Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw now has the second-most career Box-Toppers points since player tracking began in 1995.
Kershaw rose into second place on the “all-time” career points list Sunday with 246.6 points, passing Pedro Martinez (244.8), who held the second-place spot for more than 22 years.
Clayton Kershaw
In his 14th season, Kershaw built his career point total to towering heights by leading all players in Box-Toppers points in three different seasons (2011, 2013 and 2014), leading all National League pitchers in four consecutive seasons (2011 to 2014), earning more than 20 Box-Toppers points for a record seven straight seasons (2011 to 2017) and earning 10 or more points in 11 seasons.
Kershaw moves into the second-place spot that had been continuously occupied by Martinez since May 1, 1999, when the then-Red Sox pitcher earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points as overall Player of the Day, giving him 78.5 career points. He passed then-Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens, who fell to third place that day with 77.1 career points.
Clayton Kershaw, Box-Toppers points by season
Here are the season-by-season Box-Toppers point totals for Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw. Shown are:• His Box-Toppers point total by season.
• His rank among all players in season points.
In gray shading:• His cumulative career Box-Toppers point total at the end of each season.
• His rank at the end of each season among all players in career points (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began).
| Season | Career | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | BTP | Rank | BTP | Rank |
| 2008 | 4.0 | 276 | 4.0 | 1546 |
| 2009 | 13.4 | 22 | 17.4 | 724 |
| 2010 | 16.1 | 12 | 33.5 | 380 |
| 2011 | 26.1 | 1 | 59.6 | 180 |
| 2012 | 20.8 | 2 | 80.4 | 98 |
| 2013 | 21.7 | 1 | 102.1 | 54 |
| 2014 | 31.5 | 1 | 133.6 | 21 |
| 2015 | 25.7 | 2 | 159.3 | 13 |
| 2016 | 24.4 | 2 | 183.7 | 6 |
| 2017 | 23.1 | 3 | 206.8 | 3 |
| 2018 | 8.0 | 73 | 214.8 | 3 |
| 2019 | 12.7 | 25 | 227.5 | 3 |
| 2020 | 7.7 | 9 | 235.2 | 3 |
| 2021* | 11.4 | 6 | 246.6 | 2 |
* Point totals and rankings as of June 27, 2021.
Kershaw now trails overall Box-Toppers career points leader Randy Johnson (282.5) by 35.9 points.
Keep in mind Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 so the career points list includes only players’ points earned in the more than quarter century since then. For example, while Kershaw passes Martinez’s point total since 1995, it likely doesn’t include the actual total Martinez would have earned in his career, which began in 1992. Projections put his complete career Box-Toppers total at about 270. It’s also noteworthy that Johnson began his career in 1988, before Box-Toppers tracking began, and projections give him about 380 career points.
Box-Toppers has projected complete career totals for select players—like Martinez and Johnson—who played prior to 1995. However, Box-Toppers has only made projections for players who have earned 100 or more career points since 1995 to provide adequate data on which to base the estimates. Three other such players who have more projected points than Kershaw has currently are:
Clemens, projected with the second-most (320), behind Johnson’s 380. Clemens’s 164.8 points since 1995 ranks 17th overall.
John Smoltz, projected with the fourth-most (255). His 160.9 points since 1995 ranks 18th overall.
Greg Maddux, projected with the fifth-most (250). His 152.7 since 1995 ranks 23rd overall.
So in other words, if Box-Toppers tracking had started earlier, say in the mid-1980s, Kershaw would likely be ranked no higher than sixth place on the “all-time” career points list, and would only now be within striking distance of Maddux and Smoltz.
Pedro Martinez
But on the other hand, if Box-Toppers tracking had started in 1998, rather than 1995, Kershaw would already be atop the career points list. Removing Johnson’s points earned in Box-Toppers’ first three seasons from 1995 to 1997, Johnson would have 226.1 career points since 1998. And Johnson still would have led all players on the list until Aug. 14, 2019, when Kershaw would have passed him at 226.5 career points.
Kershaw’s rise
Kershaw made his Major League debut in 2008 and earned his first Player of the Game honor and his first Box-Toppers point in his 10th game that season.
Pedro Martinez, Box-Toppers points by season
Here are the season-by-season Box-Toppers point totals for Pedro Martinez from 1995-2009*. Shown are:• His Box-Toppers point total by season.
• His rank among all players in season points.
In gray shading:• His cumulative career Box-Toppers point total at the end of each season.
• His rank at the end of each season among all players in career points (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began).
| Season | Career | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BTP | Rank | BTP | Rank | |
| 1995 | Expos | 9.6 | 38 | 9.6 | 38 |
| 1996 | Expos | 12.4 | 25 | 22.0 | 19 |
| 1997 | Expos | 26.7 | 2 | 48.7 | 4 |
| 1998 | Red Sox | 22.8 | 3 | 71.5 | 3 |
| 1999 | Red Sox | 31.4 | 2 | 102.9 | 2 |
| 2000 | Red Sox | 33.5 | 2 | 136.4 | 2 |
| 2001 | Red Sox | 11.0 | 45 | 147.4 | 2 |
| 2002 | Red Sox | 28.8 | 2 | 176.2 | 2 |
| 2003 | Red Sox | 23.4 | 2 | 199.6 | 2 |
| 2004 | Red Sox | 17.1 | 8 | 216.7 | 2 |
| 2005 | Mets | 19.4 | 3 | 236.1 | 2 |
| 2006 | Mets | 5.0 | 186 | 241.1 | 2 |
| 2007 | Mets | 0.0 | 744 | 241.1 | 2 |
| 2008 | Mets | 0.0 | 981 | 241.1 | 2 |
| 2009 | Phillies | 3.7 | 290 | 244.8 | 2 |
* Pedro Martinez began his career in 1992, prior to the start of Box-Toppers tracking in 1995. Box-Toppers projects he would have about 270 career Box-Toppers points if his entire career were tracked.
In his second season, 2009, he already ranked among the top 10 pitchers in Box-Toppers points, and by his third season, in 2011, he led all players for the season with 26.1 Box-Toppers points.
By the end of his fourth season, 2012, he rose onto the top 100 list for players with the most career Box-Toppers points since 1995.
He led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2011 (26.1), 2013 (21.7) and 2014 (31.5). He led National League pitchers for four straight seasons from 2011 to 2014, earning 20.8, second overall, in 2012.
In May 2016, he rose onto Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points top 10 list (with 165.3) and by June was in sixth place on the list (with 176.3). In April 2017, he rose to fourth place and became the leader among active players in career points (with 187.7). A month later, in May 2017, he rose to third place (with 194.4), passing retired pitcher Curt Schilling (194.1), who had held that third-place spot nearly 16 years, since 2001. (Schilling, who began his career in 1988, has a projected career point total of 232.)
Kershaw’s rise from 10th to third place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list took just over a year. But his rise to second place would take more than four years. That’s because Kershaw trailed Martinez and his 244.8 career points since 1995. At the time, the 50.4-point gap between Martinez and Kershaw was the largest between any two players in “all-time” career Box-Toppers points rankings. In essence, Kershaw whizzed by the close-together “inner planets” of players ranked 10th to third and began his journey of much greater distances to reach the “gas giants” of Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune.
Finally, Kershaw reached and passed Martinez and now must travel another great distance (35.9 points) to reach Johnson. In fact, that point gap between Johnson and Kershaw is again the largest between any two players on the career points list.
Pedro Martinez
Though Pedro Martinez had the second-most Box-Toppers points since 1995 with 244.8, he never led all players in Box-Toppers points in any season.
He finished second overall five times, including three times to overall leader Randy Johnson:
1997—With the Expos, he finished second to Blue Jays pitcher Roger Clemens, 27.4-26.7.
1999—With the Red Sox, he finished second to Diamondbacks pitcher Johnson, 31.5-31.4.
2000—With the Red Sox, he finished second to Johnson, 33.7-33.5.
2002—With the Red Sox, he finished second to Johnson, 33.7-28.8.
2003—With the Red Sox, he finished second to Giants pitcher Jason Schmidt, 24.7-23.4.
Also, Martinez never finished atop Box-Toppers player rankings in any season despite having three of the 10 highest single-season Box-Toppers point totals:
Third-highest of 33.5 in 2000, when he finished behind Johnson’s 33.7.
Seventh-highest of 31.4 in 1999, when he finished behind Johnson’s 31.5.
Tenth-highest of 28.8 in 2002, when he finished behind Johnson’s 33.7.
Martinez did lead his league’s pitchers in Box-Toppers points in five seasons, once with the Montreal Expos and the other four with the Boston Red Sox:
1997—Led National League pitchers (26.7) with the Expos.
1999—Led American League pitchers (31.4).
2000—Led AL pitchers (33.5).
2002—Led AL pitchers (28.8).
2003—Led AL pitchers (23.4).
The five seasons Martinez led his league’s pitchers in Box-Toppers points is tied for the second-most for any player to lead a league category. Albert Pujols led NL batters five times with the Cardinals. Only one player led a season category more often—Johnson led league pitchers six times (once in the AL, five times in the NL).
Because Martinez was among the Box-Toppers points leaders when tracking began in 1995, he didn’t have far to climb compared to Kershaw. Martinez’s 9.6 Box-Toppers points in 1995, the first year of tracking, gave him 9.6 career Box-Toppers points, which was 38th-most in 1995 and in career points. Kershaw, by contrast, ranked 1,546th in career Box-Toppers points (4.0) after his first season (2008).
Martinez rose quickly in rankings, moving into the top 10 in career points in 1997, rising all the way to fourth (48.7). (Today, after more than 26 seasons of Box-Toppers tracking, that point total would rank 390th.) By the end of 1998, Martinez rose to third place and on May 1, 1999, he moved into second place with 78.5 points. He held that spot, racking up another 166.3 points, through his 2009 retirement and for a total of more than 22 years until Kershaw passed him.
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.
Box-Toppers tracking began at the start of the 1995 season. This website, Box-Toppers.com, was launched at the start of the 2013 season.
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Kershaw timeline
Significant dates in Clayton Kershaw’s climb up the career Box-Toppers points list:
May 25, 2008—Makes Major League debut.
July 27, 2008—Makes Box-Toppers debut with first career Player of the Game honor in his 10th career game.
2009—Ranked ninth among National League pitchers with 13.4 Box-Toppers points.
2010—Ranked eighth among NL pitchers with 16.1 Box-Toppers points.
2011—Led all players with 26.1 Box-Toppers points.
Oct. 3, 2012—Rises into the top 100 players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when tracking began). Earning Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point, he has 80.4 points, rising to 98th on the list.
2012—Led National League pitchers with 20.8 Box-Toppers points, second overall behind Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander (24.8).
Sept. 21, 2013—Reaches 100 career Box-Toppers points (101.1), ranking 56th in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995).
2013—Led all players with 21.7 Box-Toppers points, second overall lead in three seasons.
2014—Led all players with 31.5 Box-Toppers points, third overall lead in four seasons and second in a row. At the time, the 31.5 points were tied for the fourth-highest single-season total since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. (It is now tied for the fifth-highest.) This was also the fourth season in a row he led NL pitchers.
Aug. 12, 2015—Reaches 150 career Box-Toppers points (150.3), rising to 17th in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995), sixth among then-active players.
2015—Ranked second among all players and all NL pitchers with 25.7 Box-Toppers points, behind Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (29.1).
May 1, 2016—Rises to 10th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995) with 165.3, passing Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (163.7) and Roger Clemens (164.8). He ranks fourth among active players in career points, behind:
1. Alex Rodriguez, Yankees—187.0
2. CC Sabathia, Yankees—179.0
3. Albert Pujols, Angels—175.3
May 12, 2016—Rises two spots to eight place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list with 168.3, passing Johan Santana (166.6) and Manny Ramirez (167.2). (Ramirez’s total has since been revised to 166.2 after a partial audit of the 1995 season.)
May 23, 2016—Rises to seventh place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list with 171.3, passing Roy Halladay (170.7).
June 10, 2016—Rises to sixth place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list with 176.3, passing Albert Pujols of the Angels (176.3). (Though both Kershaw and Pujols had 176.3 career points, Kershaw ranked ahead on a tiebreaker because he had more points in 2016—17.0 vs. 2.0.) Kershaw also rose to third among active players in career points, behind:
1. Alex Rodriguez, Yankees—187.0
2. CC Sabathia, Yankees—182.0
July 25, 2016—Falls to seventh place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list (179.3) after being passed by Pujols (180.3), who rises back to sixth place. Kershaw falls to fourth among active players in career points.
Aug. 12, 2016—With Alex Rodriguez’s release by the Yankees, Kershaw rises to third among active players in career Box-Toppers points (179.3), behind new leader Sabathia (182.0) and Pujols (181.3). Rodriguez finished ranked fourth overall with 187.0 career points.
Sept. 24, 2016—Kershaw again rises to sixth place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list with 183.7, passing Pujols (182.3). Kershaw now ranks second among active players in career points, just 0.3 points behind Sabathia (184.0).
2016—Ranked second among all players and all NL pitchers with 24.4 Box-Toppers points, behind Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (25.7).
April 3, 2017—Rises to fifth place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list with 185.7, passing Sabathia (185.0), rising to lead all active players in career points.
April 4, 2017—Sabathia retakes the lead among active players in career Box-Toppers points one day after Kershaw passed him. Sabathia now has 186.0 career points to Kershaw’s 185.7. Sabathia retakes fifth place, Kershaw falls to sixth.
April 14, 2017—Rises to fourth place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list with 187.7, passing Sabathia (186.0) and Rodriguez (187.0). Kershaw again passes Sabathia to retake the lead among all active players in career points.
May 23, 2017—Rises to third place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list with 194.4, passing Curt Schilling (194.1). (Schilling began his career in 1988, before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. Projections give him 232 estimated career points.) Schilling had held the third-place spot in career points for nearly 16 years, from July 21, 2001, until Kershaw passed him.
June 24, 2017—Kershaw, with 200.1 career Box-Toppers points, becomes the third player to reach 200 career points (since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995), behind only Randy Johnson (282.5) and Pedro Martinez (244.8). (At the time, Johnson was listed with 278.8 points, but his total has since been revised after a partial audit of the 1995 season.)
2017—Ranked third among all players and second among NL pitchers with 23.1 Box-Toppers points, behind Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (25.1) and Scherzer (25.0). It was the third straight season Kershaw ranked second in Box-Toppers points among NL pitchers. In the seven seasons between 2011 and 2017, Kershaw ranked first among NL pitchers in the first four seasons and second in the final three seasons. It was also the ninth straight season he ranked among the top 10 NL pitchers. It was also the last of his seven straight seasons with more than 20 Box-Toppers points each season, breaking the record of six straight, held by Randy Johnson (1997 to 2002).
2018—Ranked 34th among NL pitchers with 8.0 Box-Toppers points, failing to rank among the top 10 NL pitchers in a season for the first time since 2008. His 15.1-point decline from 2017 to 2018 was the third-largest among all players.
2019—Ranked 14th among NL pitchers with 12.7 points.
2020—Ranked ninth overall and fifth among NL pitchers with 7.7 Box-Toppers points in the pandemic-shortened season.
Sunday, June 27, 2021—Kershaw passes Martinez, rising to second place with 246.6 career points, ahead of Martinez’s 244.8. Martinez falls out of second place for the first time in more than 22 years, having risen to that spot on May 1, 1999.