As I was getting ready to go to bed last night after that incredible, incredible game, I saw this tweet from @williamnyy23 getting retweeted up and down my stream:
The returns are in...David Freese now owns the highest WPA in a WS game. His .953 beats Kirk Gibson's.870.
This is remarkable. And true (thought I didn't think so at first glance). According to Baseball-Reference, Babe Ruth had a higher WPA (1.084) in a game that he pitched. However, Ruth also had a -.191 WPA at the plate that day, giving him a combined WPA of 0.893.
From Baseball-Reference, here are the best postseason games by WPA before last night:
Batting:
| Rk | Player | Date | Series | Gm# | Tm | WPA | Pos. Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kirk Gibson | 1988-10-15 | WS | 1 | LAD | 0.870 | PH |
| 2 | Steve Garvey | 1984-10-06 | NLCS | 4 | SDP | 0.854 | 1B |
| 3 | Charlie Keller | 1941-10-05 | WS | 4 | NYY | 0.826 | LF |
| 4 | Cookie Lavagetto | 1947-10-03 | WS | 4 | BRO | 0.822 | PH |
| 5 | Michael Tucker | 1998-10-12 | NLCS | 5 | ATL | 0.812 | RF |
| 6 | Brian Jordan | 1999-10-08 | NLDS | 3 | ATL | 0.806 | RF |
| 7 | Stan Hack | 1945-10-08 | WS | 6 | CHC | 0.806 | 3B |
| 8 | Jimmy Rollins | 2009-10-19 | NLCS | 4 | PHI | 0.754 | SS |
| 9 | Francisco Cabrera | 1992-10-14 | NLCS | 7 | ATL | 0.737 | PH |
| 10 | Gary Carter | 1988-10-04 | NLCS | 1 | NYM | 0.724 | C |
Pitching:
| Rk | Player | Date | Series | Gm# | Tm | WPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Babe Ruth | 1916-10-09 | WS | 2 | BOS | 1.084 |
| 2 | Dave McNally | 1969-10-05 | ALCS | 2 | BAL | 0.915 |
| 3 | Art Nehf | 1921-10-13 | WS | 8 | NYG | 0.912 |
| 4 | Carl Hubbell | 1933-10-06 | WS | 4 | NYG | 0.900 |
| 5 | Preacher Roe | 1949-10-06 | WS | 2 | BRO | 0.863 |
| 6 | Art Nehf | 1923-10-12 | WS | 3 | NYG | 0.848 |
| 7 | Jack Morris | 1991-10-27 | WS | 7 | MIN | 0.845 |
| 8 | Vic Raschi | 1950-10-04 | WS | 1 | NYY | 0.843 |
| 9 | Clem Labine | 1956-10-09 | WS | 6 | BRO | 0.842 |
| 10 | Ralph Terry | 1962-10-16 | WS | 7 | NYY | 0.823 |
| 11 | Chris Carpenter | 2011-10-07 | NLDS | 5 | STL | 0.812 |
I went to 11 on the pitcher list because our friend Cris Carpenter is there. I also checked the rest of the pitchers to see if their hitting would take them above Freese, but none made significant gains.
Between the last day of the regular season and what we thought was going to be the last day of the postseason, I can't wait to see what tonight brings.