REFERENCE
E6 means an error by the shortstop. E stands for error, and 6 is the shortstop’s position number. Here is what counts as an error, every error number from E1 to E9, and how to write them in a scorebook.
Every fielder has a number from 1 to 9, and the shortstop is 6. When a fielder misplays a ball that should have been an out, the scorekeeper writes E plus that fielder’s number. So when the scoreboard or a scorecard says E6, the shortstop made the mistake.
You will see E6 often because the shortstop gets a lot of ground balls, and the long throw across the diamond to first base leaves room for things to go wrong. Not sure why the shortstop is 6 and not 5? See baseball position numbers.
The numbers are the same at every level, from Little League to the majors, and in softball too.
In the major leagues, errors are covered by Rule 9.12 of the Official Baseball Rules, and the official scorer makes the call. The test is ordinary effort: if a fielder of average skill at that position would have made the play, and the fielder’s misplay lets the batter reach or a runner move up, it is an error.
Common errors are a ground ball through the legs, a routine fly ball dropped, a throw that pulls the first baseman off the bag, and a catch that should have been made on a good throw.
Some things are not errors under the rule. Mental mistakes, like throwing to the wrong base, are not scored as errors unless a specific rule says so, and a fielder who simply handles the ball too slowly to get the runner is not charged with one. In a youth or rec game, whoever keeps the book is the official scorer, so use the same ordinary effort test and stay consistent.
Write the error in the batter’s box for that at-bat, with the base the batter reached. The error goes to the fielder who made the mistake, not always the one who touched the ball first.
For the rest of the marks you will use, see baseball scoring symbols and scorekeeping abbreviations.
A batter who reaches on an error does not get a hit, so it counts as an at-bat without a hit and lowers his batting average. Runs that score because of an error are usually unearned, which keeps them out of the pitcher’s ERA. That is why an error call can start a real argument in the press box.
In the line score at the end of a game, the E column is the team’s total errors, and a box score adds an errors line naming the players who made them. More on that in box score abbreviations.
E6 means an error charged to the shortstop. E stands for error and 6 is the shortstop’s position number.
A fielding error by the shortstop, such as a booted ground ball, a dropped throw, or a wild throw to first that lets the batter reach or a runner advance when ordinary effort would have made the play.
Errors by position: E1 pitcher, E2 catcher, E3 first base, E4 second base, E5 third base, E6 shortstop, E7 left field, E8 center field, E9 right field.
The official scorer. Under MLB Rule 9.12, an error is charged when a fielder fails to make a play that a fielder of average skill at that position would make with ordinary effort. In a youth or rec game, whoever keeps the book makes that call.
Start with how to score a baseball game, then learn the backwards K for called third strikes.
Browse all guidesThe app has a one-tap Error button and the same position numbers as a paper scorebook, and it keeps errors out of the hit column so the stats come out right.
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