Dominic Leo: The Man Behind the Scoreboard

Story & Photos by Bridget Chavez 

Dominic Leo has worked as the Syracuse Chiefs Game Scorer

for the past four years.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – At first glance the press box at NBT Bank Stadium boasts nothing out of the ordinary, but if you take a closer look and listen, the staff and even the walls themselves tell a mouthful. Just ask Dominic Leo, official Game Scorer of the Syracuse Chiefs. 

"The most important thing I have to do in this job is pay attention," he said. 

During the game, in the midst of constant chatter and music, Leo remained focused with one eye on the game at all times.

The game scorer records errors, runs, strikes, walks, stolen bases, fielder's choice hits and normal effort. Leo said the most difficult part of his job is determining what is or isn't normal effort during a play. 

During Wednesday night's game  a 2-1 line drive hit to center field over towards the gap in the right center bounced off the glove and Leo quickly made the call that it was not normal effort.

"You can sometimes go an entire game without anything going on, no problems, no errors and other times there are four or five errors in a game and that's just the nature of the beast," he said. Leo said he has to be focused at all times on the game to ensure accuracy on plays.

"Dom's got the highest integrity here, besides the umpires," Chiefs lead play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown said. Leo had previously worked as an umpire before scoring for the Chiefs.


The seasoned scorer now sits in the same seat his late brother, Tom, once sat in. Tom worked as the scorer for the Chiefs since 1997. He died in 2013.

"When he passed away, you know, the torch was given to me," he said. "Tom scored the game for about 30 years and was looking for a back-up about six years ago." That was when he brought Leo on board. Leo said his brother trained him to do the job and he's enjoyed it ever since.



"I don't want to leave now because I want to continue on because he did it for a long time," Leo said. 

Leo and his brother grew up in a sports-oriented family and he said he believes sports has the power to bring people closer together. Co-workers sitting alongside Leo in the control room resemble lifelong friends sharing the love of a sport, rather than control room operatives. Leo said they have all worked together the last few years and there's hardly ever a dull moment.

"You always think you've seen everything and then something happens," he said, as he pointed out several dents on the walls and ceilings. "And then you say, 'Oh, I've never seen that before."

The dents are from balls being hit into the press box and the crew writes the date and name of the hitter alongside each one. Leo said each dent has a funny story to go along with it, including someone in the box taking a ball to the head.

He has been the full time scorer for the last four years and said he hopes to continue on as long as he can. He also said he hopes to pass the tradition on of game scorer to another family member, just as his brother did for him. 

"When I'm up here, I feel like I'm 18," Leo said.  "It's the best job I've ever had." 

One of the dents left in the ceiling by a foul ball from 2012.  
The press box commemorates each one by writing the date and 
name of the hitter for each.