In Part 1, I had bases.chat, created by SABR member Ted Ingram, add up the absolute value of all Win Probability Added events in every game that have play-by-play data. Then I had it create a list of top games. The idea was that the higher the WPA the more exciting a game was.
The top games were all regular season games. In Part 2 I did the top post-season games.
bases.chat said "WPA computed from Retrosheet play-by-play data using Tom Tango's win expectancy framework."
In this part, I show the games with the most plays that had a WPA of 0.25 or higher. The idea was that some games could just go on a long time without any big events yet still end up with a high total WPA. So other games could be considered more exciting if they had more big events.
In the table below, Inn refers to how many innings the game lasted and # refers to how many such events there were in the game. This first table has regular season games. There are many extra-inning games here but some of them were only 10 or 11 innings, so they did not last too long or have too many more chances to get high WPA events.
|
Rank |
Date |
Visitor |
Score |
Home |
Inn |
# |
|
1 |
5/24/1988 |
Padres |
6–7 |
Expos |
13 |
10 |
|
2 |
Athletics |
9–10 |
Rockies |
10 |
9 |
|
|
3 |
7/10/1932 |
Athletics |
18–17 |
Indians |
18 |
9 |
|
4 |
Pirates |
16–15 |
Phillies |
13 |
9 |
|
|
5 |
7/18/1949 |
Yankees |
5–6 |
White Sox |
10 |
9 |
|
6 |
8/11/2020 |
Orioles |
10–9 |
Phillies |
10 |
9 |
|
7 |
8/12/1966 |
Pirates |
14–11 |
Reds |
13 |
8 |
|
8 |
6/20/1977 |
Cubs |
10–9 |
Giants |
12 |
8 |
|
9 |
7/3/1951 |
Phillies |
8–9 |
Giants |
13 |
8 |
|
10 |
7/24/1998 |
Marlins |
6–7 |
Phillies |
12 |
8 |
|
11 |
8/4/2011 |
Blue Jays |
6–7 |
Rays |
12 |
8 |
|
12 |
5/7/1920 |
Robins |
6–7 |
Giants |
11 |
8 |
|
13 |
8/17/2019 |
Brewers |
15–14 |
Nationals |
14 |
8 |
|
14 |
6/15/1912 |
Cardinals |
4–5 |
Dodgers |
11 |
8 |
|
15 |
6/9/2023 |
Astros |
9–10 |
Guardians |
14 |
8 |
|
16 |
9/16/1991 |
Reds |
5–6 |
Dodgers |
12 |
8 |
|
17 |
6/21/1927 |
Cubs |
5–6 |
Cardinals |
13 |
8 |
|
18 |
7/7/1985 |
Expos |
6–3 |
Astros |
19 |
8 |
|
19 |
7/26/1993 |
Padres |
6–9 |
Cubs |
11 |
8 |
|
20 |
8/21/1954 |
Yankees |
9–10 |
Red Sox |
12 |
7 |
|
21 |
4/26/1995 |
Mets |
9–11 |
Rockies |
14 |
7 |
|
22 |
5/19/1990 |
Phillies |
15–12 |
Dodgers |
11 |
7 |
|
23 |
7/17/2012 |
Mets |
4–5 |
Nationals |
10 |
7 |
|
24 |
7/25/2019 |
Orioles |
10–8 |
Angels |
16 |
7 |
|
25 |
6/24/2011 |
Nationals |
9–5 |
White Sox |
14 |
7 |
Now the top 25 post season games.
|
Rank |
Date |
Round |
Visitor |
Score |
Home |
Inn |
# |
|
1 |
10/3/1995 |
NLDS |
Braves |
5–4 |
Rockies |
9 |
7 |
|
2 |
10/29/2017 |
WS G5 |
Dodgers |
12–13 |
Astros |
10 |
6 |
|
3 |
10/24/2020 |
WS G4 |
Dodgers |
7–8 |
Rays |
9 |
5 |
|
4 |
10/3/1995 |
ALDS |
Red Sox |
4–5 |
Indians |
13 |
5 |
|
5 |
10/9/1912 |
WS G8 |
Giants |
6–6 |
Red Sox |
11 |
5 |
|
6 |
10/25/2017 |
WS G3 |
Astros |
7–6 |
Dodgers |
11 |
5 |
|
7 |
10/4/1995 |
ALDS |
Mariners |
5–7 |
Yankees |
15 |
5 |
|
8 |
10/9/1985 |
ALCS |
Royals |
5–6 |
Blue Jays |
10 |
5 |
|
9 |
10/6/1995 |
NLDS |
Rockies |
7–5 |
Braves |
10 |
5 |
|
10 |
10/27/2011 |
WS G6 |
Rangers |
9–10 |
Cardinals |
11 |
4 |
|
11 |
10/12/1986 |
ALCS |
Red Sox |
7–6 |
Angels |
11 |
4 |
|
12 |
11/1/2025 |
WS G7 |
Dodgers |
5–4 |
Blue Jays |
11 |
4 |
|
13 |
10/17/2024 |
ALCS |
Yankees |
5–7 |
Guardians |
10 |
4 |
|
14 |
10/9/1988 |
NLCS |
Dodgers |
5–4 |
Mets |
12 |
4 |
|
15 |
10/12/2009 |
NLDS |
Phillies |
5–4 |
Rockies |
9 |
4 |
|
16 |
10/10/2004 |
NLDS |
Braves |
6–5 |
Astros |
9 |
4 |
|
17 |
10/21/1975 |
WS G6 |
Reds |
6–7 |
Red Sox |
12 |
4 |
|
18 |
10/9/2009 |
ALDS |
Twins |
3–4 |
Yankees |
11 |
4 |
|
19 |
10/26/2018 |
WS G3 |
Red Sox |
2–3 |
Dodgers |
18 |
4 |
|
20 |
10/11/1986 |
ALCS |
Red Sox |
3–4 |
Angels |
11 |
4 |
|
21 |
10/10/1995 |
NLCS |
Braves |
2–1 |
Reds |
11 |
4 |
|
22 |
9/30/2020 |
Wild Card |
Yankees |
10–9 |
Indians |
9 |
4 |
|
23 |
10/20/1972 |
WS G4 |
Reds |
5–4 |
Athletics |
9 |
4 |
|
24 |
10/8/2010 |
NLDS |
Braves |
5–4 |
Giants |
11 |
4 |
|
25 |
10/8/1995 |
ALDS |
Yankees |
5–6 |
Mariners |
11 |
4 |