Must-see MLB.TV
by Dave StudemanNovember 13, 2012
One of our intrepid readers asked for some guidance. He'd like to spend time during the offseason watching some 2012 games on MLB.TV, but he doesn't know where to start. Could we, he wondered, create a list of the most interesting games of 2012 so he could pick games to watch? If you've got a subscription to MLB.TV, this is a great way to spend your offseason.
No problem, I thought. Forthwith, here is our sortable list of the top 150 games to watch this offseason. We've listed the date and home and away teams for each game. (Milwaukee has 15 games on the list, followed by Colorado with 14; Tampa Bay is only on the list six times). No scores, or anything, because we don't want to give away the results. We've also included the excitability score of each game, as well as a marker if the game went into extra innings.
The excitability score was derived by combining the average swing in Win Expectancy per inning (times nine innings) plus the average leverage index of each play. By combining action (swings in WPA) with intensity (average leverage index), we were able to identify the games that are most likely to keep you on the edge of your seat this offseason.
We didn't factor the pennant race into our scores, nor did we add anything for special games, such as that no-hitter thrown by (fill in pitcher's name). We figure you can find those games on your own. These games were simply the most exciting, filled with lead swings and intense action. Enjoy!
| Date | Home | Away | Score | Extra Inn? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-07-13 | KC | CHA | 8.10 | Y |
| 2012-05-17 | COL | ARI | 7.83 | N |
| 2012-05-11 | MIL | CHN | 7.74 | Y |
| 2012-06-05 | WAS | NYN | 7.58 | Y |
| 2012-09-22 | NYA | OAK | 7.48 | Y |
| 2012-07-17 | WAS | NYN | 7.35 | Y |
| 2012-05-26 | TEX | TOR | 7.33 | Y |
| 2012-08-23 | BOS | LAA | 7.31 | Y |
| 2012-08-21 | PHI | CIN | 7.13 | N |
| 2012-08-05 | DET | CLE | 7.10 | Y |
| 2012-06-17 | STL | KC | 7.10 | Y |
| 2012-04-08 | DET | BOS | 7.04 | Y |
| 2012-04-06 | TB | NYA | 7.03 | N |
| 2012-08-05 | LAN | CHN | 7.03 | N |
| 2012-06-02 | DET | NYA | 6.95 | N |
| 2012-06-08 | MIN | CHN | 6.94 | Y |
| 2012-07-14 | BAL | DET | 6.86 | Y |
| 2012-05-02 | ATL | PHI | 6.85 | Y |
| 2012-07-30 | SF | NYN | 6.83 | Y |
| 2012-07-25 | HOU | CIN | 6.77 | N |
| 2012-05-15 | SF | COL | 6.77 | N |
| 2012-05-04 | COL | ATL | 6.76 | Y |
| 2012-04-20 | NYN | SF | 6.70 | Y |
| 2012-04-28 | LAN | WAS | 6.70 | Y |
| 2012-09-10 | CIN | PIT | 6.68 | Y |
| 2012-06-17 | MIN | MIL | 6.67 | Y |
| 2012-05-02 | WAS | ARI | 6.66 | N |
| 2012-08-05 | KC | TEX | 6.66 | Y |
| 2012-06-25 | HOU | SD | 6.55 | Y |
| 2012-05-28 | COL | HOU | 6.54 | Y |
| 2012-05-22 | ARI | LAN | 6.54 | N |
| 2012-04-14 | COL | ARI | 6.53 | N |
| 2012-08-21 | SD | PIT | 6.51 | Y |
| 2012-05-04 | SD | FLA | 6.50 | Y |
| 2012-09-09 | MIN | CLE | 6.49 | N |
| 2012-06-20 | PHI | COL | 6.48 | N |
| 2012-07-25 | PHI | MIL | 6.47 | Y |
| 2012-10-01 | TOR | MIN | 6.46 | Y |
| 2012-05-06 | BOS | BAL | 6.44 | Y |
| 2012-05-27 | MIN | DET | 6.44 | N |
| 2012-09-29 | CLE | KC | 6.42 | Y |
| 2012-07-18 | LAN | PHI | 6.40 | Y |
| 2012-07-05 | NYN | PHI | 6.39 | N |
| 2012-09-09 | CHA | KC | 6.38 | Y |
| 2012-05-09 | HOU | FLA | 6.37 | Y |
| 2012-09-18 | CLE | MIN | 6.37 | Y |
| 2012-09-04 | SF | ARI | 6.37 | Y |
| 2012-05-20 | SD | LAA | 6.35 | Y |
| 2012-07-01 | SF | CIN | 6.34 | N |
| 2012-07-14 | ATL | NYN | 6.34 | N |
| 2012-05-11 | STL | ATL | 6.34 | Y |
| 2012-09-13 | BAL | TB | 6.33 | Y |
| 2012-04-15 | FLA | HOU | 6.29 | Y |
| 2012-09-07 | STL | MIL | 6.28 | Y |
| 2012-07-27 | BAL | OAK | 6.28 | N |
| 2012-08-03 | BOS | MIN | 6.26 | Y |
| 2012-04-25 | OAK | CHA | 6.25 | Y |
| 2012-05-30 | CHN | SD | 6.23 | N |
| 2012-09-20 | STL | HOU | 6.22 | N |
| 2012-06-19 | CLE | CIN | 6.21 | Y |
| 2012-05-13 | CIN | WAS | 6.20 | N |
| 2012-04-11 | OAK | KC | 6.20 | Y |
| 2012-08-01 | TEX | LAA | 6.19 | Y |
| 2012-07-03 | MIL | FLA | 6.19 | Y |
| 2012-09-16 | SD | COL | 6.18 | N |
| 2012-04-29 | STL | MIL | 6.18 | N |
| 2012-05-29 | MIN | OAK | 6.17 | N |
| 2012-06-19 | MIL | TOR | 6.16 | N |
| 2012-10-02 | ARI | COL | 6.15 | N |
| 2012-04-15 | LAN | SD | 6.15 | N |
| 2012-06-28 | TOR | LAA | 6.14 | N |
| 2012-08-19 | STL | PIT | 6.14 | Y |
| 2012-07-20 | TB | SEA | 6.14 | Y |
| 2012-07-27 | HOU | PIT | 6.13 | N |
| 2012-04-11 | BAL | NYA | 6.11 | Y |
| 2012-08-23 | PHI | CIN | 6.11 | Y |
| 2012-05-13 | FLA | NYN | 6.11 | N |
| 2012-07-18 | ATL | SF | 6.10 | Y |
| 2012-05-15 | STL | CHN | 6.10 | N |
| 2012-07-22 | NYN | LAN | 6.10 | Y |
| 2012-08-20 | WAS | ATL | 6.06 | Y |
| 2012-05-08 | OAK | TOR | 6.06 | N |
| 2012-10-02 | NYA | BOS | 6.05 | Y |
| 2012-05-17 | CLE | SEA | 6.05 | Y |
| 2012-06-08 | ATL | TOR | 6.04 | Y |
| 2012-07-14 | LAN | SD | 6.04 | N |
| 2012-05-04 | WAS | PHI | 6.04 | Y |
| 2012-04-17 | SEA | CLE | 6.04 | N |
| 2012-08-30 | CHN | MIL | 6.04 | N |
| 2012-09-07 | WAS | FLA | 6.03 | Y |
| 2012-05-28 | LAA | NYA | 6.03 | N |
| 2012-04-27 | MIN | KC | 6.02 | N |
| 2012-05-28 | MIN | OAK | 6.02 | N |
| 2012-08-31 | ATL | PHI | 6.02 | Y |
| 2012-09-14 | KC | LAA | 6.02 | N |
| 2012-05-17 | TEX | OAK | 6.01 | Y |
| 2012-07-07 | TEX | MIN | 6.01 | Y |
| 2012-06-02 | CHA | SEA | 6.00 | Y |
| 2012-04-10 | BAL | NYA | 6.00 | Y |
| 2012-08-12 | PHI | STL | 6.00 | Y |
| 2012-09-13 | TEX | CLE | 5.98 | N |
| 2012-09-09 | NYN | ATL | 5.98 | Y |
| 2012-04-29 | COL | NYN | 5.98 | Y |
| 2012-08-11 | CHA | OAK | 5.97 | N |
| 2012-06-13 | LAN | LAA | 5.95 | N |
| 2012-08-08 | BOS | TEX | 5.95 | N |
| 2012-06-19 | ARI | SEA | 5.95 | Y |
| 2012-05-08 | PIT | WAS | 5.95 | N |
| 2012-08-21 | ARI | FLA | 5.95 | Y |
| 2012-08-17 | ATL | LAN | 5.93 | Y |
| 2012-09-16 | FLA | CIN | 5.92 | Y |
| 2012-07-29 | MIL | WAS | 5.92 | Y |
| 2012-06-16 | TOR | PHI | 5.92 | Y |
| 2012-06-28 | COL | WAS | 5.91 | Y |
| 2012-06-14 | KC | MIL | 5.90 | N |
| 2012-08-03 | CHA | LAA | 5.89 | Y |
| 2012-07-13 | MIL | PIT | 5.89 | N |
| 2012-07-21 | PHI | SF | 5.88 | Y |
| 2012-06-05 | BOS | BAL | 5.87 | Y |
| 2012-08-06 | HOU | WAS | 5.86 | Y |
| 2012-06-07 | CIN | PIT | 5.85 | Y |
| 2012-04-30 | TB | SEA | 5.85 | Y |
| 2012-06-28 | TEX | OAK | 5.84 | N |
| 2012-09-02 | COL | SD | 5.84 | N |
| 2012-08-09 | DET | NYA | 5.84 | N |
| 2012-04-27 | NYA | DET | 5.84 | N |
| 2012-07-28 | HOU | PIT | 5.83 | N |
| 2012-04-18 | KC | DET | 5.82 | N |
| 2012-09-01 | WAS | STL | 5.82 | N |
| 2012-09-07 | CHA | KC | 5.82 | N |
| 2012-06-11 | LAN | LAA | 5.82 | N |
| 2012-06-13 | KC | MIL | 5.82 | Y |
| 2012-05-05 | TB | OAK | 5.81 | Y |
| 2012-06-06 | LAA | SEA | 5.81 | N |
| 2012-05-02 | COL | LAN | 5.80 | N |
| 2012-09-16 | CLE | DET | 5.80 | N |
| 2012-06-22 | CIN | MIN | 5.79 | N |
| 2012-05-18 | LAN | STL | 5.78 | N |
| 2012-04-17 | MIL | LAN | 5.76 | N |
| 2012-06-02 | LAA | TEX | 5.76 | N |
| 2012-06-08 | CIN | DET | 5.76 | Y |
| 2012-05-19 | MIL | MIN | 5.76 | Y |
| 2012-06-29 | BAL | CLE | 5.75 | N |
| 2012-06-09 | BAL | PHI | 5.75 | Y |
| 2012-07-30 | OAK | TB | 5.74 | Y |
| 2012-05-14 | STL | CHN | 5.73 | N |
| 2012-04-13 | COL | ARI | 5.73 | N |
| 2012-06-15 | DET | COL | 5.72 | Y |
| 2012-06-23 | CHA | MIL | 5.72 | N |
| 2012-07-29 | FLA | SD | 5.72 | Y |
Dave was called a "national treasure" by Rob Neyer. Seriously. Comments about this article can be sent to him through the miracle of e-mail.
By the way, no team went undefeated in these games, but two teams did go unwon. One was Houston (0-9), which is sad but not surprising. The other was 0-8. Guess.