|
The standings say that the New York
Yankees are 8.5 games out of first place while the World
Champion St. Louis Cardinals are 8.0 games back. At
first glance, the Yankees are technically farther out,
but in reality it's the Cardinals who are further back.
New York is in second place while St. Louis is in fifth.
The Cards would have to leapfrog past four teams, not
just one, to get to first place.
Here's a little system for determining what I think
would be a better games back number. It's not just games
behind the first place leader, it's games behind,
period. Here's today's National League Central
standings:
| Team
|
Record |
GB |
| Milwaukee |
25-13 |
-- |
| Houston |
18-19 |
6.5 |
| Chicago |
17-19 |
7.0 |
| Pittsburgh |
17-20 |
7.5 |
| St. Louis |
16-20 |
8.0 |
| Cincinnati |
15-24 |
10.5 |
Simply add up the number of games behind each team.
The Cardinals are 8.0 behind Milwaukee, 1.5 behind
Houston, 1.0 behind Chicago and 0.5 behind Pittsburgh.
That's 8.0+1.5+1.0+0.5 or 11.0 games back.
A new standings chart could look like this:
| Team
|
Record |
G1 |
GB |
| Milwaukee |
25-13 |
-- |
-- |
| Houston |
18-19 |
6.5 |
6.5 |
| Chicago |
17-19 |
7.0 |
7.5 |
| Pittsburgh |
17-20 |
7.5 |
9.0 |
| St. Louis |
16-20 |
8.0 |
11.0 |
| Cincinnati |
15-24 |
10.5 |
23.5 |
G1 is games behind the 1st place team and GB is a
more accurate representation of how far the team really
is out of first place. |
