One in a series
Box-Toppers’ Stick-A-Fork-In-Them series looks at 14 players whose careers are done or may be done. Included is a look at how they have fared in Box-Toppers points over their careers, reflecting their impact on the game over time. This is the 13th of the series:
13. Lance Berkman
Lance Berkman led all National League batters in Box-Toppers points in 2006 and finished among the top five NL batters three times, but never won the NL Most Valuable Player Award.
Lance Berkman
Here are Lance Berkman's Box-Toppers statistics. The third column shows his Box-Toppers points (BTP) per season. The final column shows his All-Star Selections, his Box-Toppers key season rankings and his standing in key postseason awards voting.| Year | Team | BTP | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | hou nl | 2.0 | |
| 2000 | hou nl | 5.0 | RoY-6 |
| 2001 | hou nl | 6.5 | AS, BTP-134, BTP-NL bat-38, MVP-5 |
| 2002 | hou nl | 8.5 | AS, BTP-80, BTP-NL bat-18, MVP-3 |
| 2003 | hou nl | 7.5 | |
| 2004 | hou nl | 11.2 | AS, BTP-27, BTP-NL bat-5, MVP-7 |
| 2005 | hou nl | 7.0 | MVP-14 |
| 2006 | hou nl | 20.8 | AS, BTP-2, BTP-NL bat-1, MVP-3 |
| 2007 | hou nl | 4.5 | |
| 2008 | hou nl | 12.9 | AS, BTP-20, BTP-NL bat-5, MVP-5 |
| 2009 | hou nl | 6.5 | |
| 2010 | hou nl/nyy al | 4.5 | |
| 2011 | stl nl | 10.2 | AS, BTP-48, BTP-NL bat-7, MVP-7 |
| 2012 | stl nl | 0.0 | |
| 2013 | tex al | 1.0 | |
| Total | 108.1 | BTP-46, BTP-bat-16 |
AS All-star selection
BTP Finish among all players in Box-Toppers points
BTP-NL bat Finish among all NL batters in BTP
MVP Finish in league Most Valuable Player Award voting
RoY Rookie of the Year
Source: Information for player awards comes from Baseball-Reference.com
Berkman, who retired in January and is now 38, has 108.1 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 16th among batters and 46th among all players (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). Berkman played most of his career with the Astros (1999-2010). He moved to the Yankees to end the 2010 season. He played 2011 and 2012 with the Cardinals (where in 2011, he won a World Series title and NL Comeback Player of the Year). He finished his career in 2013 with the Rangers.
Some career highlights:
• In 2001, he had 6.5 Box-Toppers points, 38th among NL batters and 134th among all players. He finished fifth in NL MVP voting.
• In 2002, he had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, 18th among NL batters and 80th among all players. He finished third in NL MVP voting.
• In 2004, he had 11.2 Box-Toppers points, fifth among NL batters and 27th among all players. He finished seventh in NL MVP voting. (Barry Bonds of the Giants was voted NL MVP. He had 12.5 Box-Toppers points, fourth among NL batters. Albert Pujols of the Cardinals led NL batters with 15.9 Box-Toppers points.)
• In 2006, he had 20.8 Box-Toppers points, his most in a single season. He finished first among NL batters and second among all players (behind only Johan Santana of the Twins with 25.7 points). However, Berkman finished third in NL MVP voting. Ryan Howard of the Phillies, who won the award, had 14.0 Box-Toppers points, fourth among NL batters.
• In 2008, he had 12.9 Box-Toppers points, fifth among NL batters and 20th among all players. He finished fifth in NL MVP voting. Albert Pujols of the Cardinals, who won the award, had 15.2 Box-Toppers points, most among NL batters.
• In 2011, he had 10.2 Box-Toppers points with the Cardinals, seventh among NL batters and 48th among all players. He finished seventh in NL MVP voting. Ryan Braun of the Brewers, who won the award, had 10.5 Box-Toppers points, sixth among NL batters. (Prince Fielder of the Brewers led NL batters in 2011 with 15.7 points.)
Berkman had four seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points and one season with more than 20.0.
Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Coming next in the series: Ryan Dempster
Previously in the series: Alex Rodriguez, Roy Halladay, Manny Ramirez, Johan Santana, Jim Thome, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Roy Oswalt, Andy Pettitte, Todd Helton, Barry Zito, Chris Carpenter