Winning percentage

In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matches played (i.e. wins plus draws plus losses). A draw counts as a 12 win.

Discussion

For example, if a team's season record is 30 wins and 20 losses, the winning percentage would be 60% or 0.600:

If a team's season record is 30–15–5 (i.e. it has won thirty games, lost fifteen and tied five times), the five tie games are counted as 212 wins, and so the team has an adjusted record of 3212 wins, resulting in a 65% or .650 winning percentage for the fifty total games from:

In North America, winning percentages are expressed as decimal values to three decimal places. It is the same value, but without the last step of multiplying by 100% in the formula above. Furthermore, they are usually read aloud as if they were whole numbers (e.g. 1.000, "a thousand" or 0.500, "five hundred"). In this case, the name "winning percentage" is actually a misnomer, since it is not expressed as a percentage. A winning percentage such as .536 ("five thirty-six") expressed as a percentage would be 53.6%.

Winning percentage is one way to compare the record of two teams; however, another standard method most frequently used in baseball and professional basketball standings is games behind. In baseball, a pitcher is assessed wins and losses as an individual statistic and thus has his own winning percentage, based on his win–loss record.

However, in association football, a manager's abilities may be measured by win percentage. In this case, the formula is wins divided by total number of matches; draws are not considered as "half-wins", and the quotient is always in percentage form.

In the National Football League, division winners and playoff qualifiers are technically determined by winning percentage and not by number of wins. Ties are currently counted as half a win and half a loss, however, prior to 1972 tied games were disregarded for the purposes of this calculation a 10–2–2 record (10÷12 ≈ 0.833) would then have outranked an 11–3 record (11÷14 ≈ 0.785). Tie games, a fairly common occurrence in football before the introduction of overtime, were thus somewhat more valuable to teams with a winning record, as compared with current rules.

Some leagues and competitions may instead use a points percentage system, changing the nature of this statistic. In this type of method, used in many group tournament ranking systems, the competitors are awarded a certain number of points per win, fewer points per tie, and none for a loss. The teams are then ranked by the total number of these accumulated points. One such method is the "three points for a win", where three points are awarded for winning a game, one point is awarded for a draw, and no points are awarded for a loss. The National Hockey League (which uses an overtime and shootouts to break all ties) awards two points for a win in regulation or overtime/shootout, one point for an overtime loss, and none for a regulation loss.[1][2]

Statistics

List of National League winning teams from 1876 to 1906, as published in The Topeka Daily Herald in October 1906, including a winning percentage ("Pc.") column

Major League Baseball

This table lists the best and worst winning percentages in the history of the National League (NL) and American League (AL) of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Win % Wins Losses Year Team Comment
.79867171880Chicago White Stockingsbest pre-modern season
.763116361906Chicago Cubsbest 154-game NL season
.721111431954Cleveland Indiansbest 154-game AL season
.716116462001Seattle Marinersbest 162-game AL season
.667108541975Cincinnati Redsbest 162-game NL season
.265431192003Detroit Tigersworst 162-game AL season
.250401201962New York Metsworst 162-game NL season
.248381151935Boston Bravesworst 154-game NL season
.235361171916Philadelphia Athleticsworst 154-game AL season
.130201341899Cleveland Spidersworst pre-modern season

Note: some team records sum to less than the season schedule (154 or 162 games) due to rain outs.

National Basketball Association

Win % Wins Losses Season Team Comment
.8907392015–16Golden State Warriorsbest 82-game season
.1109731972–73Philadelphia 76ersworst 82-game season
.1067592011–12Charlotte Bobcatsworst season statistically

National Hockey League

In the National Hockey League, teams are awarded two points for a win, and one point for either a tie (a discontinued statistic) or an overtime loss. It can be calculated as follows:

Points % Wins Losses Ties Points Season Team Comments
.825608121321976–77Montreal Canadiensbest points % in post-expansion NHL
.1318675211974–75Washington Capitalsworst points % in post-expansion NHL

See also

References

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