"Entertainment Weekly" placed the episode sixteenth on their top 25 "The Simpsons" episodes list, noting it was "early proof that "The Simpsons" could juggle a squad of guest stars without giving the family short shrift." It was placed third on AskMen.com's "Top 10: Simpsons Episodes" list, Rich Weir called it "one of the show's more memorable moments" and "effective as it combines a slew of guest stars with some hilarious material for Homer". The entire episode was placed first on ESPN.com's list of the "Top 100 Simpsons sport moments", released in 2004. Greg Collins, the author of the list, gave great praise of the episode. He said this is the "king of all sports episodes, and perhaps the greatest "Simpsons" episode ever". A friend of Collins later met guest star Mike Scioscia and told him he thought his guest spot was the best thing Scioscia had ever done, he responded "Thanks, I think". Entertainment.ie named it among the 10 greatest "Simpsons" episodes of all time. Eric Reinagel, Brian Moritz and John Hill of "Press & Sun-Bulletin" named the episode the fourth best in the show's history, In 2019, "Time" ranked the episode fifth in its list of 10 best "Simpsons" episodes picked by "Simpsons" experts. In 2019, "Consequence of Sound" ranked it number six on its list of top 30 "Simpsons" episodes.