Capitalization
Captain, manager, coach, and umpire are all lower case.
captain Derek Jeter
manager Tommy Lasord
umpire Moriarty
Use capitalization for full terms.
American League, National League, American League East, Organized Ball, Deadball Era, Negro League, Class A, Class B
For generic terms, use lowercase.
the league, the pennant in the West (note the exception: the Association for clarity)
Caps should be used for the World Series and the Series, but not world championship. Games in the World Series are uppercase: e.g., Game Three.
When naming awards, always capitalize the word Award.
Most Valuable Player Award (not Most Valuable Player award)
Cy Young Award
Rookie of the Year Award
Gold Glove
Depression
Texas Leaguer
A.M. and P.M. are set in small caps with periods.
Derivations of the South are capitalized: Southerner, Southern. The same is true of the North, East, and South.
grapefruit and cactus leagues are lowercase.
Lowercase spring training.
Lowercase winter meetings.
All-Star player, All-Star, All-Star Game are capitalized, especially when referring to MLB’s All-Star Game or All-Star selections. The word player is not capped. A generic all-star game or all-star selection is lowercase.
Opening Day (of season) is capitalized. The opening day of a series is not.
Commas
A 12-inning 7–6 loss
His 10th-inning two-run homer
A 7–5, 14-inning loss (use comma only when two numerals otherwise abut)
It is preferable to set off a score by a comma. The Tigers beat the A’s, 9–8. Defeated the Dodgers, 12–2, on May The serial comma is always used. This includes phrases in which three de at first, sec cents
10 cents . . . 99 cents
One dollar . . . nine dollars
$10, $11, . . .
$1 million, $2 million
Dangling Participles
Best avoided everywhere.
Dates
Months are spelled out. There is no comma between a month and the year. There is also no apostrophe for a full decade, but is one for the abbreviation of a decade.
September, not Sept.
September 1954
1980s, ’90s
(1993/8/14), not (8-14-93)
May 2, 1970; May 2 (with no year); May 1970. “On May 2, 1970, it rained on the parade.” Commas surround the year. But when only the month and year are given, the commas are not used: “In May 1970 seven games were rained out.” Commas are not used when only a year is given in a prepositional phrase: “In 1927 no one knew how well the Yankees were going to do.”
For periodicals or journals: Author (first name, last name) “Title of Article,” Periodical volume, number [if available] (date): page numbers.
Ryan Chamberlain, “Boxing and Baseball in the Nineteenth Century,” The National Pastime 1, no. 1 (1982): 28–37.
Trent McCotter, “Hitting Streaks Don’t Obe[tps_header][/tps_header][tps_footer][/tps_footer]y Your Rules,” The Baseball Research Journal 37 (2008): 62-70.
Newspaper articles:
if bylined:
Mark Feinsand, “A-Rod to Skip HR Derby,” New York Daily News, June 30, 2008.
if not bylined:
“Selig Announces Format Change,” Washington Post, May 30, 1996.
Personal interviews:
Joe Torre, telephone interview, May 8, 2007.
Websites: When possible cite as if from a newspaper or magazine, but include the full URL to the article. “Date accessed” may also be added.
Headings
In headings, capitalize the first word, the last word, and all other words except:
articles (a, an, and the)
prepositions (e.g., in, about) up to six letters
coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor)
Hyphenation
Adjectives consisting of two separate words are connected by a hyphen
left-handed pitcher
ticket-office sales
first-base line
Adjectives and nouns consisting of two terms at least one of which is itself compound are connected by an en dash
major league–caliber
Los Angeles–San Diego game
first baseman–third baseman
A general rule for compounds is to connect with a hyphen or en dash if it’s not a noun:
the first-place Cubs (but “finished in first place”)
hit a career-high .320
Broken compounds:
full- or part-time outfielder
2-for-4
Avoid such awkward phrases as “NL-record-fewest”
Scores should be shown as 7–3 (en dash), not 7 to 3
He batted 1-for-4 (hyphens)
30-year-old (n. & adj.) (hyphens)
his 653-game playing streak
an 11-inning no-hitter
a five-run outburst
a third-place finish
the second-place Dodgers
an 11th-inning sacrifice fly
his 16th-inning RBI
player-manager, not player/manager
the whip pennant
inning-by-inning
week-to-week
game-by-game
month-by-month
play-by-play
two-for-three. 2-for-3 is acceptable. Be consistent within an article as to which style you use. Do not have some sentences read “one-for-four” (spelled out) and others “2-for-5” (numerical).
Miscellaneous
Mets-Giants game, not Mets/Giants game
“a NL hitter,” not “an NL hitter”
native Cuban, not Cuban native
Nicknames
Individuals
A nickname should be set off in quotes if it is between the first and last name: Fred “Boot nose” Hofmann. If the nickname is synonymous with the player, or well-known enough, no quotation marks are needed: Babe Ruth, Hoot Evers, Dummy Hoy, Bubbles Hargrave. A lesser-known nickname should be set off with quotes: Tony “Count” Mullane, Mark “Fido” Baldwin.
If the player has several nicknames, such as Buck and Bobo for Newsom, make sure that there is no confusion if both are used.
If the sobriquet is longer than one word, set it off with quotation marks: “Death to All Flying Things,” “Big Un,” The Apollo of the Box,” “Mandrake the Magician.”
Exception: Three Finger Brown.
If the nickname is a shortening of the last name, it is acceptable to use it without quotes. Make sure, however, that there is no confusion. In an article on Yastrzemski, using Yaz without quotes is acceptable.
First names: First and last names can be used separately in an article, according to author’s preference: “Williams hit .406” is as acceptable as “Ted hit .406.” However, do not use “Connie” for Mr. Mack.
Teams
The nickname is used interchangeably with the name of the city, unless using the name of the city might be confusing as to which team is playing. “Cleveland beat Detroit, 7–3” is acceptable since any reader would know it is the Indians and the Tigers. “Chicago beats New York, 7–3” is less clear and might be confusing.
Early nicknames of teams are acceptable, although often these are changed to the city rather than the nickname. Or referred to as the “Brooklyn Nationals” to show they were the NL entry from there. Any documented nickname used at the time by the press or fans is acceptable.
Earlier nicknames of teams often used the manager’s name as the nickname—for example, the Hugmen, for Miller Huggins’ team. Make sure there is no confusion.
If the nickname was one of several, then it may be used interchangeably. Robins and Dodgers for Brooklyn.
Exception: The Blue Jays for the Philadelphia Phillies of the 1940s should not be used unless it is explained. The Bees should be used for the Boston Braves in the late ‘30s.
Exception: Pittsburg may be used for Pittsburgh, for the historical period before the city added the “h.”
The nickname of a team is referred to as who.
The Mariners, who have been in first place for two months, dropped to second today.
The city as team is referred to as that or which.
The win catapulted them over Seattle, which had held first place for two months.
Colt .45’s
Numbers
Spell out numbers from one through nine except when starting a sentence. Use numerals for numbers 10 and over. Numbers below 10 remain as numbers in tables and also when part of a series with numbers of 10 or above. Scores are always listed as numbers, not written out. In general, spell out numbers nine and under.
Two for his last 17
Three hits in 11 at-bats
Top 10, but top five, top three
With baseball-specific terms, the following styles should be used:
Batting average is .312, not 0.312
ERA is 2.14
5 1/2 games out, not 5.5
Some sample uses of numbers:
first inning, seventh-inning stretch, 10th inning; first base, second base, third base, first home run, 10th home run; first place, last place. The pitcher’s record is now 6-5. The final score was 1-0. The batter went 1-for-4.
Heights are given in numbers. 6-foot-2, 5’6”
Round off batting averages and earned-run averages unless it is critical to the discussion.
Fractions of innings. The preferred style for SABR is the 1/3 and 2/3 rather than .1 or .2.
Example: 5 1/3 innings worked, not 5.1 innings worked.
Fractions of games out. The preferred style is 5 1/2 games out of first place, not 5.5 games out of first place. Note that a single half should be spelled out as follows: “They were a half-game ahead in the standings.” (Not a 1/2 game, not “half a game”)
Numbers are hyphenated when spelled out. Twenty-one, not twenty one.
Numbers one through nine are generally spelled out in text. “The Cubs went on a nine-game winning streak”. Not “9-game winning streak.”
1 percent, 2 percent, 10 percent
Years (1914, for example) that start sentences need to be spelled out, though it looks awkward. But try to rewrite the sentence so the year does not begin it.
Newspapers and Periodicals
For the titles of newspapers, italicize both the city and the newspaper’s title. No cap or ital should be used for “the” in either newspapers or magazines, with the exception of The Sporting News (because of its common usage). Also, if The Sporting News is mentioned often in an article it is acceptable to intersperse the abbreviation TSN after the first time it is spelled out. We do not ital “The” in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, etc..
A comma or period goes inside the quotation mark. A colon, semicolon, question mark, or exclamation point goes outside the quotation mark, unless it is part of the quoted material. Examples:
The umpire asked, “Is there a doctor in the park?”
Did that man say, “I’m a doctor”?
Yes, he said, “I’m a doctor”!
Wally Schang’s manager said, “We wuz robbed!”
Books, magazines, and publications are italicized. (In titles of publications, initial articles are kept in roman and lowercase, with the exception of The Sporting News.) Names of plays and musicals are in quotation marks. Song titles are in quotation marks; albums should be italicized. Dissertations, articles, and chapters in books are in quotation marks. All are set in title case.
Miscellaneous
Jr. and Sr. are not preceded by commas.
African American is not hyphenated, either as a noun or an adjective, like Italian American.
In much of the nineteenth century, the word League was routinely capitalized when it referred to the National League. It is acceptable for writers of nineteenth-century pieces to maintain this usage.k
Part 2
A
A.M.—set in small caps with periods.
adviser—never advisor
age—always expressed in numerals
AL (not A.L.)
ALCS—abbr. for American League Championship Series (can use LCS or LDS on second reference)
all-star (adj.)
All-Star (noun) Always capitalize All-Star, even to write: Glavine was an All-Star—unless you are using all-star as synonymous with great player
All-Star Game. Refers only to MLB’s annual game. Generic all-star games are not capitalized.
all-time (adj.) e.g. his all-time high
all time (noun phrase) e.g. he was the greatest hitter of all time
American Association
American League
appeal play
archrival
around the horn
ARTICLES, ESSAYS, SONGS, POEMS (except of epic length)—in quotes
A’s—abbr. for Oakland Athletics (use for possessive too)
Astroturf. AstroTurf is the correct form for this trademarked product. Artificial turf is the generic name.
at-bat (n.)
at-bat (adj.
attendance—follow rules for expressing numbers and numerals in millions
B
backhand
center field (n.)
center-field (adj.)
center fielder
chalk lines
change of pace
changeup (n.) (adj.)
change note distinction: 3b coach’s box, the 1b and 3b coaches’ boxes.
coaching box
co-captain
comeback (n.)
comebacker
COMMA
•Always use serial commas
•Do not use commas after introductory clauses of six words or less when the meaning is clear. Example: “On August 2 the Cubs split with the . . .” Use a comma in this circumstance only when the meaning would not be clear or the sentence would be awkward without one. Examples: “On Monday, Rick Monday….” and “In 1994, 850 home runs were hit….”
•Do use commas to set off numerical years. Example: “On August 1, 1942, the White Sox….” But: “In August 1942 the White Sox….”
•Do use commas to set off scores. Example: A four-run rally won the game for the Reds, 6-2….”
•Do use comma before the word “too” at the end of a sentence.
Commissioner—Always capped when attached to the name of a specific commissioner (ex.—Last night, Commissioner Fay Vincent announced . . .; Fay Vincent, the commissioner of major league baseball, last night announced . . .’ Commissioner Fay Vincent last night held a news conference. The commissioner announced that . . .)
complete game
complete-game victory
contact hitter
control pitcher
corked bat
COUNT—always use numerals separated by an en-dash (ex.—he hit a 3-2 pitch for a homer)
Cracker Jack Old reference, but avoid DH-ing or DH’d. In narrative text, spelling it out is preferred.)
designated-hitter rule
DH rule
diehard
DIMENSIONS—Use numerals for all specific weights, heights, lengths, distances, etc. Spell out when no specific figures is used. (ex. the height of the pitching mound was originally established at 15 inches with the plate 45 feet away. Since that time it has varied from that distance to more than sixty feet. He threw the ball more than seventy-five The Sporting News.
NICKNAMES: Quote nicknames when used with full names: Oscar “Happy” Felsch. But thereafter and when NOT using full name, simply say Happy Felsch, Rube Marquard, Babe Herman, Kiki Cuyler.
night game
nightcap
nineteenth century (n.)
nineteenth-century (adj.)
NL
NLCS—abbr. for National League Championship Series
no-decision
no-hit (adj.)
no-hitter also one-hitter, etc.
no-hitters
non—words beginning with the prefix are typically closed up, as in nonroster.
NUMBERS—Golden rule: try to use words where every kind of writing except sportswriting would use words, but use numbers when dealing with the unique statistical elements of baseball. Some specifications:
•Spell out all numbers to 10.
•Spell out players’ ages. Heights are a stat and may
rookie
rookie league
Rookie of the Year
rosin bag – never resin
rotator cuff (n.)
rotator-cuff (adj.)
Rotisserie league
round-tripper
rubber game
Rule 5 draft
run and hit
run batted in (s.) runs
scuffball
season high (n.) but season-high (adj.)
season opener (n.) but season-opening (adj.)
second base second-base umpire
second baseman
second place 0
shutout (n. & adj.)
shut out (v.)
side-armer (n.) side-armed or side-arming (adj.)
sign stealing (n.)
sign-stealing (adj.)
Silver Slugger
Single A (n.)
single-A (adj.) (see Triple A, triple-A)
single-season
smoky
