| All‑Time All‑Stars | Team | BTP | Rank | Active Career All‑Stars | Team | BTP | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pujols, Albert 1438 | ana al | 201.8 | 7 | 1B | Pujols, Albert 1438 | ana al | 201.8 | 7 |
| Kent, Jeff 280 | Retired | 110.2 | 60 | 2B | Cano, Robinson 2092 | nym nl | 85.4 | 119 |
| Tejada, Miguel | Retired | 102.3 | 74 | SS | Machado, Manny 3087 | sd nl | 36.4 | 551 |
| Rodriguez, Alex | Retired | 187.0 | 10 | 3B | Cabrera, Asdrubal 2362 | dc nl | 58.2 | 279 |
| Piazza, Mike 114 | Retired | 95.4 | 93 | CA | Martin, Russell 2202 | free agent | 56.0 | 293 |
| Ramirez, Manny 17 | Retired | 166.2 | 16 | OF | Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | mil nl | 98.7 | 85 |
| Bonds, Barry 95 | Retired | 152.2 | 23 | OF | Bruce, Jay 2453 | phi nl | 74.3 | 168 |
| Guerrero, Vladimir | Retired | 128.3 | 36 | OF | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | sea al | 71.2 | 183 |
| Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 150.9 | 24 | DH | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | det al | 150.9 | 24 |
| Johnson, Randy 15 | Retired | 282.5 | 1 | SP | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | lad nl | 227.5 | 3 |
| Martinez, Pedro J. 18 | Retired | 244.8 | 2 | SP | Greinke, Zack 1871 | hou al | 207.1 | 4 |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | lad nl | 227.5 | 3 | SP | Verlander, Justin 2112 | hou al | 205.6 | 5 |
| Greinke, Zack 1871 | hou al | 207.1 | 4 | SP | Scherzer, Max 2588 | dc nl | 197.2 | 8 |
| Hoffman, Trevor 342 | Retired | 128.4 | 35 | CP | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | phi nl | 106.2 | 68 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw leads the list of Box-Toppers Active Career All-Stars and is one of four active players included on Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team.
The Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team consists of the best players by position since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and includes 10 players who have retired and four who are still active—Kershaw, along with Albert Pujols of the Angels, Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers and Astros pitcher Zack Greinke, who joined the All-Time All-Star team in 2019.
Box-Toppers Active Career All-Stars consists of players currently active (as of May 2020) who lead in career Box-Toppers points at their position. It includes those four 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 pitchers and the top closing pitcher in career Box-Toppers points.
Pitcher Randy Johnson leads the list of all-time All-Stars with 282.5 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 Clayton Kershaw leads players in active career Box-Toppers points with 227.5. Kershaw also is on the all-time career list, ranking third among pitchers and third in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.
Greinke is the only new player among the All-Time All-Stars added during the 2019 season. On Sept. 9, 2019, Greinke rose to fourth place in career Box-Toppers points among all players and among all pitchers with 204.1, passing Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, who had 203.4 at the time. Greinke finished the season with 207.1 points. Sabathia retired at season’s end with 203.4 points.
While Greinke is the only new addition on Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team during 2019, the two other active players on the All-Time All-Star team changed positions from their spots at the end of 2018. Pujols now leads all first basemen with 201.8 and Cabrera now leads designated hitters with 150.9. At the end of 2018, Pujols was listed as the top designated hitter and Cabrera was listed as top first baseman. However, during the 2019 season, Pujols returned to his primary position playing first base while Cabrera primarily served as a designated hitter, so they swapped spots.
Sabathia’s retirement at the end of 2019 also moved him off Box-Toppers Active Career All-Stars list. His 203.4 career Box-Toppers points would have ranked fourth among active pitchers. At the end of 2018, he ranked second among active pitchers but was passed by Greinke (207.1, now the second-ranked active pitcher) and Astros pitcher Justin Verlander (205.6, now the third-ranked active pitcher) during the season.
New Active Career All-Stars
Among the Active Career All-Stars, there are seven new players on the team as of the end of 2019 compared to the end of 2018:
Shortstop—Manny Machado of the Padres now leads active shortstops in career Box-Toppers points with 36.4, 551st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He replaces Troy Tulowitzki, who led at the end of 2018 with 59.8 career points. Tulowitzki played with the Yankees in 2019, retiring mid-season on July 25. He last earned Box-Toppers points on Aug. 16, 2016.
Third base—Asdrubal Cabrera of the Nationals now leads active third basemen in career Box-Toppers points with 58.2, 279th among all players. He replaces Adrian Beltre, who led at the end of 2018 with 116.8 career points. Beltre retired from the Rangers at the end of the 2018 season.
Catcher—Russell Martin, listed as a free agent, now leads active catchers in career Box-Toppers points with 56.0. (Martin played for the Dodgers in 2019.) He replaces Brian McCann, who led at the end of 2018 with 62.4 career points. McCann retired from the Braves at the end of 2019. (Of active catchers currently signed with a team, Buster Posey of the Giants leads in career Box-Toppers points with 49.0.)
Outfield—Jay Bruce of the Phillies and Carlos Gonzalez of the Mariners now rank second and third, respectively, in career Box-Toppers points among active outfielders. Bruce has 74.3 career points and Gonzalez has 71.2. They replace Matt Holliday (100.8 career points) and Curtis Granderson (77.2 career points). Holliday retired in 2019 after having last played for the Rockies in 2018. Granderson retired from the Marlins at the end of 2019. The other Active Career All-Star outfielder is Ryan Braun of the Brewers, who was the second-ranked active outfielder at the end of 2018 (96.7 career points) and is the top-ranked active outfielder currently (98.7).
Starting pitcher—Justin Verlander of the Astros now ranks third in career Box-Toppers points among active starting pitchers with 205.6, becoming one of four Active Career All-Star starters. Verlander displaces Sabathia, who retired. Had Sabathia not retired, his 203.4 career points would have ranked fourth among active starting pitchers, ahead of Max Scherzer of the Nationals (197.2), who currently ranks fourth among active starters.
Closing pitcher—Francisco Liriano of the Phillies now ranks first among active closing pitchers in career Box-Toppers points with 106.2. However, Liriano has only earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point—his most recent point on April 6, 2019—as a closer. His other 105.2 points were earned as a starter, the last of those being June 14, 2017. Second among closers is Ian Kennedy of the Royals with 79.5—but he is listed as a closer only because he served in the role one season (2019) after starting for nine seasons (2010-2018). So while technically Liriano and Kennedy are listed as closers, the active closer with the highest career Box-Toppers point total who has primarily served as a closer his whole career is Craig Kimbrel of the Cubs (75.4). Kimbrel was the leader in career Box-Toppers points among active closers at the end of 2018.
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 (2019), past two seasons (2018-19) and past six seasons (2014-19). 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.
Box-Toppers probably could have separate AL and NL teams for Active Career All-Stars, since those players are currently active in either the AL or NL. But to keep it relatively simple and to better make comparisons to the All-Time All-Star team, Box-Toppers also groups Active Career All-Stars together on one team, without regard to league. The Active Career All-Stars include five players who are now in the AL, eight who are now in the NL and one who is currently listed as a free agent (Russell Martin).
Audit
The career Box-Toppers point totals for some players active in 1995 are slightly different than those we’ve previously reported. That’s because Box-Toppers is in the process of auditing results of 1995 games to ensure we’ve maintained accuracy and consistency in determining Player of the Game winners. When we began Box-Toppers tracking in 1995, the newspaper box scores we used were sometimes incomplete or inaccurate. Advancements in complete and accurate records has improved access and accuracy. Plus, rules on determining Player of the Game winners were slightly modified over time. We’re now making sure all Player of the Game winners are determined according to a consistent standard. As a result, six players listed among Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team have slightly different career Box-Toppers point totals than they did previously:
Pitcher Randy Johnson, the overall career Box-Toppers points leader (since 1995) now has 3.7 more points—282.5 vs. 278.8 previously.
Trevor Hoffman, the leader in career Box-Toppers points among closing pitchers now has 1.0 fewer point—128.4 vs. 129.4. (Incidentally, the second-ranked closing pitcher in career points, Mariano Rivera, has 126.4 points. As the audit continues, it is possible Hoffman and Rivera could swap spots as only 2.0 points currently separate them.)
Jeff Kent, the leader in career points among second baseman now has 0.5 more points—110.2 vs. 109.7.
Mike Piazza, the leader in career points among catchers now has 0.3 fewer points—95.4 vs. 95.7.
Manny Ramirez, the leader in career points among outfielders now has 1.0 fewer point—166.2 vs. 167.2.
Barry Bonds, the second-ranked outfielder in career points now has 1.0 fewer point—152.2 vs. 153.2.
More minor changes in point totals may appear as our audit continues. (As of May 18, 2020, we have audited 672 of the more than 2,000 games played in 1995, about one-third of the season.)
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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Related:
Top 100 players of “all-time,” 1995-2019
Top 10 players by category “all-time,” 1995-2019 (AL, NL pitching and batting)
Box-Toppers All-Star teams for past six seasons, 2014-19
Box-Toppers All-Star teams for past two seasons, 2018-19
Box-Toppers All-Star teams for past season, 2019
Last year’s all-time All-Stars: Box-Toppers all-time All-Star teams, 1995-2018