Maintaining an accurate record of the daily won-lost standings is a must.
For keeping basic W-L standings and percentages, I record my standings in a simple 11 x 8 inch college ruled notebook, on a day-by-day basis, For a regular eight-team replay, you will need around 30-40 pages to record a season.
Record the standings in pencil because, when you make an error (and you will make an error somewhere along the way), you can go back and find and correct the error.
Prior to starting a replay, I record the date for each “day” of my replay. I leave the number of spaces below the date blank (usually eight spaces, one for each team), so that I so I can fill them after each game.
For purposes of speed and convenience, I play each of my “series” in three or four-game sets. After I complete each game, I first record the score on the game-by-game scoresheet and then update the team’s won-lost record in the daily standings.
Then, and only then, do I figure out the winning and losing pitcher and all the rest.
It’s not foolproof, but it works 99% of the time.
To summarize: first record the score and then update the standings.
Next: Which box score system to use?
“when you make an error (and you will make an error somewhere along the way)”
Oh, sure, Rod… rub it in. :)
Seriously, if readers get just one thing from your articles, I hope it’s this. Fix your W-L mistake before it’s too late or better yet, establish a process that ensures that everything evens up before you go on.
Good article!!