Can't tell player's without a scorecard

Posted by Bob on November 28, 2006

In Reply to: Can't tell player's without a scorecard posted by Bob on November 27, 2006

: : : Need origin and meaning for the following:

: : : Can't tell player's without a scorecard

: : : Thanks

: : "Ya can't tell the players without a scorecard!" The traditional cry of scorecard vendors inside the entrance of baseball stadiums. A scorecard is an elegant way to keep a record of a game, a fast-disappearing art form that serves no real useful purpose any more. The sales pitch started many decades ago, probably before uniforms had numbers, and is now obsolete: public address announcers bellow the name of every player. It's a bit old-fashioned to keep one. For nostalgic fans, there's a nice little memoir by Doris Kearns Goodwin, "Wait 'Til Next Year," about her girlhood rooting for the Brooklyn Dodgers, taught to keep detailed scorecards by her father. No wonder she grew up to be an historian. As another Brooklyn fan of the same age, I was charmed by the book.

: I must add that her chronicle focuses on 1955, the only Brooklyn World Series championship, and, as all right-thinking people would agree, the high point of the century.

Ok, even more. The phrase has also been used metaphorically, when the number of people involved becomes confusing. Think about a Marx Brothers movie, with characters coming and going, doors slamming, chaotic hijinks. One would be tempted to say ...