Magic Number & Games Behind
The magic number to clinch, games behind and games left for a leader and a chasing team, with or without the tiebreaker.
The leader’s magic number (its elimination number for the chaser), whether it has clinched, games behind, games left for both, the most the chaser can win, and whether the leader can clinch on its own.
Example: In a 162-game season, a 90–60 leader over an 85–65 chaser is 5 games up with a magic number of 8 — 7 if it holds the tiebreaker.
Wins plus
their losses.
Where the magic number comes from, why the tiebreaker takes one off, how games behind is counted, and what the two-team view leaves out.
The magic number
The chaser can win at most G − L(chaser) games, so the leader is sure to finish ahead once its wins exceed that: W(leader) + L(chaser) > G. The magic number is how far that sum still has to go, G + 1 − W(leader) − L(chaser), and each leader win or chaser loss takes one off.
The tiebreaker
If the leader would win a tie — by head-to-head record or the league’s rule — finishing level is enough, and the “+ 1” drops out. Seen from the chaser, the same figure is its elimination (or tragic) number.
Games behind
Games behind = ((leader W − chaser W) + (chaser L − leader L)) ÷ 2: the number of head-to-head games the chaser would have to win to draw level. Teams that have played different numbers of games can be half a game apart.
What the number does not settle
It compares two teams. With several chasers, the leader’s magic number is the largest against any of them; wild cards and playoff formats add their own rules. Inputs stay in your browser; the same anonymous usage counts as the rest of the site apply.