Box-Toppers All-time All-Star teams, 1995-2016

Here are the players with the most Box-Toppers points (BTP) by position since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. The team on the left is the All-Time All-Star team including players who have retired. The team on the right is the Active Career All-Star team including the players with the most career Box-Toppers points by position who were still active at the end of 2016. For both teams, a player’s overall rank in Box-Toppers points since 1995 is also shown.  


 All-Time All-Stars Team BTP Rank Active Career All-Stars Team BTP Rank
1B thome, jim Retired 146.7 22 Cabrera, Miguel 1776 det al 144.9 24
2B kent, jeff Retired 109.7 55 Cano, Robinson 2092 sea al 75.4 147
SS Tejada, Miguel Retired 102.3 67 Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 tor al 59.8 225
3B Rodriguez, Alex Released 187.0 4 Beltre, Adrian 1141 tex al 111.3 53
CA piazza, mike Retired 95.7 85 McCann, Brian 2179 nyy al 58.4 241
OF Ramirez, manny Retired 167.2 10 Beltran, Carlos 1194 tex al 104.9 64
OF bonds, barry Retired 153.2 17 Holliday, Matt 1836 stl nl 97.8 80
OF Guerrero, Vladimir Retired 128.3 33 Braun, Ryan J. 2300 mil nl 88.2 100
DH Pujols, Albert 1438 ana al 182.3 7 Pujols, Albert 1438 ana al 182.3 7
SP Johnson, randy Retired 278.8 1 Sabathia, C.C. 1492 nyy al 185.0 5
SP Martinez, Pedro J. Retired 244.8 2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 lad nl 183.7 6
SP schilling, curt Retired 194.1 3 Hernandez, Felix 2064 sea al 168.7 9
SP Sabathia, C.C. 1492 nyy al 185.0 5 Greinke, Zack 1871 ari nl 156.1 15
CP hoffman, trevor Retired 129.4 32 Rodriguez, Francisco 1707 det al 63.4 197
What are those numbers after players' names?

Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team (since 1995) includes 2 active players (Sabathia, Pujols), 12 retired players

The Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team consists of the best players by position since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and includes 12 players who have retired and two who are still active.

The list of all-time active career Box-Toppers points leaders by position includes those two active players from the “all-time” list among the 14 players on the team.

The player with the most career Box-Toppers points at all nine batting positions (including designated hitter) are included on both the all-time and active teams. Also included for both teams are the top four starting pitchers and the top closing pitcher in career Box-Toppers points.

Pitcher Randy Johnson leads the list of all-time All-Stars with 278.8 Box-Toppers points from 1995 to 2009. (He would likely have more Box-Toppers points if his entire career beginning in 1988 were tracked.)

Pitcher CC Sabathia leads players in active career Box-Toppers points with 185.0. Sabathia also is on the all-time career list, ranking fourth among pitchers. Sabathia ranks fifth in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.

The other player on both Box-Toppers all-time and active career All-Star teams is Albert Pujols of the Angels, who leads all designated hitters with 182.3 Box-Toppers points. Pujols ranks seventh in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.

At the end of the 2015 season, Alex Rodriguez was among three active players to appear on both the Box-Toppers all-time and active career All-Star teams. But when the Yankees released Rodriguez in August, he dropped from the active player list. During 2015, his final season earning Box-Toppers points, Rodriguez was primarily a designated hitter and so was listed at that position for the year-end 2015 Box-Toppers’ all-time and active career All-Star teams. But when he was released (and seemingly obliged to retire), his position reverted to the primary position he played during his career—third base. (He earned Box-Toppers points for eight seasons primarily as a shortstop, 10 seasons primarily at third base and one season primarily at designated hitter.)

And so when Rodriguez was released, it shook up Box-Toppers’ All-Time All-Star team. Rodriguez who ranks fourth in career points since 1995 with 187.0, was moved from designated hitter to third base, bumping the retired Chipper Jones (149.0 Box-Toppers points) from the all-time team. Pujols then became the career all-time leader among players listed at designated hitter and moved to that spot on both the all-time and active career All-Star teams. At the end of 2015, Pujols was listed at first base on both Box-Toppers’ all-time and active career All-Star teams (he has split his time between those two positions in recent years). The first base spot vacated by Pujols on the all-time All-Star team is now filled by the retired Jim Thome, who ranks second behind Pujols among first basemen in Box-Toppers points with 146.7.

There are five new players on Box-Toppers’ active career All-Star list since the end of 2015:

  • Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers is now listed as the active career All-Star at first base. Cabrera has 144.9 career Box-Toppers points, 24th among all players since 1995. Cabrera replaces Pujols who filled the first base spot on the active career All-Star team at the end of 2015 (but has since moved to the designated hitter spot). Cabrera ranks third among all first basemen since 1995, behind Pujols and narrowly trailing Thome by just 1.8 Box-Toppers points.
  • Robinson Cano of the Mariners is now listed as the active career All-Star at second base. Cano has 75.4 career Box-Toppers points and during 2016 passed Chase Utley of the Dodgers (73.1), who was the active career leader among second basemen at the end of 2015.
  • Adrian Beltre of the Rangers is now listed as the active career All-Star at third base. Beltre has 111.3 career points and became the active leader among third basemen when Aramis Ramirez (105.8) retired at the end of 2015. Beltre also passed Ramirez in Box-Toppers points during 2016, moving to third place among all third basemen since 1995, behind Alex Rodriguez (187.0) and Chipper Jones (149.0).
  • Ryan Braun of the Brewers is now listed as the third-ranked active career All-Star at outfield. Braun has 88.2 career points and moved among the three active outfield leaders when Torii Hunter (115.9 career points) retired at the end of 2015.
  • Zack Greinke of the Diamondbacks is now listed as the fourth-ranked active career All-Star at starting pitcher. Greinke has 156.1 career points and moved into fourth-ranked active starting pitcher position when Tim Hudson (157.0) retired at the end of 2015.

Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers, who is on the Active Career All-Star team as the second-ranking active pitcher in career Box-Toppers points (183.7), is the only player on the career All-Star teams to also appear on all three other 2016 year-end Box-Toppers All-Star teams. Kershaw is on Box-Toppers’ 2016 National League All-Star team as the second-ranked pitcher (24.4 Box-Toppers points), he is on Box-Toppers’ 2015-16 NL All-Star team as the top-ranked pitcher (50.1 points) and on Box-Toppers’ 2011-16 NL All-Star team as top-ranked pitcher (150.2).

There are two players on Box-Toppers’ Active Career All-Star team who appear on two other Box-Toppers’ 2016 year-end All-Star teams:

In addition to Kershaw, Beltre and Cabrera, six other players on Box-Toppers’ Active Career All-Star team appear among Box-Toppers’ 2011-16 All-Star teams:

  • Robinson Cano of the Mariners, who leads all active second basemen with 75.4 career Box-Toppers points, is top AL second basemen over the past six seasons (43.5 Box-Toppers points).
  • Troy Tulowitzki of the Blue Jays, who leads all active shortstops with 59.8 career Box-Toppers points, is top AL shortstop over the past six seasons (39.1 Box-Toppers points).
  • Brian McCann of the Yankees, who leads all active catchers with 58.4 career Box-Toppers points, is top AL catcher over the past six seasons (35.4 Box-Toppers points).
  • Felix Hernandez of the Mariners, who is the third-ranked active pitcher in career Box-Toppers points (168.7), is top AL pitcher over the past six seasons (91.4 Box-Toppers points).
  • Ryan Braun of the Brewers, who is the third-ranked active outfielder in career Box-Toppers points (88.2), is the second-ranked NL outfielder over the past six seasons (46.5 Box-Toppers points).
  • Zack Greinke of the Dodgers, who is the fourth-ranked active pitcher in career Box-Toppers points (156.1), is the fourth-ranked NL pitcher over the past six seasons (95.5 Box-Toppers points).

Four teams have two players each among the Active Career All-Stars, most of any team—the Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers and New York Yankees.

One note: Box-Toppers’ All-Time All-Star teams are not separated by American League and National League as are Box-Toppers’ All-Star teams for the past season (2016), past two seasons (2015-16) and past six seasons (2011-16). All players on the All-Time All-Star team are grouped together on one team, regardless of league, since most of the players are retired and since many of those players played in both in the AL and NL during their careers.

We probably could have separate AL and NL teams for Active Career All-Stars, since those players were active in either the AL or NL at the end of 2016. But to keep it relatively simple and to better make comparisons to the All-Time All-Star team, we also group Active Career All-Stars together on one team, without regard to their league. The Active Career All-Stars include 10 players who ended 2016 in the AL and four who ended 2016 in the NL.

About Box-Toppers—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. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point 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.

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