How to play MLB Box Score Starting 9s
MLB Box Score Starting 9s shows a real MLB regular-season box score with every player’s name hidden. You see the teams, the date, the score and each hitter’s line, and you fill in who played.
Choosing a game
Pick a team, then a season from 1980 through 2025, then any game that team played. Both lineups appear in batting order with each player’s position and his at-bats, runs, hits, RBI, walks and strikeouts.
The three modes
- Easy: type any player from either team and he fills in wherever he batted. Order doesn’t matter.
- Medium: for your team, click a spot in the batting order and name who batted there. The other team works like Easy, in any order.
- Hard: for both teams, click a spot in the batting order and name the player who batted there.
Substitutes and scoring
Pinch hitters and other substitutes appear as indented rows under the batting-order spot they took over. There is no clock in this game. You’re tracked on how many players you found out of the total and how many wrong guesses you made. Give up reveals every name. The share text for a finished game never includes player names.
Tips
- Start with the players you can place from the stat line. A home run hitter with four RBI is a good clue.
- Use the position column and the batting order together. Leadoff hitters and cleanup hitters have recognizable profiles.
- Check the final score and date. They can help you recall the lineup for a game you remember.
Where the data comes from
Box scores come from the official MLB Stats API.