Do you prefer programs filled in or blank?
 

I've started picking up programs over the last couple of years in 2 areas: WWII-related baseball games and Jackie Robinson All-Star tours.

Initially I liked the cleanliness of an unfilled program (possibly influenced by years of card collecting) but recently I've come to appreciate nicely filled in programs much more, and am willing to pay a bit of a premium. This is particularly because the games I am looking for programs on are not particularly well researched, and there may not be publicly available data on what happened in those games.

I was wondering what people's preferences are regarding programs. Do you prefer filled out, or not written in?

I personally like them filled in. Not only is it a narrative of the game but it definitely places the program/scorecard/scorebook at the actual game.

Rob M

Prefer them to be neatly and completely scored.

Absolutely scored. Makes it much easier to research and know what happened.

My only caution is that when a program is advertised as a milestone event...you don't take it at face value. I have found scored programs that were supposed to be for a specific game and it was not for that game. Just like anything else Buyer Beware.

Jeff

I absolutely would prefer to have them neatly scored.
That's actually what makes them more interesting and collectible, IMHO.

hi Jeff. Definitely scored.

Even though I enjoy the research that goes with finding an unscored program, having it neatly scored is very much my preference.

It does not matter clean or scored for me

I prefer scored neatly. But I have a Ruth Home run 701 program that has " greatest game I ever saw our fighting Tigers beat Y anks 11-10" in Big pencil on cover. I do appreciate the fans enthusiasm. Brings the history out of the program.

I’ve got hundreds of Orioles programs and the scored ones are fascinating. As someone who grew up scoring games I enjoy deciphering other folks’ scoring ‘system’.

My 6,000+ programs / scorecards are all scored.

Doug

Scored, it shows someone had it at the game. I always wonder about the person that scored the game too, who they were and what happened to them and why they kept the scorecard.

I haven't really decided just yet. This is an area of our wonderful hobby that I have yet to dive into, yet want to so badly. I love vintage covers on the scorecards. So much nicer that what we get today.

I am probably going to have to agree with them being scored though because it places the scorecard at an actual game and it makes it easier to look up.

Mike

That's an insane collection. Do you have any programs from WWII games (Army vs Navy etc) and/or Barnstorming tours (particularly Jackie Robinson). I have a couple, but even coming across images online is tough to find.

I also prefer scored programs. Every game is unique and it is interesting to me to have a piece associated with a specific game. A team may sell 100's of thousands of programs each year, but if you have a scored program you can know the attendance and consider how many of those fans bought a program, and how many of those kept score, and how many of those were saved through the years.

When I first started working on having at least one Yankees program from each year, and one of each different cover starting in the 1960's, I didn't really care whether or not it was scored. But that changed when I realized I actually did have a preference and in general it was just as easy to get a scored one as an unscored.

I will say however, that it is interesting to go through an unscored program for the clues which lead to determining which series it was from. Of course, this is not really a challenge in the programs which show the player's averages to that point in the season and say "Averages thru" a certain date!

I have some programs I wish were scored one from the weekend when Thurman Munson was called up. 3 game series one game his first one his first hit.
It is however signed by several Yankee wives including Mrs Peterson and Mrs Kekich.

Scored. Unfortunately I didn't always feel that way, so I have several unscored ones that I have no idea what game they go with.