Bad habit with scoring App.

unfortunately, the computer did exactly what you told it. It didn't miss the IBB, you did.  I know because I have been there and done that.  As I get better with the computer, I worked hard to be a better observer (is it the right batter? etc).  Most times, I missed the subtle pitching change between innings, but missing a batter like that usually comes from chaos and generates more chaos.  As time went on, I recruited a "back-up" who could do the computer on days when I could not be there.  Before long, he sat by my side at the games and became my "spotter" helping me slow down the chaos.  I can't tell you how many times I would finish the previous play and he would get me caught up with the 3 pitches I had just missed.

BTW - the Fed rule that you can "announce" an IBB simply makes things worse.  I wish they would make them throw the pitches so I could keep up!

Good luck....you don't miss much, so I am sure this drove you crazy!

schwammi,

You’re exactly right. The computer had nothing to do with it, and you’re correct about having to become a different if not better observer.

I’d love to have a backup, but I’m afraid that would be difficult in our situation, A spotter would be a tremendous aid as well, but I’m afraid that’s pretty much in the weeds as well. What I’ve come to do, is to have a tablet and pencil always at hand to record the game’s goin’s on until I can get things corrected and caught up. It doesn’t happen often that the roof caves in, but it definitely does happen.

The good news is, since I wrote the program I use, I also get to make changes to it that make things easier for me to recover when things go wrong. Its just that so many things can go wrong, and when you track as many things as I do, it takes some time to make sure everything’s corrected.

Where I made my biggest mistake, was when I designed and tested the program. I did it after the HS season 2 years ago, and worked on it all summer, testing the various things by scoring ML games using DirecTV’s MLB package. Once I got the basic program working, I’d score a game, write down all the things that didn’t work correctly, then get them fixed and score another game.

Eventually I got it to where things were pretty clean, and then came fall ball and the real test. Talk about a program farting in your face! I’d completely forgotten about things they do in HS that they don’t do in MLB. Simple things like reentry, courtesy runners were a nightmare to get working correctly. But the worst has been pitchers. I basically watched AL games, and I thought that would work out best because they use the DH just like HS. Unfortunately, very seldom does the pitcher in the AL bat, then move to another fielding position, or move from another fielding position, then bat.

Needless to say, the design flaw is all on me. I’m seriously considering making a major change to it after this season to correct that flaw. The main problem has been the way I track pitchers. For hitters its been pretty simple. Every PA is a new record, then when the game’s over I combine them and make game records.

But with pitchers I don’t do that. I make one record for each pitcher, and that’s where the problems lie. I’ve been thinking about it though, and I’m pretty sure I can add the new way without disturbing what’s going on now, so it’ll be interesting.

Yes, it did drive me crazy! The drive home is about 20 miles, and all that time I was thinking about what could have possibly gone wrong, and of course couldn’t rest until I got it figgered out. But its all great fun, and it’s a heck of a hobby.

I have always enjoyed trading thoughts with you and I think you are onto something about every PA being a separate record.  Just curious, what happens if your coach changes pitchers mid-batter?

As you may remember, my experience came from Gamechanger which I liked, but I think lacks many of the stats you track (or maybe they have them but you can't get to them).  I enjoyed toying around with moving from paper to electronic.  And I learned the hard way about operator error, as well as, the prospects of dealing with the elements built into the software that I could not control.  

And then there is Fed.....the IBB rule was challenging (GC does not handle it unless the latest release fixed that), the re-entry, the DH, etc.  And when a coach is lax about announcing subs, bedlam starts.

I wish you well.  I know you have a ton of pride put into that system.  Good luck!

One last question, I noticed that my son's college team tracks every pitch for type, location, and speed (radar gun)....just wondering if you have built that into your system?  Of if you plan to?  Of if there is a way that you could track and merge using two computers?  Now there is a dilemma.   I can only imagine how many statistics and trends you could track with that information (1st pitch FB strike vs non-FB?, speed variance of 1st pitch strike?).  Uh oh....maybe I opened a can of worms?

Originally Posted by schwammi:

I have always enjoyed trading thoughts with you and I think you are onto something about every PA being a separate record.  Just curious, what happens if your coach changes pitchers mid-batter?

Have you been watching our games this season?

As a matter of fact, the program does fine with the counting of pitches, but because I only create one overall record for the pitcher, it gets “troubled” and counts the AB for the new pitcher. I make a manual adjustment, but only if the batter gets charged to the old pitcher.

I had a new one just last week where a pitcher was relieved, then went to play 3^rd. After 2 batter and 2 pitches, he was back on the mound. AAAARRRGGGGHHH! Again, I made the manual adjustment, but since I also don’t allow a pitcher to pitch again because it needs to  make a new record, it’s a problem.

As you may remember, my experience came from Gamechanger which I liked, but I think lacks many of the stats you track (or maybe they have them but you can't get to them).  I enjoyed toying around with moving from paper to electronic.  And I learned the hard way about operator error, as well as, the prospects of dealing with the elements built into the software that I could not control.  

I mess around with Gamechanger too, but it didn’t last too long. I couldn’t get at my own data, and that wasn’t acceptable, plus I’m not willing to lose a lot of the stats I do that it doesn’t do. I stll say for 99% of the people it’s a great app, but its just not for me.

And then there is Fed.....the IBB rule was challenging (GC does not handle it unless the latest release fixed that), the re-entry, the DH, etc.  And when a coach is lax about announcing subs, bedlam starts.

The subs are killers and always have been. I had an acquaintance sitting beside me a couple games back who was a D1 coach for over 25 years, and he was getting a hoot out of the different things I’ve made the program do that help me kill time. I can right click on a player in either lineup’s number and see all their MaxPrep stats. I can get pitching data for the current game a lot of different ways too, plus get Runner Disruptions.

When some changes were made, he couldn’t believe the umpire didn’t announce them other than to the opposing coach, and when I told him that was normal, he said that was the umpire’s job. When I asked him how often the umpires he was used to announced fielding changes other than the pitchers, he admitted it was sometimes a problem at his level too. Its all ok if there’s an extra person “spotting”, but like he mentioned, without having ALL the changes, its almost impossible to get valid fielding numbers.

I wish you well.  I know you have a ton of pride put into that system.  Good luck!

Yeah, I’ pretty proud of it because I know how much time I’ve spent trying to make it as user friendly as possible, while producing as many things as possible, and at the same time keeping the integrity of the data as high as possible.

One last question, I noticed that my son's college team tracks every pitch for type, location, and speed (radar gun)....just wondering if you have built that into your system?  Of if you plan to?  Of if there is a way that you could track and merge using two computers?  Now there is a dilemma.   I can only imagine how many statistics and trends you could track with that information (1st pitch FB strike vs non-FB?, speed variance of 1st pitch strike?).  Uh oh....maybe I opened a can of worms?

No. I don’t now nor have I ever believed in it. I do have a little program that does all that other than the velocity, which I could easily add in, but I refuse to use it. I don’t know how those guys do it, but when I was watching my son’s college team do it, and from what I’ve seen HS teams do, they have a pitcher who isn’t in the game or a coach behind the backstop using the gun, and another writing things down and watching for pitch location and type.

To me that’s a very poor way to get a location, and unless they either watch the signals being sent in, or pay super close attention, they very often can’t accurately tell the pitch type. Then there’s the little problem of not really tracking every pitch. In the end its certainly something I COULD do, and it really would be heaven to have all the possible things that could be looked at, but for right now, I’m just a 66 YO guy doin’ this stuff with no help and on a shoestring budget. On top of that, our coach doesn’t have a gun in the program and doesn’t want one, plus under FED rules, players aren’t allowed out of the dugout to do those things, and parents aren’t really interested in anything that means they have to concentrate just as hard on every batter and pitcher as they do for their own kid.