The traditional CLI is 80 characters, which leaves 78 between outside bars:
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
0---------1---------2---------3---------4---------5---------6---------7--------|
01234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789 <- zero indexed
0---------1---------2---------3---------4---------5---------6---------7--------8
12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 <- one indexed
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
+--------------------------------------++--------------------------------------+
| || |
+--------------------------------------++--------------------------------------+
If we want to evenly split the section (as above), there are 4 bars, leaving 76/2=38 spaces per column. This will be common in a boxscore.
The top of a boxscore is the line score, giving the two-line summary of the teams run totals per inning plus totals of runs, hits, and errors:
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+------------------+ 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + R + H + E +
| SAN DIEGO + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 +
| BALTIMORE + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 +
+-------------------------------------------+ ORIOLE PARK AT CAMDEN YARDS +----+
+---+ WP: JONES +---+ LP: SMITH +---+ SV: JOHNSON +----------------------------+
The linescore postscript includes the winning pitcher and the losing pitcher, as well as the pitcher that accumulated a save; I also like when it features the name of the ballpark. Use of 2 digits + 2 padding digits should guarantee realistic scores fit on a per-inning basis. In the event that a game goes to (moderate) extra innings, team names should be compacted to the 3-letter codes:
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+--------+ 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + R + H + E +
+ SD + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 +
+ BAL + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 +
+-------------------------------------------+ ORIOLE PARK AT CAMDEN YARDS +----+
+---+ WP: JONES +---+ LP: SMITH +---+ SV: JOHNSON +----------------------------+
This gets us to 11 innings.
An alternate, more compact rendering of the linescore could be given as follows:
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ San Diego 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 +
+ Baltimore 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 1 1 0 +
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
This renders 18 innings, and it can be truncated further to render 24:
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+ SD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 +
+ BAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 1 1 0 +
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Ideally, we intelligently balance completeness and aesthetically ideal display; it's worth noting that we still don't have space for the 33-inning, 8.5 hour 1981 game between the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings, nor the 26-inning longest game in MLB history, although only three MLB games have gone that distance. If something like that happens, a split box score (or just an error message) will probably suffice.
Boxscores typically consist of a compact review of the game: date, location, and linescore:
+ Sunday, 01 January 1921 + <- metadata
+ Orioles Park and Camden Yards +
+ + <- linescore
+ San Diego 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 +
+ Baltimore 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 1 0 +
+ +
+ SAN DIEGO PADRES + <- away team
+ + AB + R + H + RBI+ BB + SO + PO + A + <- batting stats
+ McCringleberry, H. CF + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 +
+ Chonk, D. 2B + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 +
+ Diesel, S. PH + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 +
+ James, L. 3B + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 +
+ Laser, M. 1B + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 +
+ ... +
+ +
+ + IP + H + R + ER + BB + SO + HR + BFP+ <- pitching stats
+ Christmas, L. + 0.0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 +
+ ... +
+ +
+ FIELDING +
+ DP: 1. Laser-James-Chonk +
+ E: James (4) +
+ BATTING +
+ HR: Chonk +
+ HBP: Chonk +
+ BASERUNNING +
+ SB: Laser +
+ +
+ BALTIMORE ORIOLES + <- home team
+ + AB + R + H + RBI+ BB + SO + PO + A + <- batting stats
+ Roberts, B. 2B + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 +
+ Ripken Jr., C. SS + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 +
+ Jones, A. CF + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 +
+ ... +
+ +
+ + IP + H + R + ER + BB + SO + HR + BFP+ <- pitching stats
+ Means, J . + 0.0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 +
+ ... +
+ +
+ FIELDING +
+ E: Roberts (4) +
+ BATTING +
+ HR: Jones +
+ HBP: Ripken Jr +
+ BASERUNNING +
+ CS: Roberts +
+ +
The selection of stats here mirrors the Wikipedia definition of a baseball box score. Good examples of box scores have different stuff, like the Athletic's swaggy minimal boxscores or Baseball-Reference's incomprehensibly technical ones.
Final determination of the stats for this CLI program are yet to come.
Boxscore and linescore data are available from the MLB's back-end service which is used to populate various MLB apps.
https://statsapi.mlb.com/api/v1.1/game/${GAME_PK}/feed/live
will return a JSON file populated with a bunch of data from a given game.
Interpreting the JSON and its contents as a dict data, we care about two particular nodes: data['liveData']['linescore'] and data['liveData']['boxscore'].
Using the period, ., colon, :, and inverted fullstop, ˙, we can make run count sparklines:
.
: . .
San Diego 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 1 - 5 9 0
Baltimore 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 - 7 10 0
: : ˙ ˙
˙