Scoring A Strikeout On A Baseball Scorecard

As the old saying goes, three strikes and you're out! It's such a popular phrase that it has become a  part of Americana. But in baseball, a strikeout occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. This baseball statistic is considered an at-bat and recorded as a strikeout on a baseball scorecard.

There are two ways to strikeout, swinging and looking. They are scored differently on the scorecard.

Strike Out Swinging (K)
If a batter has two strikes and swings and misses the ball for the third strike, it is recorded as a strikeout.
It is entered in the baseball scorebook as "K".
If the batter foul tips the third strike and the catcher holds onto the ball without it touching the ground it is also considered a swinging strike out, entered with a "K".
If a batter bunts the ball foul on the third strike, that too is considered a strikeout and noted with the letter "K".


Strike Out Looking (backward "K")
If the batter does not swing at the third pitch and it is called a strike by the umpire, it is a strikeout “looking”.
A distinction is made for a "Strike Out Looking". It is written as a backward "K".

Both the Strike out swinging and strike out looking are very important baseball statistics that are used to evaluate a player's offensive ability.


source: howtoscorebaseball.info