Geeking the Game

But at home, headphones on, lost in a 1957 Dodgers broadcast?

I don’t keep score every game. Not even close. But when the mood hits usually when I’m listening to an old broadcast I found online. I reach for my pencil bag. It’s got everything I need, a couple of pencils, an eraser, a sharpener, and my Bob Carpenter scorebook. I put in my AirPods, cue up the game, and write out the lineup.

It settles my mind.

There’s something about doing it by ear that brings a different kind of focus. I’m not watching anything. I’m not checking an app. Just listening, pitch by pitch, tracking the rhythm of the game by what the announcer gives me. And somehow, I see it more clearly.

I never kept score at the park. Too much happening around me plus I usually am taking pictures, with people moving, vendors yelling, kids kicking the seat. I can’t lock in. But at home, headphones on, lost in a 1957 Dodgers broadcast? That’s when the game opens up.

I loved doing it as a kid, sitting there trying to keep up with the play-by-play. And as an adult, it’s something I’ve come b…