How many lineup cards per game in MLB?

[DannyNoonan]

I thought it would be good to revisit the question that started this thread since the answer has changed:

- Dugout cards: Still 2 per game.

- Bullpen cards: Still 2 per game if both teams have bullpen cards, but not all do.

- "Other" cards: More and more "other" lineup cards are being sold, including clubhouse and replica cards. Many of these are "authenticated" for marketing purposes even though the replica cards are made after the fact.

Batting order cards: Pre-2020, there were there typically 3 batting order cards per team per team, per game, so six in total: one for each team to the home plate ump, and each manager keeps one of his and gets one for the opposing team.

Since Covid, batting order cards are now longer traded at home plate right before the game. Lineups are now submitted to the league office a couple/few hours before the game, and then sent back to the stadium where the cards are computer-printed. (I was told by an MLB umpire there were still a couple teams submitting handwritten cards through the 2019 season. That is no longer allowed.) So the umpire cards go directly to the home plate umpire in the locker room before they enter the field. This means that the managers no longer need to sign their cards. In fact, they can't sign the opposing team's card or home plate umpire's card because they don't touch them. So in the attached example, Scott Servais's signature is computer printed rather than hand-written.

Also, there is now a "version number" printed on the card. This way, if a change is made after the initial lineup is sent to MLB, there will be a new version. The version number is supposed to help the managers and home plate umpire be sure that they have the correct version of the card when they meet at home plate.

The "A" in the upper right hand corner of the card is for "Away". I'm not sure why this is necessary since the "away" cards continue to be light blue, and home cards are still white.

Finally, because umpires now need to track more things because of rules changes (e.g., mound visits, who the runner on 2nd should be in extra innings, etc), at least one of the base umpires also has a card and keep notes. Each umpire crews chooses how it wants to do it, so one crew may have just one additional card, while another crew may have two or even all three base umpires have cards. So there now could be as many as 6 batting order cards for each team for a regular season game (1 for each manager, and 1 for each umpire), or 12 in total.

- Tom O'Reilly