To calculate games back (GB) of a baseball team, just use the following formula:
Games back = (Difference in wins + Difference in losses) / 2<br><br>
The formula above applies only to a team and it is used to determine the number of GB a team is from the first place.
The difference in wins is a always positive number, so is the difference in losses.
Therefore, when computing the GB, always do bigger number - smaller number so that the difference is always positive.
Note that the formula above can be used to calculate the games back for other sports. It does not have to be baseball only. Another name for games back is games behind. This computation helps to determine how far behind the other teams are from the leading team.
Example showing how to compute the games back
Use the following table to compute the GB between the first place and the other teams.
Team
Number of wins
Number of losses
GB
First place team
34
22
N/A
Second place team
30
24
3
Third place team
28
26
5
Fourth place team
24
28
8
GB between first place and second place = (Difference in wins + Difference in losses) / 2
Differences in wins = 34 - 30 = 4
Differences in losses = 24 - 22 = 2
GB between first place and second place = (4 + 2) / 2
GB between first place and second place = (6) / 2
GB between first place and second place = 3
GB between first place and third place = (Difference in wins + Difference in losses) / 2
Differences in wins = 34 - 28 = 6
Differences in losses = 26 - 22 = 4
GB between first place and third place = (6 + 4) / 2
GB between first place and third place = (10) / 2
GB between first place and third place = 5
GB between first place and fourth place = (Difference in wins + Difference in losses) / 2
Differences in wins = 34 - 24 = 10
Differences in losses = 28 - 22 = 6
GB between first place and fourth place = (10 + 6) / 2
GB between first place and fourth place = (16) / 2