About

Why Tough Call exists

Most scorekeepers learn on the job, in the bleachers, with a game going on. Tough Call is a place to get the reps in first.

Where it started

Tough Call was built by a parent who keeps the book for a son’s travel ball and high school games, almost always in a scoring app on a phone. That job comes with a steady supply of plays that make you stop and think: a bobble and a late throw, a ball in the dirt with a runner going, a grounder that eats up the third baseman.

There was no good way to practice. Scoring apps have practice modes with no plays in them and no feedback. The courses are lessons you sit and watch. Nothing showed you a real play, asked for your call, and told you straight whether you got it right.

The answer key already existed. MLB’s play data records how the official scorer ruled every play: the result, the putouts and assists, which fielder was charged with the error and whether it was fielding or throwing, wild pitch or passed ball. Every play in MLB’s video library is a practice question that has already been graded. Tough Call puts the video and the ruling side by side and adds a clock.

What it grades today

• The result. Single, groundout, fielder’s choice, reached on error, sacrifice fly, wild pitch, stolen base, and the rest.
• The fielder sequence. Position numbers in the order the ball was touched. 6-3 is shortstop to first. 4-6-3 is second to short to first. Order counts.
• The error. Which fielder, and whether it was a fielding or a throwing error. E6 on a wild throw is not E3 on a dropped one.
• Your time. Every call is timed from the moment the clip ends to the moment you submit.

What it doesn’t grade yet

Runner advancement, RBIs, and earned versus unearned runs. After each play you see how the official scorer recorded them, but they don’t affect your grade in this version. Pitch-by-pitch scoring and full half-innings are on the list. They are planned, not promised.

Judgment calls, honestly

Some rulings are judgment. Hit or error is the big one: two good scorers can watch the same grounder and land on different sides. Fielder’s choice or single is another.

Tough Call doesn’t pretend those are clean. When the official scorer’s ruling was a judgment call and your call differs only on that question, you see Judgment call and the ruling the scorer made, and it doesn’t count against your streak. The official scorer is still the answer key. The app just tells you when the key is one person’s reasonable opinion.

Why pro plays

Major leaguers make far fewer errors than thirteen-year-olds, so the play bank leans on the minor leagues, Triple-A down to rookie ball, and spring training. That’s where the messy plays are, and every one of them has an official scorer’s ruling behind it.

Who it’s for

Parents and volunteers who keep the book for youth, travel, and high school baseball and softball, from drafted-last-week to pretty-good-but-hesitant-on-the-weird-ones. Coaches, student managers, and paper-book scorers too. If you’ve ever had the whole bleacher row look at you after a bobble at short, it’s for you.

Why it’s free

It uses MLB’s video, so it can’t be sold, and it isn’t. No ads, no paywall, no selling data. Video and data are provided by MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Tough Call is not affiliated with MLB or GameChanger.

If the video goes away

Every clip streams from MLB’s servers, and MLB can remove a clip or close access at any time. When a clip breaks, the play is retired. If MLB asks us to stop, we stop.