Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book "I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide", praised the episode, calling it "a great episode because the accidents that befall the pro players are so funny". Chris Turner, the author of the book "Planet Simpson", said the episode was the indication that "the Golden Age the show had arrived". Nate Meyers rated the episode a (of 5), stating "the script makes great use of the baseball superstars, giving each of them a strong personality and plenty of pep (the highlight has to be Mattingly's clash with Mr. Burns)." Colin Jacobson disliked the episode: "when ["Homer at the Bat"] originally aired, I didn't like it. While I've warmed up to the show slightly over the last decade, I still think it's generally weak, and I'd definitely pick it as Season Three's worst."