final chapter they had done a great job at covering games across the league. I don’t expect them to have had premonitions and been at every interesting baseball game in the last decade, but I would also argue that you don’t need to be at a game to keep a scorecard record of it.
The beginning of the book was interesting with its unique anecdotes and personal player insights, but the ending just seemed lazy as it repeated things that were supposed to be special (i.e. talking about multiple games that Mookie Betts had more than one home run).
Notable mention: I really enjoyed the audiobook version of this. The narrators did a great job and made it seem more like a chat between two baseball loving friends.

[Scott Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a recounting of 40 years of following baseball by one of the top sports writers today: Bob Ryan. Along with his colleague Bill Chuck, Ryan recounts some of the memorable games he attended, covered, highlighted by the hand scoring he did for each game he attended. Being a Boston guy, the work is heavily skewed towards the Red Sox, but he includes other games he was at that didn’t involve Boston. It is informative, a fast read, and one that will appeal to a baseball crowd. The non-baseball fan will probably do well to skip this one, as it is very baseball-stat-y. Still, as a baseball, I could appreciate it

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. Who doesn't love a good box score?

I was hoping that the concept for this book would be a deep dive into a few games in Bob's famous scorebook collection. Instead, it was a collection of much shorter summaries of many more games. Some of them were interesting, and a great trip down memory lane. But others felt like they were just added to fill space. It was also (understandably) pretty Red Sox focused, especially towards the end, as Bob traveled less for his jobs.

EDIT: I will also echo the comments of others that they had a hard time reading the box scores. They were definitely very small and hard to read in my hardcover copy.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a perfect read to coincide with the World Series. The series ended on Saturday and I finished the book on Sunday. Mr. Ryan has been one of my favorite baseball writers (Boston Globe) and this was a nice book to read at a nice baseball pace. Mr. Ryan scores every (yes every)game that he attends. This book is broken up into decades, and each decade shows his actual score sheet with several notes on each page. Obviously this book is not for everyone, but I loved the notes, ditties and other odd/unusual facts from each game.

[Rachel Buske · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who loves to keep score at baseball games (I inherited it from my grandma), I loved this book about keeping score. Bob Ryan includes pictures of his scorecard for the most memorable games he’s attended, including Boston ending its World Series drought in 2004. Coauthor Bill Chuck includes stats related to the games and players, including not only major events but others that were obscure or bizarre. This was a great book to pick up from time to time with no need to read it cover to cover all at once.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

That’s 1-6-3 if you’re scoring at home and good for you if you are

Based on subject matter alone, I was prepared to give this 5 stars because I learned to keep a scorecard before I even learned to read (thanks, Dad!) and I attended and scored three of the games in the book. Alas, in the Kindle edition, the scans of Bob’s scorebooks are astonishingly poor, which amounts to a fatal flaw. I mean, THAT’S THE BOOK, am I right? Also, I must provide a caveat: the book is Boston Red Sox heavy, which is my sweet spot but will rankle fans of other teams.

[Ryan Decker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid baseball book for sure. Bob Ryan is one of the foremost baseball writers, and this is a unique book idea.

I give it only 4/5 stars for two reasons. One is typos/misprints — the further into the book I got, the more I saw. The other, which is, in part, unavoidable because of Bob’s work schedule, but there are fewer games written about the closer to the present we get, with large gaps in between.

Overall, a solid book, though it does fall short of five stars

[Daniel Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Columnist Ryan and baseball historian Chuck, recollect and analyze games that Ryan has scored throughout his five decades covering and being a fan of baseball. All of those selected have special significance. The 2004 Red Sox playoff games were great to recall. I enjoyed this and appreciated the sentiment that scoring is a language of its own, but would have liked more Ryan and less Chuck when looking at each game.

[Dave Popeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

For baseball lovers only and especially Red Sox fans. Boston Globe sportswriter Bob Ryan shares his lifetime olive of scoring baseball games and memories of many games he scored. A fun read that can be picked up and read at any point in the book.

[Christian Hamaker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing written by Bob Ryan is terrible, so my 1-star rating may be too unkind. But the premise of this book - expanding on a lifetime of scorecards - does not work as narrative and should not have been published.

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish there was a warning that this book was pretty much all about the Red Sox. :( It was interesting, but not enough about other teams.

[Jackchristopherhill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring

I would not recommend this book to anyone, unless they are a big Red Sox fan. I was really excited for this book, only to be very disappointed.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love baseball, you'll enjoy this read!

[Richard Munro · Rating 4 out of 5]

great fun for baseball fans

[Aaron J Forney · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of the book is great, and it’s a fun read for baseball fans - I assume especially for Red Sox fans. The length of it leads it to get a little shtick-y and sloppy by the end.