Scorecard Spotlight: THIRTY81 Press
Scorecard Week 2025
I’ll be honest here, though I understand its importance, I really hate the MLB’s bag policy. When I go places, I usually have a backpack with me. A bottle of water, a notebook, maybe my camera depending on where the day’s outing is taking me. The MLB prohibits backpack-style bags and severely limits the size of other style bags that are allowed into baseball stadiums. I haven’t found an alternative I like. If you’re a regular scorekeeper, the restrictions on the size of bags may deter you from bringing in a full size scorebook or prevent you from bringing in your bag of scoring tools. Imagine if Keith Hernandez had to stuff his scorekeeping set-up into a drawstring bag or fanny pack?
Luckily, Lou at THIRTY81 Press has created some handy, travel-sized goodies perfect for navigating ballpark security.
Lou was featured in one of the first issues of The Rally Towel. Our chat went well beyond the topic of scorekeeping. I highly encourage you to give the issue a read if you are interested in architecture, drafting, design, baseball love stories, or how the heck a letterpress works. Among many other things, Lou is a true baseball guy and someone I consider to be a steward of the scorekeeping tradition.
My mom taught me a very basic style [of scorekeeping] that has evolved for me over the years. We often scored games together — one of us would score the first half, the other would take over until the last out. We NEVER left a game early. My mother was a devoted Catholic. She’d leave church early, but never a ballgame. One of my most cherished possessions is an Angels program from 1979. Inside is one of the games we scored together.
- Lou Spirito, The Rally Towel Issue #8
Among many other things, Lou and I bonded over a shared love of learning and general curiosity. Lou’s latest scorekeeping innovation is the Scorekeeper Survival Kit. This Altoids-sized kit contains all the essentials any scorekeeper needs. 9 scorecards, 2 pencils and eraser toppers, a pencil sharpener, a pinback button (signifying you as a scorekeeper), a scoring guide, and a piece of bubble gum.
The Scorekeeper Survival Kit isn’t just a novelty item, it’s highly functional. Like all of the products in the THIRTY81 Press shop, design and functionality are a priority.
“This started as a personal design challenge and turned into something I’m quite proud of. For such a small piece, it used more resources than I could have imagined: Tins, pencils, sharpener are all laser engraved. The sleeve for the scorecards and the tin insert are laser cut. The eraser was a particular problem as I could’t find a small pencil with an attached eraser that would fit, so I designed and 3D printed the caps and cut up some eraser stick refills. I also drilled a small hole into the bottom of the sharpener and added a magnet — this acts as a way to hold the scorecard on the tin when scoring and also as a divider inside the tin. Many small details went into such a small package.”
Make sure you stop by the THIRTY81 Press website to see the rest of Scoring Baseball line-up. I’m a big fan of their notecard sized Pocket Scorecards, which are printed in-house using a letterpress from the 1960s. While you’re stocking up for the season, be sure to grab the 2025 Edition of the Major League Ballpark Guide & Schedule, which I think is the ultimate field guide to pair with your scorebook.
The THIRTY81 Press website is also where you can find team-specific digital scorecards, which have been updated for the 2025 season. These full sized cards are beautifully designed with a very thoughtful layout that allows scorers ample space to log their games. These cards are offered completely FREE, but please consider donating to one of Lou’s preferred humanitarian aid groups. I’m considering trying out some digital scorekeeping this season and these scorecards seem ideal for to with my iPad and Apple Pencil.
Head over to the THIRTY81 Press website today and get ready for another season of scorekeeping!
