Stats 101
How to Read a Baseball Box Score (A Parent's Guide)
5 July 2026 · 4 min read
A box score is just the game boiled down to a grid of abbreviations. Once you know the shorthand, you can tell your player's whole game at a glance.
The hitting columns
- AB — At-Bats (doesn't include walks or sacrifices)
- R — Runs scored
- H — Hits
- RBI — Runs Batted In (runners who scored because of this batter)
- BB — Base on Balls (walks)
- K or SO — Strikeouts
- 2B / 3B / HR — Doubles, triples, home runs
- SB — Stolen Bases
A line that reads `3 1 2 1` under AB/R/H/RBI means: 3 at-bats, scored 1 run, 2 hits, drove in 1 run. A solid day.
The pitching columns
- IP — Innings Pitched
- H — Hits allowed
- R / ER — Runs / Earned Runs allowed
- BB — Walks allowed
- K — Strikeouts
- ERA — Earned Run Average (earned runs per 9 innings)
Want the meaning behind ERA, WHIP and the rest? The stats-explained guide walks through every formula in plain English.
One box score is a snapshot. The real value comes from stacking them up across a season so a single 0-for-4 doesn't look like the whole story.
Frequently asked questions
What does K mean in baseball?
K is the abbreviation for a strikeout. A backwards K sometimes denotes a called third strike (the batter didn't swing).
What's the difference between R and ER for a pitcher?
R is all runs allowed; ER is earned runs only — runs that would have scored without help from fielding errors. ERA is based on earned runs.