Comments on: Batting WPA > 1.0: 1990-2008

By: Eric M. Van

Eric M. Van — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 03:00:21 +0000

I remember the Dwight Evans game – the second most clutch game listed — incredibly vividly. He tied the game in the bottom of the 8th with a 2-out solo shot, then faced Gregg Olson with a man on and 2 out in the bottom of the 10th, down a run. Olson had given up only 2 HR in his career, to the 5th batter he had faced and to the 83rd — Evans, the previous April, 481 batters ago. Evans took him deep.

(Of the 11 most clutch HRs by WPA hit by either Evans or Jim Rice, Evans had 10.)

Daubach topped that a decade later by hitting a 2-run, 2-out game-tying HR in the bottom of the 9th and then coming up with 2 outs and men on 2nd and 3rd in the bottom of the 11th down a run — and winning the game with a single.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 01:06:51 +0000

For a pitcher to get a high WPA the opposing pitcher also has to pitch well to keep the game close and low scoring. Ideally your team will take the lead as late in the game as possible. Putting the LI up for those games and the box score would probably help explain things.

I’d like to see Pedro’s “perfect game” minus the tenth where he finally gave up the run.

By: Ken

Ken — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 22:09:28 +0000

Bichet’s cycle and WPA got me thinking…are all WPA stats created equal? In a park like Coors field in the 90s, might a 1 run lead mean less than at a place like Safeco or Petco? Just wondering…