The Blue Jays beat the Rays 6-4 Monday afternoon, cutting Tampa Bay’s lead over the idle Yankees to 1/2 game. It also put the Yankees in first place. How can the Yankees be 1/2 behind but in first place?

Baseball displays two indicators of rank in reporting standings. The first, winning percentage, is what matters. Note that when discussing missed games due to illnesses wiping out part of the schedule, MLB announced winning percentage would set the standings, missed games or not. That’s the way it has always been.

The second, games back, is a measure of the difference in games over .500. Find the difference in games over .500, divide by two, and you get games back (or games ahead). The Yankees are seven games over .500. The Rays are eight games over .500. Seven minus eight is minus one, so the Yankees are 1/2 game behind the Rays. The Red Sox are eleven games under .500. So seven minus negative eleven is 18, or the Red Sox are nine games behind the Yankees, but 9 1/2 games behind the second place Rays.

Games back gives us a better idea of what a team needs to do to gain or lose in the standings. If I see a team is three games back and opening a four-game series with the leader, I know they need to sweep to take first place. Most of the time, when teams have played about the same number of games, this doesn’t matter. Early in the season, when postponements cause teams to be five or six games off from each other’s totals, this can happen. In 2020, of course, early in a normal season is half-way through this season, so the sight of a first place team 1/2 game out is a bit jarring.