Reading the Game Log

The game log provides a straightforward summary of the events that have occurred in a game, but it also includes some notation like pitch sequences that may not be as obvious. This tutorial describes those codes.

You may want to print this out to have on hand as you review the notations.

The game log is divided into the following five columns:

Column Title	Description
Score	score before the event occurs; always lists visiting team's score first
O	number of outs before the event occurs
Rnr	location of runners (1st, 2nd, and/or 3rd base) before the event occurs
BS	count (balls followed by strikes) before the event occurs
Event	description of the play including the sequence of pitches (contained in parentheses at the end of the play) that led up to the outcome

As mentioned in the previous table, the Event includes the sequence of pitches that led up to and includes the end result. The codes used to indicate the pitch sequence are described in the following table:

Pitch Code	Description
H	Hit by pitch
I	Intentional ball
B	Called ball
C	Called strike
S	Swinging strike
F	Foul ball
X	Ball put in play
1	Pitcher made pickoff throw to 1st
2	Pitcher made pickoff throw to 2nd
3	Pitcher made pickoff throw to 3rd

The > symbol appears before a pitch to indicate one or more runners moving on the pitch.

The following codes appear after a pitch to indicate the described action:

Pitch Suffix	Description
+1	Catcher made pickoff throw to 1st
+2	Catcher made pickoff throw to 2nd
+3	Catcher made pickoff throw to 3rd
b	Batter was bunting
p	Pitchout