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<\/a>When it comes to communications, Sarah Johnson is a researcher, analyst and strategist, with the ability to tell a story in creative and compelling prose. With a Master\u2019s Degree in Business Communications from the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota), attention to detail and a Renaissance-style curiosity, Johnson\u2019s writing has covered topics ranging from Minnesota\u2019s role in the Battle of Gettysburg to the renowned Gothic Cathedral of Cologne (Germany) to Lima, Peru\u2019s growing status as a \u201cfoodie\u201d destination to the career of MLB pitcher Charles \u201cChief\u201d Bender. Her work has appeared in such varied publications as the Minneapolis Star Tribune<\/em>; Food Wine Travel Magazine<\/em>; Minnesota History Magazine<\/em>; and the SABR Baseball Research Journal<\/em>.\u00a0 In addition to a successful freelance career, she has worked for such varied organizations as\u00a0 the Hennepin Theatre Trust, Midwest Food Connection and YouthLink MN.<\/p>\nJohnson, however, is the subject of this Baseball Roundtable post for a different kind of story telling \u2013 one told in numbers (like 6-4-3) and acronyms (like HBP and RBI). Working at Target Field (home of the Minnesota Twins), Johnson is one of just five female official scorers<\/em><\/strong> (out of approximately 100 official scorers) in Major League Baseball.\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Baseball Roundtable was pleased to have the opportunity\u00a0 to talk with Johnson about baseball and her work as an official scorer.<\/p>\n Johnson indicated she became interested in sports at an early age\u00a0 – from the sidelines, rather than on the field.<\/p>\n \u201cI did not play sports growing up, but I have always loved watching baseball and\u00a0 spent considerable time watching my sisters play basketball and volleyball,\u201d she explained.\u00a0 \u201cMy dad calls me the world\u2019s greatest spectator!\u201d<\/p>\n Baseball Roundtable Note:\u00a0 The choice of the phrase\u00a0 the \u201cworld \u2018s greatest spectator<\/strong>\u201d \u2013 as opposed to \u2013 “world\u2019s greatest fan<\/strong>,” may have foreshadowed Johnson\u2019s later work as a scorer and statistician. Clearly, in sports, unbiased interpretation of the play on the field (rather than fan-influenced observations) is a positive asset. <\/em><\/p>\n Sarah Johnson\u2019s father may have been the first to see her potential as a scorer.\u00a0 As he tells the story, he took Sarah to her first professional game (Twins at the HHH Metrodome ) at a very young age.\u00a0 Johnson saw a woman <\/em><\/strong>( Roundtable emphasis)<\/strong><\/em> keeping a scorecard and was very curious about what she was doing.\u00a0 At their very next game, Johnson\u2019s father bought Sarah a scorecard and she taught herself how to score a baseball game.\u00a0 (More foreshadowing?)<\/p>\n Johnson\u2019s advancement to the major-league scorer\u2019s table was a logical one. It included serving as an official scorer for a high school tournament, the first round of the 2018 NCAA Baseball Tournament (at the University of Minnesota\u2019s Siebert Field) and the independent minor-league Saint Paul Saints, \u00a0as well as spending time shadowing veteran official scorers for the Twins and Saints.<\/p>\n Those shadowing sessions, particularly with long-time official scorer Stew Thornley (who Johnson met through the Halsey Hall Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research), were a notable influence in Johnson\u2019s eventual selection as an MLB scorer.<\/p>\n \u201cI met Stew through SABR and knew he was one of the official scorers at Target Field, so I started asking him questions about unique game situations,\u201d Johnson said.\u00a0 \u201cThey must have been the right questions, because he turned to me one day and said, \u2018You should be an official scorer.\u2019 Stew allowed me to shadow him during a game at Target Field and then I contacted the Saints and asked if I could shadow their official scorer.\u201d<\/p>\n Baseball Roundtable Note:\u00a0 Both Thornley and Johnson are board members of the Halsey Hall SABR Chapter. <\/em><\/p>\n Johnson said those shadowing sessions were extremely helpful in building her understanding of what it takes to be an official scorer and what she needed to \u201cwork on and study\u201d if she wanted to earn a spot in the scorer\u2019s booth.<\/p>\n Johnson said a key part of preparation for a role as an official scorer\u00a0 (in addition to her practical experience with the Gopher and Saints) was an\u00a0 MLB program called the \u201cOfficial Scoring University.\u201d That program offers the opportunity to discuss rules and game situations in detail with veteran MLB scorers and MLB personnel. Johnson added that scorers also review judgement plays during the season, as well as take rules quizzes (and discuss their answers and reasoning in detail). The learning curve, she added, is ongoing.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the old clich\u00e9 goes, anytime you go to a baseball game you may see something you\u2019ve never seen before,\u201c Johnson said. \u201cThat\u2019s the most challenging thing about scoring, but also what keep it interesting. There is always more to learn.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson\u2019s \u00a0first game as an official MLB scorer was on the Twins Opening Day in 2022, a day she recalls as a \u201cwhirlwind.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAmid all of the pageantry of the first day of a new season, I was busy figuring out how to get everything I would need during the game in place,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cI remember spending most of the game trying not to forget anything I was \u00a0responsible for. \u00a0Fortunately, it was a fairly easy game.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have to make any tough judgment calls.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson, who scored 18 games at Target Field last season, described her game-day routine and responsibilities in detail for the Roundtable.<\/p>\n \u201cScorers have to be there an hour before the game, but I\u2019m always early, because \u00a0I like to get everything set up and tested so I can go and eat dinner before the game,\u201d she explained. \u201cI have my rule book, binoculars and pencils<\/em> with me at every game. \u00a0I know some official scorers keep score in pen and I don\u2019t know how they do it. I\u2019ve always kept score in pencil, but everyone\u2019s system is a little different.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also have to have a laptop with us because we stream the game feed so we can watch a replay if we need to make a judgement call or have a crazy play,\u201d Johnson continued. \u201cWe also have a program that provides clips of each play so that \u00a0we can easily go back and watch something again and don\u2019t have to search through the TV broadcast to find what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson noted that \u00a0weather conditions are one of the factors scorers are required to take into consideration for judgement calls, \u00a0so she checks out current and expected weather conditions before she arrives at the ballpark.<\/p>\n There is always a microphone nearby, she added.<\/p>\n \u201cThe official scorer is in the press box during the game and has a microphone to announce decisions and other game information to those in the press box and scoreboard booth,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Baseball Roundtable Note: \u00a0Note:\u00a0 Johnson also scores University of Minnesota Gophers and Saint Paul Saints games and, last season, scored approximately 40 games among the Twins. Saints and Gophers.<\/em><\/p>\n Official scorers are selected by and are employees of Major League Baseball, not any specific team, and are paid by MLB. Scorers are paid approximately \u00a0$35\/hour depending on qualifications and experience.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Johnson \u00a0added that there is just one official scorer for each game, but MLB \u00a0does provide some support for the decision-making process.<\/p>\n \u201cThe lone official scorer at each game is responsible for making every decision,\u201d she explained. \u201cHowever, we are assigned an official scoring support person for each game – \u00a0typically a veteran official scorer for another market whose team is on the road. We communicate with them via Slack (instant messaging software) and they can help provide a second opinion or help clarify a rule if something crazy happens. Ultimately, however, the final decision lies with the official scorer at the ballpark.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson told Baseball Roundtable that her role has an official scorer has changed the way she watches a game, but not how much she enjoys the national pastime.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re working the game, you\u2019re definitely not just sitting there relaxing as you would be as a fan, \u00a0but it\u2019s particularly enjoyable to be constantly involved in the game,\u201d she said. \u201cScorers are responsible for paying attention to every pitch, no matter what the score, no matter who is on the field or what the situation is, and no matter how long the game lasts. \u00a0You definitely have to be a huge baseball fan to maintain that intense level of \u00a0attention for that long.\u201d<\/p>\n I asked Johnson what the toughest calls \u00a0to make are – like a possible error on a ball that went untouched, giving an error on thrown ball to the fielder who made the throw or the player who was its target or calling a hit or error on a tough fielding chance.<\/p>\n \u201cThe short answer is \u2026 all of them! But the hardest part about doing official scoring for me is when you have a crazy inning where things just keep happening and you\u2019re not only making judgement calls, but have to constantly keep track of everything so you can reconstruct the inning,\u201c she said. \u201cI had a Gophers game where I had three errors and a passed ball in the same half inning. At the time, you just do the best you can to keep track of everything and keep going \u2026 and then you can go back and reconstruct the inning after the game is over.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson recalled a couple of particularly exciting games she scored in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing involved in a no-hitter or near no-hitter is always one of the most exciting, but also nerve-wracking, games to work as a scorer, \u201c she said. \u201cI had two such experiences last year. \u00a0I was the official scorer for the first no-hitter in CHS Field history at a Saints game. Then, \u00a0in my third MLB game as an official scorer, Justin Verlander took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Twins. I didn\u2019t have to make any controversial judgement calls in either one, but constantly knowing that I might have to on the next pitch was stressful!\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson added that an official scorer needs to have a thick skin.<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition to being detail-oriented and having a love of the game \u2013 so you can pay attention to every pitch as long as the game lasts \u2013 you have to have a thick skin and calm demeanor,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cYou\u2019re constantly making judgment calls and, no matter what the call, there\u2019s a chance someone might be upset. You have to remain calm – and be able to articulate why you called a certain play the way you did.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked for any advice she\u2019s give to prospective scorer, Johnson suggested :<\/p>\n Johnson strongly stressed the importance of knowing and relying on the rule book. \u201cNo matter what level you are scoring, use the rule book to work through situations as they come up during a game,” she said. “I frequently pull mine out \u2013 even when I\u2019m at home watching a game.”<\/p>\n Johnson\u2019s sports-related work, by the way, is not limited to baseball. She is also one of the scoreboard \u00a0operators for the NBA\u2019s Minnesota Timberwolves and does scorekeeping for boys and girls basketball at the high school level; activities she says \u201ckeep my scorekeeping brain active while I\u2019m waiting for the next baseball season to begin.”<\/p>\n If you want to learn more about MLB\u2019s group of female official scorers, just click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Baseball Roundtable is also on the Anytime Baseball Supply<\/em> Top 66 Baseball Sites list.\u00a0 For the full list, click here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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Baseball Roundtable – Blogging Baseball Since 2012.<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n
<\/a><\/a>Baseball Roundtable is on the Feedspot<\/em> list of the Top 100 Baseball Blogs.\u00a0 To see the full list, click\u00a0here.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nI tweet (on X) baseball @DavidBaseballRT<\/h3>\n