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I logged today’s A’s-Twins game in my WPA spreadsheet and found some curious things. Frank Thomas was voted the Game MVP (rightfully, in my opinion), but he actually finished third on the A’s in WPA, behind Zito and Street. Thomas’s home runs occurred in less critical situations: the second inning, when the LI was just 0.89, and in the ninth with the A’s up 2-1 (LI of 0.70), so the WPA of each home run was just under .10 in both cases.
There were several bigger hits in the game, including Scutaro’s double in the second (.103) and Jason Bartlett’s double in the eighth with none out and the Twins down by a run (.166). Also, the flyball that Milton Bradley lost in the Metrodome roof was worth .166 WPA, too. Those were the two biggest plays of the game.
So Frank Thomas, who homered for two of the A’s three runs, didn’t lead the team in WPA and didn’t even have the biggest hits of the game. Go figure.