baseball style guide

Disagree. At least it's still relatively factually correct, unlike 6.2.

 

i was wondering about the 3-for-4 thing myself because my paper uses 3 for 4 unless the sentence is something like "John Smith went 3-for-4 batting" or uses it in some other modifying way. we have to go back and take all the hyphens out of AP stuff from the wire.

what's the real correct way? and why?

 

Coach Steve Smith spent the day hitting fungoes to his shortstop Bill Black because Black made three errors in Sunday's 6-4 loss.

Fungoes, as I understand it, are just routine ground balls hit during practice. The word also describes the bats used to hit practice grounders and fly balls.

 

I think it depends on what part of the country you're in, or who the coaches or players are when it comes to the use of the word fungoes.

And yes, grounders is the way to go. Everyone knows what they are. The word has just one meaning.

However, from this site: http://www.mlb-playoff-baseball.com/glossary-baseball-terms.php
fungo
A ball hit to a fielder during practice. It's usually hit by a coach using a "fungo bat," which is longer and thinner than a normal bat.

And this one: http://www.nocryinginbaseball.com/glossary/glossary.html
FUNGO A ball hit to a fielder during practice.
FUNGO BAT Bat used to hit fungo. Usually longer and thinner than a regular back.

And this one: http://www.baseballtips.com/lingo.html
fungo -- A ball hit to a fielder during practice. It's usually hit by a coach using a "fungo bat," which is longer and thinner than a normal bat.

 

A fungo bat is a bitch to hit fungoes with.

 

Preposition-sentence ender!

 

correct me if i'm wrong, but didn't the last AP stylebook say RBI and ERA on first reference is now OK?

 

I'm at a fucking loss. So much so that I'm never saying or writing the fucking word again!

 

My point was not that it was shorter to do it the other way, but that it's cleaner for the reader without the loss of any significant information.

I also think, in this case, there is a big difference between writing about a major league game and a high school game. I cover MLB, and I almost always use "three hits" instead of "3-for-4." It's in the box score if anyone cares.

 

My paper uses RBI, not RBIs.

But there is POWs. (not in sports, obviously). Not PsOW, though it would technically be correct.

 

Excellent point! Game. Set. And Match.

 

Here is the rule on hyphens, AP be damned:

No hyphens if the phrase is a noun.

Smith went 3 for 4 at the plate.

Hyphenate ONLY when the phrase becomes an adjective.

Smith had a 3-for-4 day at the plate.

This goes for basketball, too.