AZ SnakePit 2018 Awards: Game of the year nominations open

This one is potentially even more objective a category than single-game performance. Games can be memorable for a number of reasons - and not always in a good way. For example, we’ll always remember the 19-2 thrashing in Colorado, where position players for Arizona ended up pitching more than half the game and Daniel Descalso had the longest such outing in over 30 years. But that is more a “Date which will live in infamy” kind of way, rather than something worth honoring in our end of season awards. So I’ve stuck to just the 82 wins recorded by the D-backs this year.

As with single-game performance, this initial list is based off various objective criteria and should not necessarily be taken as infallible [who am I, the Pope?]. Suggestions of other candidates can be made in the comments, and please also feel free to rec suggestions there worthy of merit. These will be taken into account in coming up with the final list of nominations, which will be presented for you voting pleasure on Wednesday. The links below go to the box-score for the particular game.

• Best offense: July 7, 20-5 vs. San Diego
• Longest game: April 2, 8-7 in 15 innings vs. Los Angeles
• Biggest shutout: September 19, 9-0 vs. Chicago (NL)
• Tightest game: April 17, 1-0 vs. San Francisco
• Most exciting game: June 22, 2-1 in 13 innings vs. Pittsburgh

The last is based on the average leverage index for both hitting and pitching PAs. It measures how crucial a particular situation is in a baseball game depending on the inning, score, outs, and number of players on base. That game ranked second of 162 for pitching LI and sixth of 162 for hitting LI.

Let the debate commence!