A Review After my First Few Games of Scoring

[BlueClawDad]

OK, I've scored my first three games and I feel the need to share my initial thoughts with anyone that might be about to embark on their initial efforts.

Overall - The end results (stats, player cards, gamecast) are definitely worth the effort, but don't kid yourself there is a learning curve. So my advice to you all is to expect that you are not going to be perfect the first time out. Plan on spending some time correcting your efforts. Take advantage of the forum, people are helpful, they have been through it before, and the responses are pretty quick. In the end its worth it.

I'm not going to list all the individual mistakes that I made, 'cause the ones you make are likely going to be different. For example, I couldn't find the balk button (panic), I also didn't know how to record steals, when a boy stole second I didn't hit "second" consequently he stole first base a couple of times. I also somehow screwed up the lineup in my first game, I thought I had them all in the right order because I put my roster in the right order. I didn't realize that I needed to put the game lineup in the correct order too. Bottom line, I think I am ready now to at least be marginally competent.

Pros - By the second inning of the first game, I pretty much had the basics down. That's quick. Now mind you, I already had totally botched the first inning, the gamecast wasn't working and the other parent's (being very supportive) were laughing their collective butts off at me and having a lot of fun asking me how it was going.

- I scored the second and third games with relatively few mistakes. I actually started to get a little cocky, then a boy balked and I didn't know what to do, eventually I recovered.

- The "undo" button comes in pretty handy, when after scoring as play you look down only to see the wrong boys on the wrong bases

Cons - I couldn't find an easy way to simply correct the score for an inning and move on after I had made mistakes

I really hated being asked what happened to each baserunner after a play (including the batter - duh he's safe that's why I clicked hit single). Seems like there could at least be an option to autoadvance the baserunners, minor correction can then be made by clicking on individual baserunner as needed. I realize there will always be a need for the "classic" mode, but an auto-advance mode would be really nice.

- In order to get the stats right, I needed to rescore the games when I got home. It was painful, but it forced me to learn a little more. I think I am better prepared now.

- On the iPhone the "in play" button could be bigger. I really wanted to "click it" with my thumb while holding the phone, but the button is too small and my thumb is too big, so I didn't always hit the mark. I found myself having to look away from the action to "click "the button with my index finger.

[jcbeckman]

I really hated being asked what happened to each baserunner after a play (including the batter - duh he's safe that's why I clicked hit single). Seems like there could at least be an option to autoadvance the baserunners, minor correction can then be made by clicking on individual baserunner as needed. I realize there will always be a need for the "classic" mode, but an auto-advance mode would be really nice.

Well, one reason to ask about the runners is that's it *not* automatic. For example - maybe the batter is safe at first, but out at second on the same play - he's credited with a single, but tried to go for second and got thrown out. So just because you hit "single" doesn't mean the guy is safe on first. He could have also gone to second or third (or even scored! - I just saw a guy go from first to home at a MLB spring training game the other day, all on a series of bad throws on the same play) on an error or throw to another base.

On a hit, you should notice that the default for the runners is the same number of bases as the hit - if you touch "single", and runners on base should default to the next base when you are asked about them. For a double, it's two bases up, etc. I agree it seems tedious at times, but if FTM starts picking and choosing when to ask, you can bet someone will mis-score a game be be upset about it.

[BlueClawDad]

Yep, I realize that... but that doesn't mean that I have to like it
It's probably the one awkward/tedious aspect of scoring IMO