Understanding the commentary

[Vinnyvagus]

Hiya. Quick question. The announcer during a game for example reads:

0-0 Pitch: Fly Out, F8 (Fly out, 8LM)

What does the "8LM" mean at the end of the commentary?

[pstrickert]

Batted ball location.

Retrosheet Hit Location Diagram

[endgame]

It's a reference to hit location using Retrosheet's charting. 8LM is a Line drive Medium depth to 8 Centerfield. I tried to provide a link for you, but Google's giving me fits right now connecting to retrosheet.org for some reason. I'll upload it later.

Edit: Or wait for pstrickert to tell ya.

[pstrickert]

OOTP divides center field into left and right halves (not reflected in the Retrosheet diagram).

[pstrickert]

Out of the Park Baseball Manual

[Vinnyvagus]

Thank you.

[endgame]

Wow...I'm foggy. So the L in that case is Left Center. That's what you're saying. Gotcha.

[Papa3]

Wait a sec, I think L means the ball was hit down the Line. So you can't have 8LM. You can have 7LM or 9LM. For left center it would say 78M. Pretty sure that's how it works.

[pstrickert]

See Post #5.

[Déjà Bru]

Here are some notes that I collected on this topic:

Game logs include specific locations for hit balls, according to the convention used by Retrosheet. You can find out more about this convention at Retrosheet Hit Location Diagram.

Notes on some differences in the way OOTP shows ball hit locations:

Centerfield can be further described as left of center (not left-center, which is 78) or right of center (not right-center, which is 89) by inserting "L" or "R" directly after the "8", as follows: 8LXD is deep and slightly to the left of dead center and 8RXD is deep and slightly to the right of dead center. Similarly, "8LM" and "8RM" are the same but to medium centerfield.

With other field locations, "L" generally means "close to the foul line."

"15S" and "13S" are both bunts or squibs back to the pitcher, third base and first base side respectively.

"2L" is a fair popup to the catcher position, near the foul line or in front of the plate. "2LF" is a foul popup to the catcher position. "2R" is a fair bunt or a squib usually fielded by the catcher.

The game appends "F" to a fly ball caught in foul territory. For example, "7LSF" is a fly caught by the leftfielder on foul ground.

Note that these are positions, not players. For example, a pitcher could catch a foul popup near the plate. This play would then be scored F1 2LF.

[bbmike]

This is why I love the addition of 3D. So I can actually SEE where the ball went!