In baseball standings, the “games behind” (GB) metric is used to measure the gap between a team and the leading team in the standings. It represents the number of games a team is behind the team currently holding the top position in the league or division.
The formula to calculate games behind is:
GB = (Leader’s wins – Team’s wins) + (Team’s losses – Leader’s losses) / 2
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of the formula:
- Find the difference in the number of wins between the leading team and the team in question.
- Find the difference in the number of losses between the leading team and the team in question.
- Add the two differences together.
- Divide the sum by 2.
The result is the number of games behind. If the result is a positive integer, it means the team is behind; if it’s negative, it means the team is ahead in the standings.
Let’s go through a simple example:
The Braves finished the 2023 season with 104 wins and 58 losses.
The Phillies finished in 2nd place with 90 wins and 72 losses.
GB for the Phillies = (104 – 90) + (72 – 58) / 2 = (14 + 14) / 2 = 14
So, the Phillies finished 14 games behind the Braves in the standings. (But we all know what happened in the playoffs. Again.)
