I will never stop singing the praises of an American company that went well beyond the call of duty for me.
Today, Saturday, February 21st, is a sad day here in Pittsburgh. We woke up to the news that we have lost Pirates legend and hero of the 1960 World Series, Bill Mazeroski. He hit the most famous home run in World Series history, in the bottom of the 9th inning, in Game 7, against the New York Yankees, to give Pittsburgh the World Championship.
Yet, he was a humble man. The way Mr. Mazeroski felt about baseball was evident in every word he spoke. During his Major League Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech, he had to cut his prepared remarks from 12 pages to just a few paragraphs because he was overwhelmed by the emotion and enormity of the moment.
Bill made you feel good about the game. If I am being totally honest, Bill Mazeroski is one of the reasons I started writing about baseball. So, let me try to be like Bill. If I’m successful, hopefully it will make you feel good about baseball, too.
As I have written here many times before, I sincerely love watching my beloved Pittsburgh Pirates, and I always keep a score sheet for the game. My lady is right there, willing to grab the pencil if I need refreshments or a trip to the clubhouse (if you catch my meaning).
I have used many different brands of score sheets over the seasons. But for me, the best one is from a company that had never popped onto my radar before, called Score It Right. They make a fantastic “side-by-side” scoresheet, which means you do not have to flip the book over or turn the page to score the second team.
You would think that would make it harder to view if they fit both teams on one page. Not so! That’s because the pages are 11 ½ inches by 16 inches, large enough for me to see nicely. Bottom line! Using this product makes my hobby so much more enjoyable.
There’s more to this story, too. During one Pirates game in the last week of the 2025 season, I took the time to email Score It Right’s customer service. I feel that too many companies only get complaints and not praise, so why not give them an “attaboy”? So, I expressed my many thanks to them for creating a fantastic product that makes my life more enjoyable.
I explained that, as a disabled veteran, there weren’t a whole lot of chances for me to get “in” a game of baseball. But their product helps me achieve that objective in a different way.
Well, my email started a back-and-forth about baseball and our hometown teams. In one exchange, the rep asked me if I had my choice of anything, what I would choose to put on the cover of a book of score sheets. After some thought, I wrote that I would put the U.S. Flag, Roberto Clemente, Babe Ruth, Abner Doubleday’s grave marker, etc.
I didn’t hear anything back for a few months. Until that is, I received an email asking me for my address. They had something special to send to me.
About ten days later, a fairly large box was delivered to my porch. It was from Score It Right. I brought it in and opened it. There was shipping paper crinkled, but I noticed a baseball cap with Score It Right on the front. Sweet! That will DEFINITELY help this bald guy at the games this summer. I removed the shipping paper and immediately called out for my lady to see what this company had done for me.
By the time she got downstairs from her office, I was already choked up, with tears in my eyes, and all I could do was point to the box. They had designed a cover that had EVERYTHING I had mentioned. And not only that, it was personalized with “Ryan’s Side-By-Side Scorebook.” On top of all that, there were six books. Each book held thirty game score sheets. This was enough to score the entire upcoming season!
The generosity, humanity, and love of the game this company showed with this gift touched my heart so deeply. For them to take this extraordinary measure to make one stranger’s life a little better is simply amazing. In these times when everyone is a critic, be it of food (Yelp), or sports (talk radio), or anything else, for that matter (Facebook, Instagram, Threads, etc), showing a little gratitude to a company for a job well done turns out to be more gratifying than any criticism.
I will never forget this act of humanity towards me. More importantly, I will never stop singing the praises of an American company that went well beyond the call of duty for me.
So, if you are looking to score baseball games, give this company your support. They deserve it.
Thanks again, Score It Right. Play ball!
