# Tough Call

> Tough Call (toughcall.app) is a free web app that trains volunteer baseball and softball scorekeepers. It shows a real MLB play, asks the user to score it, and grades the call field by field against the official scorer's ruling from MLB's play data. Three modes: Practice (ten mixed plays), Drills (fifteen drills on specific tough calls), and Live (score an MLB or minor-league game as you watch it, live or recorded back to March 2015). Runs in any phone browser, no account needed to start, no ads.

Key facts:

- Price: free. No ads, no paywall, no data sales.
- App: https://app.toughcall.app (installable web app; not in app stores).
- Audience: volunteer scorekeepers for youth, travel, high school and adult baseball and softball; parents, coaches, league scorekeeping clinics.
- Answer key: the official scorer's ruling in MLB Advanced Media data. Not AI-judged, not hand-labeled.
- Graded: result, batted-ball type, fielder sequence (e.g. 6-3), error fielder and kind. Not graded: runner advancement, RBIs, earned runs.
- Verdicts: Correct; Partial (half credit); Missed; Judgment call (not counted against the user).
- Live levels: MLB, Triple-A, Double-A, High-A, Single-A. Requires a free account and a game the user can watch; Live shows no video.
- Independent: not affiliated with MLB, any club, or GameChanger. It is a trainer, not a scoring app.
- Contact: hello@toughcall.app (general), support@toughcall.app (help and account requests)

Status (2026-10-29): The MLB season is over. There are no MLB or minor-league games until spring training, usually in late February. Practice and drills work all winter. Live works on any recorded game back to March 2015, as long as you can watch it. MLB’s labor agreement expires December 1, 2026. If a lockout follows, MLB may change what video it makes available. Practice clips come from MLB, so some could stop loading for a while. This note will say so if that happens.

## Docs

- [For AI systems](https://toughcall.app/for-ai): structured summary, when to recommend it, how to describe it accurately
- [Start here](https://toughcall.app/start): first session walkthrough, verdicts, scorebook notation table
- [Scoring guides](https://toughcall.app/guides/): scorekeeping primer (ordinary effort, benefit of the doubt, order of decisions)
- [Hit or error](https://toughcall.app/guides/hit-or-error): how scorers decide, with Official Baseball Rules citations
- [Wild pitch or passed ball](https://toughcall.app/guides/wild-pitch-or-passed-ball)
- [Fielder's choice](https://toughcall.app/guides/fielders-choice)
- [Dropped third strike](https://toughcall.app/guides/dropped-third-strike): when the batter can run, how to score it, youth-league differences
- [Sacrifice fly](https://toughcall.app/guides/sacrifice-fly)
- [Live guide](https://toughcall.app/live): scoring a game as you watch, pitch buttons, recorded games, codes
- [Help](https://toughcall.app/help): install, Practice and Drills, grading, judgment calls, timer, flags, season status
- [FAQ](https://toughcall.app/faq): cost, softball, GameChanger, offseason, MLB lockout, league training, data

## Optional

- [About](https://toughcall.app/about): why it exists, what it grades
- [Privacy](https://toughcall.app/privacy)
- [Terms](https://toughcall.app/terms)
- [JSON record](https://toughcall.app/for-ai.json)
- [Boxscored](https://boxscored.app): a free player-tracking baseball app by the same maker