Todd Helton topped NL batters twice in Box-Toppers points, but never won NL MVP

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 10th of the series:

10. Todd Helton

Todd Helton never won the Most Valuable Player Award, but was the top National League batter in Box-Toppers points twice and among the top three NL batters four seasons in a row.

Todd Helton

Here are Todd Helton'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
1997	col nl	0.0
1998	col nl	7.5
1999	col nl	14.7	BTP-12, BTP-NL bat-2
2000	col nl	15.2	AS, BTP-11, BTP-NL bat-1, MVP-5
2001	col nl	17.0	AS, BTP-9, BTP-NL bat-1, MVP-9
2002	col nl	14.0	AS, BTP-15, BTP-NL bat-3, MVP-19
2003	col nl	11.0	AS, BTP-32, BTP-NL bat-6, MVP-7
2004	col nl	6.5	AS, BTP-126, BTP-NL bat-32, MVP-16
2005	col nl	6.5
2006	col nl	4.5
2007	col nl	5.5
2008	col nl	2.0
2009	col nl	4.0	BTP-259, BTP-NL bat-66, MVP-13
2010	col nl	2.0
2011	col nl	4.5
2012	col nl	0.0
2013	col nl	1.5
Total		116.4	BTP-33, BTP-bat-12

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

Source: Information for player awards comes from Baseball-Reference.com

Helton, who retired at the end of the 2013 season at the age of 40, spent his entire 17-year Major League career with the Colorado Rockies. He had 116.4 career Box-Toppers points, ranking third among first basemen in the “all-time” Box-Toppers list (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). Ahead of him on the first baseman list—Albert Pujols (159.8) and Carlos Delgado (117.7).

Helton ranks 12th among all batters on Box-Toppers “all-time” list and 33rd among all players.

Helton’s most impressive period of his career was a four-season stretch from 1999 to 2002, when he was among the top three NL batters in Box-Toppers points and was the top batter two straight years, 2000 and 2001:

• In 1999, he had 14.7 Box-Toppers points, ranking second among NL batters and 12th among all players. He finished just behind Barry Bonds of the Giants (15.2). Chipper Jones of the Braves was voted NL MVP. He had 9.7 Box-Toppers points, 16th among NL batters. Helton received no MVP votes in 1999.

• In 2000, he had 15.2 Box-Toppers points, ranking first among NL batters and 11th among all players. (Gary Sheffield of the Dodgers was second among NL batters with 14.2.) Jeff Kent of the Giants, who was voted NL MVP, had 12.9 Box-Toppers points, fourth among NL batters. Helton finished fifth in NL MVP voting.

• In 2001, Helton’s best season, he had 17.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking first among NL batters and ninth among all players. (Chipper Jones of the Braves was second among NL batters with 16.7.) However, Helton finished ninth in NL MVP voting. Barry Bonds of the Giants, who won the award, had 15.5 Box-Toppers points, fourth among NL batters.

• In 2002, he had 14.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking third among NL batters and 15th among all players. He finished 19th in NL MVP voting. Barry Bonds, who won NL MVP voting, was also Box-Toppers’ NL batting leader with 20.7 points.

Other career highlights for Helton:

• In 2003, he had 11.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking sixth among NL batters, 32nd among all players. He finished seventh in NL MVP voting.

• In 2004, he had 6.5 Box-Toppers points, ranking 32nd among NL batters and 126th among all players and finished 16th in NL MVP voting.

• In 2009, while he finished 13th in NL MVP voting, he had only 4.0 Box-Toppers points, 66th among NL batters and 259th among all players.

Helton had five consecutive seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points (1999-2003), including two seasons with 15.0 or more (2000 and 2001).

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: Barry Zito

Previously in the series: Alex Rodriguez, Roy Halladay, Manny Ramirez, Johan Santana, Jim Thome, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Roy Oswalt, Andy Pettitte

Andy Pettitte, retired after 2013, was a Box-Toppers top 10 pitcher in 5 different seasons

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 ninth of the series:

9. Andy Pettitte

Andy Pettitte, who was among his league’s top 10 pitchers in Box-Toppers points five different seasons, retired at the end of 2013 at the age of 41.

Pettitte had 138.4 Box-Toppers points for his career, ranking 19th among all players and 13th among all pitchers (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995, Pettitte’s rookie year).

Andy Pettitte

Here are Andy Pettitte'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
1995	nyy al	7.7	RoY-3
1996	nyy al	9.4	AS, BTP-54, BTP-AL pi-8, CYA-2, MVP-14
1997	nyy al	9.7	BTP-53, BTP-AL pi-10, CYA-5
1998	nyy al	7.7
1999	nyy al	5.0
2000	nyy al	7.7	BTP-96, BTP-AL pi-12, CYA-4
2001	nyy al	5.0	AS
2002	nyy al	11.7	BTP-30, BTP-AL pi-8
2003	nyy al	11.1	BTP-31, BTP-AL pi-9, CYA-6
2004	hou nl	6.0
2005	hou nl	12.7	BTP-21, BTP-NL pi-8, CYA-5, MVP-24
2006	hou nl	9.4
2007	nyy al	6.0
2008	nyy al	8.7
2009	nyy al	9.0
2010	nyy al	4.7	AS
2011	retired	0.0
2012	nyy al	3.0
2013	nyy al	4.0
Total		138.5	BTP-19, BTP-pi-13

AS All-star selection
BTP Finish among all players in Box-Toppers points
BTP-AL pi Finish among all AL pitchers in BTP
BTP-NL pi Finish among all NL pitchers in BTP
CYA Finish in league Cy Young Award voting
MVP Finish in league Most Valuable Player Award voting
RoY Finish in Rookie of the Year voting

Source: Information for player awards comes from Baseball-Reference.com

Pettitte pitched for the Yankees from 1995 to 2003 before moving to the Astros from 2004 to 2006. He rejoined the Yankees from 2007 to 2010 and was retired for the 2011 season before returning to the Yankees for 2012 and 2013.

Some career highlights:

• In 1996, he had 9.4 Box-Toppers points, eighth among American League pitchers and 54th among all players. He finished second in Cy Young Award voting (his highest finish). Pat Hentgen of the Blue Jays won the award—he had 10.0 Box-Toppers points that season, fifth among AL pitchers.

• In 1997, he had 9.7 Box-Toppers points, 10th among AL pitchers and 53rd among all players. He finished fifth in Cy Young voting. Roger Clemens of the Blue Jays won the AL Cy Young. He had 27.4 Box-Toppers points that season, the most of any player.

• In 2000, he had 7.7 Box-Toppers points, 12th among AL pitchers and 96th among all players. He finished fourth in Cy Young voting. Pedro Martinez of the Red Sox won the Cy Young. Martinez had 33.5 Box-Toppers points, the most of any AL pitcher.

• In 2002, he had 11.7 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL pitchers and 30th among all players. He received no Cy Young votes.

• In 2003, he had 11.1 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL pitchers and 31st among all players. He finished sixth in Cy Young voting. Roy Halladay of the Blue Jays won the Cy Young. Halladay had 14.1 Box-Toppers points, fifth among AL pitchers.

• In 2005, with the Astros, Pettitte had 12.7 Box-Toppers points, a career-high for a season. He finished eighth among National League pitchers and 21st among all players and was fifth in NL Cy Young voting. Chris Carpenter of the Cardinals won the NL Cy Young and had the most Box-Toppers points of any NL pitcher, 21.0.

Pettitte had three seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. He came close in four other seasons when he had 9.0 or more points. He scored at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 16 straight seasons (the streak ended when he retired the first time in 2011) and scored at least 1.0 point in each of the 18 seasons in which he was active.

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: Todd Helton

Previously in the series: Alex Rodriguez, Roy Halladay, Manny Ramirez, Johan Santana, Jim Thome, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Roy Oswalt

Retiring Roy Oswalt among best pitchers in Box-Toppers season rankings

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 eighth of the series:

8. Roy Oswalt

Roy Oswalt

Here are Roy Oswalt'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
2001	hou nl	17.1	BTP-7, BTP-NL pi-4, CYA-5, MVP-22, RoY-2
2002	hou nl	10.8	BTP-42, BTP-NL pi-15, CYA-4, MVP-23
2003	hou nl	6.0
2004	hou nl	13.7	BTP-16, BTP-NL pi-8, CYA-3, MVP-23
2005	hou nl	16.1	AS, BTP-9, BTP-NL pi-6, CYA-4, MVP-23
2006	hou nl	12.4	AS, BTP-28, BTP-NL pi-10, CYA-4
2007	hou nl	6.7	AS
2008	hou nl	11.0	BTP-42, BTP-NL pi-17
2009	hou nl	7.7
2010	hou nl/phi nl	17.0	BTP-6, BTP-NL pi-3, CYA-6
2011	phi nl	5.7
2012	tex al	3.0
2013	col nl	0.0
Total		127.2	BTP-23, BTP-pi-15

AS All-star selection
BTP Finish among all players in Box-Toppers points
BTP-NL pi Finish among all NL pitchers in BTP
CYA Finish in league Cy Young Award voting
MVP Finish in league Most Valuable Player Award voting
RoY Finish in Rookie of the Year voting

Source: Information for player awards comes from Baseball-Reference.com

Roy Oswalt, who in five different seasons finished among the top 10 National League pitchers in Box-Toppers points and Cy Young Award voting, retired this month after 13 years.

Oswalt, 36, was always one of baseball’s best starting pitchers, but was never “the” very best pitcher, finishing as high as third place in both Cy Young voting and Box-Toppers points among his league’s pitchers. He struggled with injuries from 2011 forward and in 2013, he earned no Box-Toppers points when he pitched nine games for the Colorado Rockies and went 0-6 with an ERA of 8.63.

Oswalt earned 127.2 Box-Toppers points over his career from 2001 to 2013, ranking 23rd among all players and 15th among all pitchers. (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995.) Oswalt spent his career primarily with the Houston Astros from 2001-2010.

Some career highlights:

• In 2001, Oswalt had 17.1 Box-Toppers points, a career season-high in his rookie year. He finished fifth in NL Cy Young voting, seventh among all players in Box-Toppers points and fourth among NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points. (Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks won the NL Cy Young that year and also led all players in Box-Toppers points with 29.4.)

• In 2002, he had 10.8 Box-Toppers points, 15th among all NL pitchers and 42nd among all players. He finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting. (Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks won the NL Cy Young and also led all players in Box-Toppers points with 33.7.)

• In 2004, he had 13.7 Box-Toppers points, eighth among all NL pitchers and 16th among all players. He finished third in NL Cy Young voting. (Astros teammate Roger Clemens won the NL Cy Young that year. Clemens had 18.1 Box-Toppers points, third-most among NL pitchers. Eric Gagne of the Dodgers led NL pitchers in 2004 with 19.7 points.)

• In 2005, Oswalt had 16.1 Box-Toppers points, sixth among NL pitchers and ninth among all players. He finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting. (Chris Carpenter of the Cardinals won the NL Cy Young and had the most Box-Toppers points of any NL pitcher, 21.0.)

• In 2006, Oswalt had 12.4 Box-Toppers points, 10th among NL pitchers and 28th among all players. He finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting. (Brandon Webb of the Diamondbacks won the NL Cy Young. Webb had 13.4 Box-Toppers points, ninth among NL pitchers. John Smoltz of the Braves led NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points with 19.1.)

• In 2008, Oswalt had 11.0 Box-Toppers points, 17th among NL pitchers and 42nd among all players. He received no Cy Young Award votes that season.

• In 2010, he had 17.0 Box-Toppers points, beginning the season with the Astros and ending with the Phillies. He ranked third among NL pitchers and sixth among all players. He finished sixth in Cy Young voting. (Phillies teammate Roy Halladay, who also retired after 2013, won the award. Halladay also ranked first among NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points with 23.4.)

Oswalt had seven seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points and three seasons with 15.0 or more.

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: Andy Pettitte

Previously in the series: Alex Rodriguez, Roy Halladay, Manny Ramirez, Johan Santana, Jim Thome, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera

Retired saves king Mariano Rivera ranks as 2nd-best all-time closer in Box-Toppers points

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 seventh of the series:

7. Mariano Rivera

Mariano Rivera, considered the greatest closing pitcher of all time, is only the second-best closer in career Box-Toppers points.

Mariano Rivera

Here are Mariano Rivera'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
1995	nyy al	3.0
1996	nyy al	8.4	BTP-77, BTP-AL pi-11, CYA-3, MVP-12
1997	nyy al	5.0	AS, MVP-25
1998	nyy al	4.0
1999	nyy al	8.0	AS, BTP-82, BTP-AL pi-13, CYA-3, MVP-14
2000	nyy al	4.0	AS
2001	nyy al	12.0	AS, BTP-30, BTP-AL pi-8, MVP-11
2002	nyy al	4.0	AS
2003	nyy al	6.0	MVP-27
2004	nyy al	5.0	AS, BTP-189, BTP-AL pi-37, CYA-3, MVP-9
2005	nyy al	11.0	AS, BTP-37, BTP-AL pi-9, CYA-2, MVP-9
2006	nyy al	4.0	AS, MVP-26
2007	nyy al	12.0	BTP-27, BTP-AL pi-11
2008	nyy al	14.0	AS, BTP-17, BTP-AL pi-8, CYA-5
2009	nyy al	8.0	AS, BTP-84, BTP-AL pi-18, MVP-14
2010	nyy al	7.0	AS
2011	nyy al	6.0	AS, CYA-8
2012	nyy al	0.0
2013	nyy al	5.0	AS
Total		126.4	BTP-25, BTP-pi-16

AS All-star selection
BTP Finish among all players in Box-Toppers points
BTP-AL pi Finish among all AL pitchers in BTP
CYA Finish in league Cy Young Award voting
MVP Finish in league Most Valuable Player Award voting

Source: Information for player awards comes from Baseball-Reference.com

Rivera retired amid great fanfare at the end of the 2013 season at the age of 43. He recorded more saves than any other pitcher with 652. He helped the New York Yankees, the team with which he spent his entire 19-season career, win five World Series championships, earning World Series Most Valuable Player once (in 1999) and American League Championship Series MVP once (in 2003).

And yet, despite all this, Rivera trails one other closing pitcher in all-time Box-Toppers points. Rivera recorded 126.4 Box-Toppers points, ranking 25th among all players and 16th among all pitchers. But ahead of him, with 129.4 Box-Toppers points, ranking 21st among all players and 14th among all pitchers is Trevor Hoffman.

Hoffman, who pitched primarily for the San Diego Padres and the Milwaukee Brewers from 1993 to 2010, has 601 career saves—he was passed by Rivera in 2011. And even though Rivera was only 3.0 Box-Toppers points from tying him, Hoffman would likely have a higher point total since his career began before Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995—Hoffman picked up 25 of his career saves in 1993 and 1994.

More about the comparison of Rivera and Hoffman ahead, but first a look back at the career of Rivera, who finished among the top 10 in AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points for a season three times during his career. Here are some career highlights:

• In 1996, he had 8.4 Box-Toppers points and finished third in AL Cy Young Award voting. (Pat Hentgen of the Blue Jays won the award—he had 10.0 Box-Toppers points that season, fifth among AL pitchers.)

• In 1999, he had 9.0 Box-Toppers points and finished third in AL Cy Young voting. (Pedro Martinez of the Red Sox won the award—he had 31.4 Box-Toppers points, the most of any AL pitcher.)

• In 2001, he had 12.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking eighth among AL pitchers. (He received no Cy Young votes.)

• In 2004, he had 5.0 Box-Toppers points and finished third in AL Cy Young voting. (Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins won the award—he had 26.8 Box-Toppers points, the most of any player that season.)

• In 2005, he had 11.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking ninth among AL pitchers and finishing second in Cy Young voting, his highest finish ever. (Bartolo Colon of the Angels won the award—he had 9.4 Box-Toppers points that year, ranking 13th among AL pitchers.)

• In 2007, he had 12.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking 11th among AL pitchers. (He received no Cy Young votes.)

• In 2008, he had a career-high-for-a-season 14.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking eighth among AL pitchers and finishing fifth in Cy Young voting. (Cliff Lee of the Indians won the award —he had 15.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking sixth among AL pitchers.)

• In 2011, he had 6.0 Box-Toppers points and finished eighth in Cy Young voting. (Justin Verlander of the Tigers won the award—he had 24.4 Box-Toppers points, first among AL pitchers.)

Rivera had four seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. He had 17 straight seasons in which he earned at least one Box-Toppers point. That streak was cut short in 2012, when he was injured for the season in May and earned no Box-Toppers points that year. He came back from that injury in 2013 to earn 5.0 Box-Toppers points in his final season.

Rivera vs. Hoffman

Trevor Hoffman

Here are Trevor Hoffman'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
1993	fla nl/sd nl	*
1994	sd nl	*
1995	sd nl	9.0	BTP-42, BTP-NL pi-8
1996	sd nl	14.7	BTP-12, BTP-NL pi-5, CYA-5, MVP-22
1997	sd nl	14.0	BTP-17, BTP-Nl pi-7
1998	sd nl	11.0	AS, BTP-31, BTP-NL pi-12, CYA-2, MVP-7
1999	sd nl	7.0	AS, BTP-111, BTP-NL pi-27, CYA-6, MVP-28
2000	sd nl	11.0	AS, BTP-30, BTP-NL pi-8
2001	sd nl	12.0	BTP-29, BTP-NL pi-13
2002	sd nl	8.0	AS, BTP-88, BTP-NL pi-30
2003	sd nl	0.0
2004	sd nl	8.7	BTP-65, BTP-NL pi-22
2005	sd nl	7.0	MVP-17
2006	sd nl	7.0	AS, BTP-115, BTP-NL pi-33, CYA-2, MVP-10
2007	sd nl	3.0	AS
2008	sd nl	9.0	BTP-69, BTP-NL pi-27
2009	mil nl	7.0	AS
2010	mil nl	1.0
Total		129.4	BTP-21, BTP-pi-14

* Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. Hoffman appeared in 67 games in 1993 and 47 games in 1994, recording 25 of his 601 career saves.

AS All-star selection
BTP Finish among all players in Box-Toppers points
BTP-NL pi Finish among all NL pitchers in BTP
CYA Finish in league Cy Young Award voting
MVP Finish in league Most Valuable Player Award voting

Source: Information for player awards comes from Baseball-Reference.com

So why does Rivera have fewer Box-Toppers points than Hoffman?

First: Box-Toppers measures which player most contributes to a team’s win. While Rivera was with the Yankees, there was a cavalcade of stars who made contributions who regularly edged out Rivera to earn Player of the Game honors (and thus, Box-Toppers points)—Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia, Jason Giambi … the names roll off the tongue and are among all-time career leaders in Box-Toppers points. But Hoffman did not have as many stars around him (his San Diego teammate Jake Peavy is the only one that comes to mind at present) and so the competition among team members to earn Box-Toppers points was less, allowing Hoffman to, perhaps, put up bigger numbers.

In addition, it’s simply harder for a closer to accumulate a lot of Box-Toppers points. When they pitch only one inning, it is hard for them to amass a large enough Box-Toppers game score in comparison with their teammates. For a closer to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors, they almost have to dominate their inning, striking out the side and allowing no hits, while their teammates either completely fail or make only minor contributions to the win. The closer may only win Player of the Game honors because the starting pitcher got shelled and no batter had a decent hitting line.

Box-Toppers doesn’t give credence to the so-called “clutch” or late-inning situation in which most closers find themselves. In the view of the Box-Toppers statistic, the first inning is as important as the ninth and the first game is as important as the 162nd. So, a closer who pitches one inning and faces just three batters may do it well and may give his team an emotional boost, but it is hard for him to compete statistically with the pitcher who goes seven innings or the batter who makes four plate appearances and gets three hits.

Given all those obstacles, it is really remarkable that Rivera and Hoffman could accumulate so many points over their careers—for comparison here are the next highest-ranked closers on the all-time Box-Toppers points list:

• Billy Wagner (1996-2010), 108.7, ranked 44th overall.

• Troy Percival (1995-2009), 80.7, ranked 102nd overall.

• Rob Nen (1993-2004), 66.0, ranked 157th overall.

Given his status as “saves king” and his reputation for postseason dominance, it may be true to say Rivera is the greatest closer of all time. But it can also be fair to say that Hoffman is actually the closer who contributed most often to his teams’ wins.

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: Roy Oswalt

Previously in the series: Alex Rodriguez, Roy Halladay, Manny Ramirez, Johan Santana, Jim Thome, Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter, retiring at season's end, is Box-Toppers' 2nd-ranked all-time shortstop

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 sixth of the series:

6. Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter said this week he will retire at the end of the 2014 season, ending a 20-year career at the age of 40.

Jeter, who has 76.4 career Box-Toppers points, ranks second among all shortstops (Box-Toppers record keeping began when he made his Major League debut in 1995), 60th among all batters and 121st among all players. He finished among the top 10 American League batters only once (1998) and finished as high as second place in AL Most Valuable Player award voting once (2006). 

Derek Jeter

Here are Derek Jeter'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
1995	nyy al	0.0
1996	nyy al	4.5	RoY-1
1997	nyy al	2.0	MVP-24
1998	nyy al	10.0	AS, BTP-51, BTP-AL bat-9, MVP-3
1999	nyy al	2.0	AS, BTP-409, MVP-3
2000	nyy al	2.5	AS, BTP-400, MVP-6
2001	nyy al	5.0	AS, BTP-200, MVP-10
2002	nyy al	5.0	AS
2003	nyy al	2.5	MVP-21
2004	nyy al	8.7	AS, BTP-68, BTP-AL bat-16, MVP-3
2005	nyy al	4.0	BTP-238, MVP-10
2006	nyy al	6.7	AS, BTP-135, MVP-2
2007	nyy al	7.0	AS, BTP-112, BTP-AL bat-29, MVP-11
2008	nyy al	3.0	AS
2009	nyy al	1.0	AS, BTP-571, MVP-3
2010	nyy al	5.0	AS
2011	nyy al	4.5	AS
2012	nyy al	3.0	AS, BTP-319, MVP-7
2013	nyy al	0.0
Total		76.4	BTP-121, BTP-bat-60

AS All-star selection
BTP Finish among all players in Box-Toppers points
BTP-AL bat Finish among all AL 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

Jeter, of course, has spent his entire career with the New York Yankees—so far. (This season has yet to play out, so there’s always the chance Jeter will be dealt to the Astros—or the Red Sox … OK, probably not.)

Miguel Tejada is the only shortstop with more career Box-Toppers points than Jeter. Tejada, currently a free agent who has played primarily for the Athletics and the Orioles, has 102.3 points. Jeter is just ahead of the third-place shortstop on the “all-time” list—Nomar Garciaparra has 74.9 Box-Toppers points.

Jeter’s Box-Toppers point totals seem a little low given his longevity, his profile and his accomplishments—five-time World Series champion, 2000 World Series MVP, 1996 AL Rookie of the Year, membership in the 3,000-hit club (he has 3,316 at present) and Yankees team captain since 2003. Plus, his seasonal point totals are lower than expected given his general Jeterian-ness—he has only one season with 10.0 Box-Toppers points.

Why doesn’t he have more Box-Toppers points? A couple of reasons: Box-Toppers tends to favor players with fat batting lines—lots of hits, runs and runs batted in. No doubt, Jeter has a lot of hits, but because he has hit early in the line-up and because he doesn't necessarily hit for power, he does not rack up RBIs as quickly as some. (For example, Jeter has 1,261 career RBIs over 19 seasons. Just behind him on the all-time RBI list is Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, who has nearly as many RBIs as Jeter in just over half the time—1,260 RBIs over 11 seasons.)

Plus, Box-Toppers awards only one player for each game—the one who most contributes to his team’s win. Jeter has had a lot of competition for Player of the Game in a Yankees’ lineup stocked with All-Stars. He played on a team that had a lot of power hitters—Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi and Bernie Williams, for example. Those players were more likely to drive in runs, which drove the Box-Toppers formula to give them Player of the Game honors more often and thus, earn more Box-Toppers points. 

He also competed for points against some of the all-time great pitchers on his team—Roger Clemens, CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera. With so much talent around him, competition for Box-Toppers points (though they probably had no idea they were competing for Box-Toppers points!) was fierce.

Shortstops also generally don't receive as many Box-Toppers points because they are hired mainly for their fielding—which Box-Toppers ignores—and not for their bat. That all supposedly changed in the 1980s when Cal Ripken Jr. of the Orioles brought power hitting to the shortstop position (Box-Toppers tracking didn't begin until the end of Ripken's career, but he did record 26.9 Box-Toppers points from 1995 to 2001.) In the 1990s, three phenom players ran with Ripken's shortstops-that-can-really-hit model—Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra, then of the Red Sox and Alex Rodriguez, then of the Mariners.

Garciaparra, as previously mentioned, accumulated 74.9 Box-Toppers points from 1996 to 2009 (though late in his career, he played first and third base). Rodriguez played shortstop for his first eight seasons with the Mariners and the Rangers, racking up 87.5 Box-Toppers points over that time, which is more than the 76.4 Jeter has over 19 seasons. Rodriguez switched to third base in deference to Jeter when he signed with the Yankees in 2004 and has accumulated 91.8 more Box-Toppers points over those 10 seasons, giving him 179.3 for his career. But the most successful shortstop of the Box-Toppers era (since 1995) is none of those three, but Miguel Tejada, with 102.3 points (a few of the points earned while playing third base and designated hitter).

On Box-Toppers all-time batting ranks, Jeter ranks 60th, just behind these five players—John Olerud (77.8), Shawn Green (77.6), Edgar Martinez (77.5), Mark McGwire (77.3) and Travis Hafner (76.9). He is just ahead of these five players—Pat Burrell (76.0), Jermaine Dye (76.0), Vernon Wells (75.8), Luis Gonzalez (75.3) and Garciaparra (74.9).

Jeter scored at least one Box-Toppers point in 17 straight seasons, from 1996 until 2012. He did not score any points in his injury-shortened 2013 season, ending the streak. Some other career highlights for Jeter:

• In 1998, he had 10.0 Box-Toppers points, the most he had in any season. He finished ninth among all AL batters and 51st among all players in Box-Toppers points, both rankings were his highest for a season. He finished third in AL MVP voting. (The winner, Juan Gonzalez of the Rangers, had 16.3 Box-Toppers points, second among AL batters to Albert Belle of the White Sox with 16.4.)

• In 1999, he had only 2.0 Box-Toppers points, but finished third in AL MVP voting.

• In 2004, he had 8.7 Box-Toppers points and was again third in AL MVP voting. (Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels was voted MVP. He had 14.4 Box-Toppers points, fifth among all AL players.)

• In 2006, he had 6.7 Box-Toppers points and was second in AL MVP voting, his highest finish. (Justin Morneau of the Twins was voted MVP—he had 12.2 Box-Toppers points, seventh among all AL batters.)

• In 2007, he had 7.0 Box-Toppers points and was 11th in AL MVP voting.

• In 2009, he had only 1.0 Box-Toppers point and was ranked 571st among all players in Box-Toppers season rankings. Yet, he still finished third in AL MVP voting.

Jeter’s Box-Toppers numbers often don’t correlate well with baseball writers voting for MVP, especially in years like 2009, when Jeter had but 1.0 Box-Toppers point, yet finished third in MVP voting. Again, Jeter’s point totals may have been kept low because he has not been a power hitter and has competed with an all-star Yankee line-up for points. But Jeter’s play was often spectacular, flipping impossible relays, diving into stands for a foul ball, hitting dramatic World Series-game winning homers. It’s hard to ignore that, but unless it shows up in a box score batting line during a regular season game, Box-Toppers does, indeed, ignore it. Plus, Jeter had the squishy intangibles working in his favor—he was a clubhouse leader, a heckuva guy writers liked and fans admired. Box-Toppers really doesn’t pay attention to that either. It also doesn’t hurt that Jeter is playing in New York and able to attract a lot of attention. But Box-Toppers doesn’t award bonus points for performing well in the media hub of the world.

Box-Toppers is another metric through which players can be compared. Jeter has done well in Box-Toppers points, not so much as a dominant player season-by-season, but more for his long-term legacy and for what he has accomplished over a two-decade career.

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: Mariano Rivera

Previously in the series: Alex Rodriguez, Roy Halladay, Manny Ramirez, Johan Santana, Jim Thome

Jim Thome, 6th-ranked batter in Box-Toppers points, seems retired, but hints at return in '14

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 fifth of the series:

5. Jim Thome

Jim Thome

Here are Jim Thome'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
1991	cle al	*
1992	cle al	*
1993	cle al	*
1994	cle al	*
1995	cle al	5.0
1996	cle al	16.2	BTP-6, BTP-AL bat-3, MVP-15
1997	cle al	8.5	AS, BTP-65, BTP-AL bat-18, MVP-6
1998	cle al	8.5	AS, BTP-82, BTP-AL bat-19, MVP-21
1999	cle al	8.0	AS
2000	cle al	11.5	BTP-27, BTP-AL bat-8
2001	cle al	9.2	BTP-78, BTP-AL bat-16, MVP-7
2002	cle al	16.0	BTP-7, BTP-AL bat-2, MVP-7
2003	phi nl	10.5	BTP-40, BTP-NL bat-8, MVP-4
2004	phi nl	6.5	AS, BTP-127, BAT-NL bat-33, MVP-19
2005	phi nl	1.0
2006	chi al	7.7	AS, BTP-104, BTP-AL bat-24, MVP-12
2007	chi al	7.0
2008	chi al	7.5
2009	chi al/lad nl	10.4	BTP-45, BTP-NL bat-7
2010	min al	5.2	BTP-190, BTP-AL bat-41, MVP-18
2011	min al/cle al	5.5
2012	phi nl/bal al	2.5
2013	did not play	0.0
Total		146.7	BTP-17, BTP-bat-6

* Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. Thome played 27 games in 1991, 40 games in 1992, 47 in 1993 and 98 in 1994.
AS All-star selection
BTP Finish among all players in Box-Toppers points
BTP-AL bat Finish among all AL batters in BTP
BTP-NL bat Finish among all NL batters in BTP
MVP Finish in league Most Valuable Player Award voting

Source: Information for player awards comes from Baseball-Reference.com

Jim Thome, who ranks sixth among all batters in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995), was among the season’s overall top 10 players twice and among his league’s top 10 batters in five different seasons.

Thome, 43, last played in the Major Leagues in 2012 for the Baltimore Orioles, worked in the front office for the Chicago White Sox in 2013 and in 2014, the Cleveland Indians will erect a statue in his honor. He seems retired. But during 2013, he was listed as a free agent all season. And in December, he said he would not rule out a comeback in 2014.

So if he is done, he leaves among the top 10 of all batters in Box-Toppers points. He has 146.7 points, ranking sixth among all batters and 17th among all players. (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995, so Thome’s first four seasons in the big leagues are unrecorded by Box-Toppers—he played 27 games in 1991, 40 games in 1992, 47 in 1993 and 98 in 1994.)

Thome never won a league Most Valuable Player honor (his highest finish in voting was 2003, when he finished fourth in National League voting with the Philadelphia Phillies). Thome also never ranked first among batters in his league in Box-Toppers points (his best finish was ranking second among American League batters in 2002 with the Cleveland Indians).

Among Thome’s best seasons:

• 1996 with the Indians: He had 16.2 Box-Toppers points, a career-high for a season. He ranked sixth among all players and third among AL batters—finishing behind then-teammate Albert Belle (20.4) and Mo Vaughn of the Boston Red Sox (18.6). Thome finished in 15th place in AL MVP voting.

• 2000 with the Indians: He had 11.5 Box-Toppers points, finishing eighth among all AL batters and 27th overall. (Frank Thomas of the White Sox was first among AL batters with 17.9 points.)

• 2002 with the Indians: He had 16.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking seventh among all players and second among AL batters. (Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees finished ahead of him with 17.0 Box-Toppers points.) Thome finished seventh in AL MVP voting that year.

• 2003 with the Phillies: He had 10.5 Box-Toppers points, ranking eighth among NL batters and 40th among all players. He finished fourth in NL MVP voting.

• 2009 with the White Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers: He had 10.4 Box-Toppers points, ranking seventh among NL batters and 45th among all players.

Thome had 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points in a season five different times. He scored more than 15.0 in a season twice.

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: Derek Jeter

Previously in the series: Alex Rodriguez, Roy Halladay, Manny Ramirez, Johan Santana

Johan Santana, Box-Toppers' dominant player in mid-2000s, attempting comeback after injury

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 fourth of the series:

4. Johan Santana

Johan Santana was Box-Toppers’ dominant player in the mid-2000s as he led all players in Box-Toppers points three consecutive years and all American League pitchers for four straight years.

Santana, 34, missed the entire 2013 season after re-injuring his shoulder and undergoing surgery. He missed the 2011 season with a similar injury and there are questions whether he will be able to continue pitching. He is currently an unsigned free agent.

Johan Santana

Here are Johan Santana'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 Cy Young and Most Valuable Player Award voting.

Year	Team	BTP	Notes
2000	min al	0.0
2001	min al	1.7
2002	min al	10.0
2003	min al	10.7	CYA-7
2004	min al	26.8	BTP-1, CYA-1, MVP-6
2005	min al	24.1	AS, BTP-1, CYA-3
2006	min al	25.7	AS, BTP-1, CYA-1, MVP-7
2007	min al	18.1	AS, CYA-5, BTP-4, BTP-AL pi-1
2008	nym nl	15.4	BTP-9, BTP-NL pi-5, CYA-3, MVP-14
2009	nym nl	11.4
2010	nym nl	12.0
2011	nym nl	0.0
2012	nym nl	10.7
2013	nym nl	0.0
Total		166.6	BTP-8, BTP-pi-6

AS All-star selection
BTP Finish among all players in Box-Toppers points
BTP-AL pi Finish among all AL pitchers in BTP
BTP-NL pi Finish among all NL pitchers in BTP
CYA Finish in league Cy Young Award voting
MVP Finish in league Most Valuable Player Award voting

Source: Information for player awards comes from Baseball-Reference.com

Santana has 166.6 Box-Toppers points, putting him in eighth place among players on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” rankings (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995) and sixth among all pitchers. At the end of 2013, he ranked third among all active pitchers, behind CC Sabathia (172.3) and Roy Halladay (170.7), who announced his retirement in December.

Santana’s Box-Toppers numbers suggest he should have won four straight American League Cy Young Awards while pitching for the Minnesota Twins from 2004 through 2007, however, he only won two. He led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and led all AL pitchers in points in 2007:

• In 2004, his best season, he earned 26.8 Box-Toppers points, more than any other player that year, won the Cy Young Award and also finished sixth in AL Most Valuable Player voting. (Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels was voted MVP. He had 14.4 Box-Toppers points, fifth among all AL players.)

• In 2005, Santana had 24.1 Box-Toppers points, more than any other player that season. However, he finished third in AL Cy Young voting. (Bartolo Colon of the Angels won the Cy Young—he had 9.4 Box-Toppers points that year, ranking 13th among AL pitchers.)

• In 2006, Santana had 25.7 Box-Toppers points, again more than any other player that year, winning the AL Cy Young Award and finishing seventh in AL MVP voting. (Twins teammate Justin Morneau was voted MVP—he had 12.2 Box-Toppers points, seventh among all AL batters.)

• In 2007, Santana had 18.1 Box-Toppers points, the most of any AL pitcher and the fourth most of any player. However, he finished fifth in AL Cy Young voting, with only one vote. (CC Sabathia of the Cleveland Indians won the award—he had 13.1 Box-Toppers points, fourth among AL pitchers.)

Santana moved to the New York Mets in 2008 and while he finished fifth among National League pitchers and ninth among all players in Box-Toppers points with 15.4, he has never again equalled the success he had over the previous four years with the Twins.

However, when he has been healthy and active, he has surpassed 10.0 Box-Toppers points each season—he has 10 such seasons in his 14-year career. He surpassed 15.0 points in five seasons and scored more than 20.0 points in three seasons. 

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: Jim Thome

Previously in the series: Alex Rodriguez, Roy Halladay, Manny Ramirez

Manny Ramirez, hinting at baseball comeback at 41, ranks second among all batters in career Box-Toppers points

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 third of the series:

3. Manny Ramirez

Manny Ramirez was Box-Toppers’ top American League batter in 1999 and ranks second in Box-Toppers points among all batters since 1995, trailing only Alex Rodriguez.

Manny Ramirez

Here are Manny Ramirez' 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 Most Valuable Player Award voting.

Year	Team	BTP	Notes
1993	cle al	*
1994	cle al	*
1995	cle al	11.0	AS, BTP-23, BTP-AL bat-7, MVP-12
1996	cle al	5.7
1997	cle al	7.7
1998	cle al	16.2	AS, BTP-10, BTP-AL bat-3, MVP-6
1999	cle al	19.9	AS, BTP-3, BTP-AL bat-1, MVP-3
2000	cle al	13.2	AS, BTP-19, BTP-AL bat-5, MVP-6
2001	bos al	7.0	AS, BTP-111, BTP-AL bat-22, MVP-9
2002	bos al	12.5	AS, BTP-25, BTP-AL bat-6, MVP-9
2003	bos al	7.9	AS, BTP-92, BTP-AL bat-27, MVP-6
2004	bos al	11.2	AS, BTP-26, BTP-AL bat-5, MVP-3
2005	bos al	14.0	AS, BTP-15, BTP-AL bat-2, MVP-4
2006	bos al	10.0	AS, BTP-51, BTP-AL bat-11, MVP-18
2007	bos al	7.5	AS
2008	bos al/lad nl	13.9	AS, BTP-18, BTP-NL bat-3, MVP-4
2009	lad nl	5.5
2010	lad nl/chi al	4.0
2011	tb al	0.0
Total		167.2	BTP-7, BTP-bat-2

* Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. Ramirez played 22 games in 1993 and 91 games in 1994.
AS All-star selection
BTP Finish among all players in Box-Toppers points
BTP-AL bat Finish among all AL batters in BTP
BTP-NL bat Finish among all NL batters in BTP
MVP Finish in league Most Valuable Player Award voting

Source: Information for player awards comes from Baseball-Reference.com

Ramirez, 41, is No. 3 on Box-Toppers’ Stick-A-Fork-In-Them look at 14 players whose careers are done or may be done. (See previous posts about Alex Rodriguez and Roy Halladay.) Reports say Ramirez is interested in making a comeback in 2014, though he hasn’t played in the Major Leagues since 2011. 

He retired that year (after playing five games for the Tampa Bay Rays) rather than face a 100-game suspension for his second violation of baseball’s drug policy. He attempted comebacks in both 2012 and 2013, never making it to the big leagues. Most recently, in July 2013, he signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers but was released in August.

 Ramirez accumulated 167.2 Box-Toppers points from 1995 to 2010. (He also played 22 games in 1993 and 91 games in 1994, before Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995.) He ranks seventh among all players on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” list (since 1995) and second among all batters (Rodriguez, first among batters, has 179.3 points).

Ramirez never won a league Most Valuable Player Award, though he finished in the top 10 in voting nine times, finishing as high as third place twice in AL MVP voting (1999 with the Cleveland Indians and 2004 with the Boston Red Sox).

However, Ramirez led AL batters in Box-Toppers points in 1999 with 19.9, his best season. Ramirez finished third in AL MVP voting that year. Ivan Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers was voted MVP—he had 14.2 Box-Toppers points that year, in sixth among AL batters. Ramirez was third in overall Box-Toppers points in 1999, behind only pitcher Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks (31.5 points) and pitcher Pedro Martinez of the Boston Red Sox (31.4 points).

Ramirez was among the top 10 batters in his league in Box-Toppers points eight different times—seven times in the AL and once, in 2008 in the National League when he finished his season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He was among the top 10 overall players in Box-Toppers points twice—in 1999, as previously mentioned, and in 1998, when he finished in 10th place overall with 16.2 points. He had nine seasons with more than 10.0 Box-Toppers points.

Ramirez was suspended 50 games in 2009 for violating baseball’s performance enhancing drug policy. He was suspended a second time under the policy in 2011 and faced a 100-game suspension. He chose to retire instead. When he attempted a comeback in 2012, he was able to reach an agreement to reduce that suspension to 50 games.

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: Johan Santana

Retiring Roy Halladay was No. 2 among active pitchers in Box-Toppers points

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 second of the series:

2. Roy Halladay

Roy Halladay won the Cy Young Award in both the American and National Leagues. He was Box-Toppers’ top NL pitcher in 2010 and among the top five pitchers in his league in Box-Toppers points in six different seasons.

Roy Halladay

Here are Roy Halladay'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 Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award voting.

Year	Team	BTP	Notes
1998	tor al	2.0
1999	tor al	4.7
2000	tor al	0.0
2001	tor al	6.7
2002	tor al	12.7	AS, BTP-24, BTP-AL pi-6
2003	tor al	14.1	AS, BTP-15, BTP-AL pi-5, CYA-1
2004	tor al	6.7
2005	tor al	16.4	AS, BTP-8, BTP-AL pi-3
2006	tor al	8.7	AS, BTP-79, BTP-AL pi 25, CYA-3
2007	tor al	11.4	BTP-36, BTP-AL pi-14, CYA-5
2008	tor al	15.7	AS, BTP-7, BTP-AL pi-3, CYA-2
2009	tor al	16.4	AS, BTP-10, BTP-AL pi 5, CYA-5
2010	phi nl	23.4	AS, BTP-2, BTP-NL pi-1, CYA-1, MVP-6
2011	phi nl	24.1	AS, BTP-4, BTP-NL pi-3, CYA-2, MVP-9
2012	phi nl	6.7
2013	phi nl	1.0
Total		170.7	BTP-6, BTP-pi-5

AS All-star selection
BTP Finish among all players in Box-Toppers points
BTP-AL pi Finish among all AL pitchers in BTP
BTP-NL pi Finish among all NL pitchers in BTP
CYA Finish in league Cy Young Award voting
MVP Finish in league Most Valuable Player Award voting

Source: Information for player awards comes from Baseball-Reference.com

Halladay, 36, announced his retirement on Dec. 9, 2013, after injuries cut short his 2013 season. He is No. 2 on Box-Toppers’ Stick-A-Fork-In-Them look at 14 players whose careers are done or may be done. (See previous post about No. 1 on the list: Alex Rodriguez.)

Over 16 seasons, Halladay racked up 170.7 Box-Toppers points, ranking sixth on the “all-time” list (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). He ranks fifth among all pitchers on the “all-time” list and was second among active pitchers until his retirement. (CC Sabathia passed Halladay on the “all-time” active pitcher’s list during the 2013 season and now has 172.3 Box-Toppers points.)

At his retirement, Halladay ceremonially signed with the Toronto Blue Jays, the team where he began his career in 1998. In 2003, he won the American League Cy Young Award with the Blue Jays. However, that year he finished fifth among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points with 14.1. (Pedro Martinez was the top AL pitcher in Box-Toppers points with 23.4; he finished third in Cy Young voting.)

Halladay moved to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2010 and won the National League Cy Young Award that year. He also finished first among all NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points with 23.4—he was second among all players (finishing behind pitcher Jon Lester of the Red Sox, who also had 23.4 Box-Toppers points, but who held the advantage in a tie-breaker).

Halladay’s best year in Box-Toppers points was 2011, when he accumulated 24.1 points. However, he finished third among NL pitchers (Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers had 26.1) and fourth among all players.

Halladay was among the top 10 pitchers in his league in Box-Toppers points in six different seasons (2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011). He was among the overall top 10 players in Box-Toppers points five times (2005, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011). He scored more than 20.0 Box-Toppers points in a season twice, more than 15.0 five times and more than 10.0 eight times.

His numbers fell off in 2012 and in 2013, he scored only 1.0 Box-Toppers point on April 19 when he pitched a rain-shortened complete game and was Box-Toppers’ Player of the Game in an 8-2 win over the Cardinals.

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: Manny Ramirez

Alex Rodriguez leads Box-Toppers' series on players who have (or may have) played their final game

First in a series

It is rare for a baseball player to have the luxury of a formal news conference to announce his retirement. It is rare if they even issue a press release.

Most players who are skillful and lucky enough to make it even to the big leagues toil in relative obscurity. Their career fades, they are released, they are designated for assignment, no other team signs them—and the fact that their career is over is an almost personal, private matter that an overwhelming majority of the time goes unregistered even on baseball’s copious and comprehensive transactions wires.

Alex Rodriguez

Here are Alex Rodriguez' 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 Most Valuable Player Award voting.

Year	Team	BTP	Notes
1994	sea al	*
1995	sea al	0.0
1996	sea al	11.2	AS, BTP-32, BTP-AL bat-9, MVP-2
1997	sea al	6.2	AS
1998	sea al	5.0	AS, MVP-9
1999	sea al	13.7	BTP-18, BTP-AL bat-7, MVP-15
2000	sea al	17.0	AS, BTP-7, BTP-AL bat-2, MVP-3
2001	tex al	12.5	AS, BTP-25, BTP-AL bat-2, MVP-6
2002	tex al	15.2	AS, BTP-11, BTP-AL bat-4, MVP-2
2003	tex al	6.7	AS, BTP-121, BTP-AL bat-33, MVP-1
2004	nyy al	4.5	AS, MVP-14
2005	nyy al	11.9	AS, BTP-28, BTP-AL bat-6, MVP-1
2006	nyy al	12.5	AS, BTP-27, BTP-AL bat-6, MVP-13
2007	nyy al	18.9	AS, BTP-2, BTP-AL bat-1, MVP-1
2008	nyy al	11.2	AS, BTP-34, BTP-AL bat-3, MVP-8
2009	nyy al	6.9	MVP-10
2010	nyy al	13.7	AS, BTP-23, BTP-AL bat-2, MVP-15
2011	nyy al	4.7	AS
2012	nyy al	4.5
2013	nyy al	3.0
Total		179.3	BTP-4, BTP-bat-1

* Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. Rodriguez played 17 games in 1994.
AS All-star selection
BTP Finish among all players in Box-Toppers points
BTP-AL bat Finish among all AL batters in BTP
MVP Finish in league Most Valuable Player Award voting

Source: Information for player awards comes from Baseball-Reference.com

Many players active in 2013 will not play in 2014. Some notable players have been given the grand treatment of a formal retirement, with ceremonies, gifts, retrospectives and news conferences—namely Mariano Rivera, Todd Helton and Roy Halladay. But other players may not be back in 2014. Some players may be limited by injury (Johan Santana). Some who still want to play another year may be limited by age (Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez, both of whom did not play in 2013). And some may be limited by drug suspension (Alex Rodriguez and maybe Manny Ramirez, come to think of it).

Here is the first in a series of Box-Toppers’ Stick-A-Fork-In-Them look 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. Not every player in this series has announced his retirement. In fact, some are continuing to try to play—even if they haven’t been on active rosters for more than a year.

1. Alex Rodriguez

The New York Yankees third baseman has been suspended for the upcoming season under baseball’s drug policy. His legal challenge to the suspension has been given a poor chance of succeeding. The soonest he could come back to the game is 2015, when he will be 39.

So the question is: Even if and when he is cleared to return to baseball, will he? Will he be too old? Will any team be willing to let someone so thoroughly viewed as a pariah actually take the field? Will shame for his transgressions keep him away? (Yeah, that one seemed unlikely to me, too.)

Is it possible that we’ve seen the last of A-Rod in baseball?

If so, then baseball loses the player who most helped his team to more wins than any other active player, according to Box-Toppers statistics. Rodriguez is the active leader in Box-Toppers points with 179.3, ahead of Yankees teammate and starting pitcher CC Sabathia, with 172.3.

Since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995, Rodriguez is also the leading batter in points, ahead of Manny Ramirez with 167.2. Rodriguez ranks fourth on the “all-time” Box-Toppers points list among all players (from 1995 to 2013).

Rodriguez’ career began just before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995—he played 17 games in 1994.

He is a three-time American League Most Valuable Player, in 2003 with the Texas Rangers and in 2005 and 2007 with the Yankees. However, only once did he lead the league in Box-Toppers points—in 2007, he led AL players with 18.9  and was ranked second overall to then-San Diego Padres pitcher Jake Peavy with 23.4 points.

Also in 2007, he accumulated more Box-Toppers points than he did in any other season with 18.9. It was one of three seasons where he had more than 15.0 Box-Toppers points and one of 10 seasons where he had more than 10.0 points.

Rodriguez finished twice among all players in Box-Toppers’ top 10 list for the season. In 2000, he ranked seventh among all players with 17.0 and in 2007, as mentioned previously, he finished second.

He finished in the top 10 among all American League batters on the season-ending list 10 times, finishing as high as second three times (in 2000 with 17.0 Box-Toppers points, in 2001 with 12.5 and in 2010 with 13.7).

Interestingly, two of his three MVP seasons were far from his best in terms of Box-Toppers points:

• In 2003, Rodriguez was voted MVP though he scored only 6.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 121st among all players and 33rd among AL batters. (Carlos Delgado was Box-Toppers’ top AL batter with 17.7; he finished second in AL MVP voting.)

• In 2005, Rodriguez was voted MVP though he scored 11.9 Box-Toppers points, ranked 28th among all players and sixth among AL batters. (David Ortiz was Box-Toppers’ top AL batter with 14.7; he finished second in AL MVP voting.)

The past three seasons have seen Rodriguez’ Box-Toppers numbers fall off, scoring fewer than 5.0 each year. In 2013, he scored 3.0 Box-Toppers points, however, he played only 44 games, limited by injury and playing all his games while appealing his 211-game drug suspension (later reduced to 162 games).

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: Roy Halladay 

Box-Toppers' batting leader Miguel Cabrera wins AL MVP; NL leader Goldschmidt finishes behind McCutchen for NL MVP

Box-Toppers' top-ranked batter Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers was named American League Most Valuable Player Thursday.

But the National League leading batter in Box-Toppers points, Paul Goldschmidt, finished in second place in NL MVP voting by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates, who finished 71st among NL players and 22nd among NL batters in Box-Toppers points, was voted NL MVP.

Cabrera had 16.9 Box-Toppers points for the season, first among all batters, third among all AL players and eighth among all players. He was consistently the only batter in the overall player top 10 list during the season. He led all players in Box-Toppers points four different times during the season, most recently from June 28 to June 30.

Cabrera was voted first on 28 of the 30 writers’ ballots, winning his second straight MVP award. However, in 2012, Cabrera ranked third among AL batters in Box-Toppers points with 11.7, behind Adrian Beltre (13.5) and Chris Davis (12.0). Cabrera ranked third in 2012 despite his Triple Crown season.

McCutchen, voted NL MVP, had 6.0 Box-Toppers points for the season. He was voted first on 28 of the 30 writers’ ballots and was voted on all 30 ballots no lower than third place. However, as the 22nd-ranked NL batter in Box-Toppers points, he wouldn’t have even appeared on Box-Toppers’ 10-spot ballot.

Box-Toppers’ top NL batter Goldschmidt had 13.7 Box-Toppers points and received 15 of the writers’ second place votes, enough to secure the NL MVP runner-up spot.

So what went wrong here? Why do the writers so unanimously see McCutchen as the MVP and Box-Toppers so ... does not? (In fact, McCutchen is not even the highest-ranked batter in Box-Toppers points on his team—that honor goes to Pedro Alvarez, with 7.7 points.)

McCutchen’s batting average is .317. He hit 21 homers and 84 RBIs, scored 97 runs and stole 27 bases. Goldschmidt’s numbers were just as good, often better—.302 average, 36 homers, 125 RBIs. But McCutchen’s team made the postseason. Goldschmidt’s didn’t. Plus, words being used to describe McCutchen are “all-around player,” a “heart-and-soul” guy—intangibles. By their very nature, it’s hard to measure intangibles.

But Box-Toppers measures tangibles. The player who most helps his team win the most games earns the most Box-Toppers points. And to be fair, Box-Toppers doesn’t measure defensive play—for batters, it relies on what they produce at the plate. So it is possible that a lot of McCutchen’s valuableness gets missed that way.

Though in the previous two seasons, McCutchen has fared better in Box-Toppers points than he did in 2013. In 2011, he had 9.7 Box-Toppers points, in eighth place among NL batters. And in 2012, he had 8.5, finishing just out of the top 10 among NL batters.

So, by Box-Toppers standards, Goldschmidt very simply more often helped his team win more games than did McCutchen.

A couple of other players were voted by writers to higher spots than would be recommended by their Box-Toppers point total:

• Mike Trout of the Angels was voted in second place in AL MVP voting with five first place votes. He had 3.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, in 144th place among all AL players and 62nd among all AL batters. (In 2012, he also finished second in AL MVP voting, but in 2012, he finished fifth among AL batters with 11.0 Box-Toppers points.)
• Yadier Molina of the Cardinals was voted in third place in NL MVP voting with two first place votes. He had 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, in 126th place among all NL players and 52nd among all NL batters. However, Molina is rightly given credit for his defensive skills as a catcher and his role in shaping a pitching staff with four or five Cy Young-worthy starters. Box-Toppers doesn’t measure that.

There were several players who had high Box-Toppers point totals who did not receive MVP votes. Three of the Box-Toppers top 10 AL batters received no votes and seven of the Box-Toppers top 10 NL batters were shut out:

• Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees had 12.9 Box-Toppers points, 12th among all AL players and second among all AL batters. However, Soriano played in the National League for the Cubs at the start of the season and switched to the American League in July.
• Billy Butler of the Royals had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, 33rd among all AL players and eighth among AL batters.
• Prince Fielder of the Tigers had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, 39th among all AL players and 10th among AL batters.
• Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies had 11.0 Box-Toppers points, 22nd among all NL players and fourth among NL batters.
• Bryce Harper of the Nationals had 9.4 Box-Toppers points, 34th among all NL players and fifth among NL batters.
• Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals had 9.2 Box-Toppers points, 35th among all NL players and sixth among NL batters.
• Will Venable of the Padres had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, 36th among all NL players and seventh among NL batters.
• Daniel Murphy of the Mets had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, 40th among all NL players and eighth among NL batters.
• Pedro Alvarez of the Pirates had 7.7 Box-Toppers points, 45th among all NL players and ninth among NL batters.
• Brandon Phillips of the Reds had 7.5 Box-Toppers points, 48th among all NL players and 10th among NL batters.

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. The player on the winning team with the highest Box-Toppers game score is Player of the Game and receives 1.0 Box-Toppers point. The Player of the Game with the highest overall Box-Toppers game score for all the games played that day is Player of the Day and earns a total of 2.0 Box-Toppers points. The top player in the opposite league receives a total of 1.7 Box-Toppers points. If both the day’s top overall player and top player in the opposite league are pitchers, then the top American League and top National League batter of the day receive a total of 1.5 Box-Toppers points each.

Here are the final Box-Toppers Player Rankings for 2013, showing the top 10 overall players, plus the top 10 in AL and NL pitching and AL and NL batting. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers season point totals.

Box-Toppers rankings of MVP Award candidates 

Here are the results of Most Valuable Player Award voting in both leagues. Players are listed in order of their vote total. The far right columns show how many Box-Toppers points (BTP) they earned during the 2013 season and how each player ranked in Box-Toppers points among all players in their league.

MVP vote
AL
Player	Pos	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Points	BTP	Rank*
Miguel Cabrera	3b	Tigers	23	7									385	16.9	3
Mike Trout	cf lf	Angels	5	19	3	1	1		1				282	3.5	144
Chris Davis	1b	Orioles	1	4	11	12	1		1				232	12.7	14
Josh Donaldson	3b	Athletics	1		14	9	3	3					222	9.5	31
Robinson Cano	2b	Yankees			1	5	9	2	6	5	2		150	12.5	17
Evan Longoria	3b	Rays					4	6	6	4	5	3	103	5.5	82
Dustin Pedroia	2b	Red Sox				1	5	5	5	4	2	1	99	3.5	145
Adrian Beltre	3b	Rangers					2	8	7	3	4	2	99	8.4	41
Manny Machado	3b	Orioles					2	1	2	5	5	7	57	1.0	316
David Ortiz	dh	Red Sox				2	1	2	2	1	2	2	47	12.4	18
Jason Kipnis	2b	Indians					1	1		3	3	5	31	8.0	44
Max Scherzer	pi sp	Tigers			1			2		1	1	2	25	18.1	1
Adam Jones	cf	Orioles					1			1			9	8.0	43
Edwin Encarnacion	1b dh	Blue Jays								1	2		7	8.7	38
Greg Holland	pi cp	Royals								1			3	11.0	22
Carlos Santana	ca	Indians								1			3	1.0	287
Coco Crisp	cf	Athletics									1	1	3	4.0	129
Jacoby Ellsbury	cf	Red Sox									1	1	3	5.5	83
Torii Hunter	rf	Tigers									1		2	4.0	125
Hisashi Iwakuma	pi sp	Mariners									1		2	16.1	7
Koji Uehara	pi cp	Red Sox										2	2	6.0	76
Yu Darvish	pi sp	Rangers										1	1	16.0	8
Felix Hernandez	pi sp	Mariners										1	1	14.8	9
Salvador Perez	ca 1b	Royals										1	1	2.5	195
Shane Victorino	rf	Red Sox										1	1	4.5	112
Notable AL snubs
Alfonso Soriano	lf	Yankees											0	12.9	12
Billy Butler	dh	Royals											0	9.0	33
Prince Fielder	1b	Tigers											0	8.5	39
NL
Player, Club	Pos	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Points	BTP	Rank*
Andrew McCutchen	cf	Pirates	28	1	1								409	6.0	71
Paul Goldschmidt	1b	D-Backs		15	9	1	3	2					242	13.7	12
Yadier Molina	ca	Cardinals	2	8	4	6	6		1		2	1	219	4.0	126
Matt Carpenter	2b	Cardinals		6	5	4	3	9	1	1	1		194	7.5	49
Freddie Freeman	1b	Braves				5	7	8	8	1	1		154	11.5	19
Joey Votto	1b	Reds			2	8	7	3	4		1	2	149	4.5	109
Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	Dodgers			8	4		4	5	4	1		146	21.7	1
Hanley Ramirez	ss	Dodgers			1	1	2	1	2	3	3	3	58	5.0	87
Carlos Gomez	cf	Brewers					1		3	6	2	3	43	3.0	162
Jay Bruce	rf	Reds					1	1	3		2	3	30	4.5	112
Craig Kimbrel	pi cp	Braves				1		1		3	3		27	12.7	18
Shin Soo Choo	cf	Reds						1	1	1	4	3	23	7.0	55
Jayson Werth	rf	Nationals							1	2	2	6	20	6.5	66
Andrelton Simmons	ss	Braves								2	4		14	1.5	261
Yasiel Puig	rf	Dodgers							1	2			10	1.5	259
Hunter Pence	rf	Giants								1	1	2	7	6.5	63
Troy Tulowitzki	ss	Rockies									2	1	5	4.0	124
Allen Craig	lf 1b	Cardinals								1		1	4	5.0	84
Adrian Gonzalez	1b	Dodgers								1		1	4	5.0	86
Buster Posey	ca	Giants								1			3	7.0	54
Adam Wainwright	pi sp	Cardinals								1			3	20.2	2
Michael Cuddyer	rf	Rockies										3	3	11.5	20
Matt Holliday	lf	Cardinals									1		2	6.5	62
Russell Martin	ca	Pirates										1	1	2.0	212
Notable NL snubs
Carlos Gonzalez	lf	Rockies											0	11.0	22
Bryce Harper	lf	Nationals											0	9.4	34
Ryan Zimmerman	3b	Nationals											0	9.2	35
Will Venable	rf cf	Padres											0	9.0	36
Daniel Murphy	2b	Mets											0	8.5	40
Pedro Alvarez	3b	Pirates											0	7.7	45
Brandon Phillips	2b	Reds											0	7.5	48

* Rank among players (batters and pitchers) in the league (AL or NL) in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season.

Source: Baseball Writers Association of America

Box-Toppers pitching leaders Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer win Cy Young Awards

Box-Toppers highest-ranked pitchers in each league for the season were selected Wednesday as 2013‘s Cy Young Award winners.

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw was chosen as National League Cy Young Award winner. He led all players in Box-Toppers points for the season with 21.7.

Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer was chosen as American League Cy Young Award winner. He led all AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points with 18.1. He ranked fifth among all players.

Voting by the Baseball Writers Association of America for the Cy Young Award for top pitcher coincided, generally, with Box-Toppers Player Rankings. There were some anomalies and snubs.

Five pitchers who ranked in the top 10 among pitchers in their league were completely left off all ballots. Among those who received no votes for Cy Young:

• Patrick Corbin of the Diamondbacks. He had 17.4 Box-Toppers points and ranked fifth among all NL pitchers. Corbin briefly led all players in Box-Toppers rankings in July.
• Justin Masterson of the Indians. He had 16.4 Box-Toppers points and ranked third among all AL pitchers and 10th among all players. Masterson led all players in Box-Toppers points at five different times in the season, including being the overall leader for nearly a month from July 21 to Aug. 17. He led all AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points until Sept. 15, when he was finally passed by Scherzer. True, Masterson did not pitch much or pitch well down the stretch. His last Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor came on July 27. Still he was the player who most helped his team win 11 games—more than many pitchers who received votes—and should have been given some consideration among voters.
• Lance Lynn of the Cardinals. He had 16.1 Box-Toppers points and ranked seventh among all NL pitchers.
• Shelby Miller of the Cardinals. He had 15.4 Box-Toppers points and ranked ninth among all NL pitchers.
• Ubaldo Jimenez of the Indians. He had 14.5 Box-Toppers points and ranked ninth among all AL pitchers.

Closing pitchers were another anomaly. In Box-Toppers scoring, closing pitchers often rank lower in player rankings, as they are less likely than starters to be the player who most helps his team win the game—and thus earn Player of the Game honors and Box-Toppers points. So in the American League, Red Sox closer Koji Uehara ranked seventh among AL pitchers in voting but ranked 52nd in Box-Toppers points (with 6.0).

In the NL, Braves closer Craig Kimbrel finished fourth in voting and 17th in Box-Toppers points among NL pitchers (with 12.7).

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. The player on the winning team with the highest Box-Toppers game score is Player of the Game and receives 1.0 Box-Toppers point. The Player of the Game with the highest overall Box-Toppers game score for all the games played that day is Player of the Day and earns a total of 2.0 Box-Toppers points. The top player in the opposite league receives a total of 1.7 Box-Toppers points. If both the day’s top overall player and top player in the opposite league are pitchers, then the top American League and top National League batter of the day receive a total of 1.5 Box-Toppers points each.

Box-Toppers rankings of Cy Young Award candidates 

Here are the results of Cy Young Award voting in both leagues. Players are listed in order of their vote total. The far right columns show how many Box-Toppers points (BTP) they earned during the 2013 season and how each player ranked in Box-Toppers points among pitchers in their league.

Cy Young vote
AL
Player	Pos	Club	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Points	BTP	Rank*
Max Scherzer	pi sp	Tigers	28	1	1			203	18.1	1
Yu Darvish	pi sp	Rangers		19	3	1	6	93	16.0	7
Hisashi Iwakuma	pi sp	Mariners		6	12	6	1	73	16.1	6
Anibal Sanchez	pi sp	Tigers	1	1	3	9	8	46	17.1	2
Chris Sale	pi sp	White Sox	1		5	8	6	44	16.1	4
Bartolo Colon	pi sp	Athletics		2	3	1	6	25	13.1	10
Koji Uehara	pi cp	Red Sox		1	2			10	6.0	52
Felix Hernandez	pi sp	Mariners			1	1	1	6	14.8	8
Matt Moore	pi sp	Rays				2		4	16.1	5
Greg Holland	pi cp	Royals				1	2	4	11.0	17
James Shields	pi sp	Royals				1		2	9.7	23
Notable AL snubs
Justin Masterson	pi sp	Indians						0	16.4	3
Ubaldo Jimenez	pi sp	Indians						0	14.5	9
NL
Player	Pos	Club	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Points	BTP	Rank*
Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	Dodgers	29	1				207	21.7	1
Adam Wainwright	pi sp	Cardinals	1	15	4	1	5	86	20.2	2
Jose Fernandez	pi sp	Marlins		9	3	5	7	62	19.0	4
Craig Kimbrel	pi cp	Braves		4	1	8	4	39	12.7	17
Matt Harvey	pi sp	Mets		1	8	4	3	39	15.0	10
Cliff Lee	pi sp	Phillies			6	6	2	32	13.4	14
Jordan Zimmerman	pi sp	Nationals			6		3	21	14.7	11
Zack Greinke	pi sp	Dodgers			2	4	4	18	19.4	3
Madison Bumgarner	pi sp	Giants				1	1	3	15.7	8
Francisco Liriano	pi sp	Pirates				1	1	3	16.7	6
Notable NL snubs
Patrick Corbin	pi sp	Diamondbacks						0	17.4	5
Lance Lynn	pi sp	Cardinals						0	16.1	7
Shelby Miller	pi sp	Cardinals						0	15.4	9

* Rank among pitchers in the league (AL or NL) in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season.

Source: Baseball Writers Association of America

Box-Toppers top rookie Jose Fernandez wins NL newcomer award

Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez led the way in voting and in Box-Toppers points on the way to earning National League Rookie of the Year Monday.

But the player voted American League Rookie of the Year ranked fourth among AL rookies in Box-Toppers points, behind a teammate. Wil Myers of the Rays, who served as designated hitter and right fielder, was voted top AL rookie, though his teammate, pitcher Chris Archer, had the most Box-Toppers points among AL rookie vote-getters.

Fernandez, who ranked fourth among all players, briefly led in Box-Toppers overall player rankings in September. He finished with 19.0 Box-Toppers points, in fourth place among all NL players and more than any other AL player.

Dodgers rightfielder Yasiel Puig finished second in voting, though he only earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points during the season.

The National League featured strong rookie pitchers among the top vote-getters. Shelby Miller of the Cardinals (third in voting) had the second-most Box-Toppers points among rookies with 15.4. Julio Teheran of the Braves (fifth in voting) had the third-most Box-Toppers points among rookies with 13.7. Hyun-Jin Ryu of the Dodgers (fourth in voting) had 9.7 Box-Toppers points.

Archer far outdistanced all other AL rookies in Box-Toppers points, though he was only voted in third place. Archer had 11.7 Box-Toppers points. Myers, who finished first, had 3.5 Box-Toppers points, tied for the most among AL batters in rookie voting.

Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias (who earlier in the season played for the Red Sox) finished in second in voting, though he earned no Box-Toppers points. In fact, two rookie vote-getters, Iglesias and Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, have yet to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors and so neither have any Box-Toppers points.

One other notable rookie, Athletics pitcher Dan Straily finished fourth in AL rookie voting. He had 7.7 Box-Toppers points, the second-most among AL rookie vote-getters.

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. The player on the winning team with the highest Box-Toppers game score is Player of the Game and receives 1.0 Box-Toppers point. The Player of the Game with the highest overall Box-Toppers game score for all the games played that day is Player of the Day and earns a total of 2.0 Box-Toppers points. The top player in the opposite league receives a total of 1.7 Box-Toppers points. If both the day’s top overall player and top player in the opposite league are pitchers, then the top American League and top National League batter of the day receive a total of 1.5 Box-Toppers points each.

Jose Fernandez

Here is how Fernandez scored his 19.0 Box-Toppers points this season:

April 13: Player of the Game, 1.0 Box-Toppers point

May 4: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

June 1: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

June 14: Player of the Game, 1.0 BTP.

July 1: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

July 23: Player of the Game, 1.0 BTP.

July 28: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

Aug. 2: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

Aug. 13: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

Aug. 19: Player of the Game, 1.0 BTP.

Aug. 24: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

Sept. 6: Player of the Game, 1.0 BTP.

Chris Archer

Here is how Archer scored his 11.7 Box-Toppers points:

June 7: Player of the Game, 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

July 9: Player of the Game, 1.0 BTP.

July 14: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

July 27: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

Aug. 18: American League Player of the Day, 1.7 BTP.

Aug. 28: Player of the Day, 1.0 BTP.

Sept. 13: Player of the Day, 2.0 BTP.

Sept. 18: Player of the Game, 1.0 BTP

Wil Myers

Here is how Myers scored his 3.5 Box-Toppers points:

July 19: Player of the Game, 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Aug. 15: American League Batter of the Day, 1.5 BTP.

Sept. 4: Player of the Game, 1.0 BTP

How top rookies fared in Box-Toppers points 

Here are the results of Rookie of the Year voting in both leagues. Players are listed in order of their vote total. The far right column shows how many Box-Toppers points (BTP) they earned during the 2013 season. For more: MLB.com’s coverage of the vote.

Top rookies
AL
Player	Pos	Club	1st	2nd	3rd	Points	BTP
Wil Myers	dh rf	Rays	23	5	1	131	3.5
Jose Iglesias	ss	Tigers*	5	17	4	80	0
Chris Archer	pi sp	Rays	1	5	15	35	11.7
Dan Straily	pi sp	Athletics	1	2	4	15	7.7
J.B. Shuck	lf	Angels		1	1	4	3.0
Cody Allen	pi mr	Indians			2	2	1.0
Martin Perez	pi sp	Rangers			2	2	5.0
David Lough	rf	Royals			1	1	3.5
NL
Player		Club	1st	2nd	3rd	Points	BTP
Jose Fernandez	pi sp	Marlins	26	4		142	19.0
Yasiel Puig	rf	Dodgers	4	25		95	1.5
Shelby Miller	pi sp	Cardinals		1	9	12	15.4
Hyun-Jin Ryu	pi sp	Dodgers			10	10	9.7
Julio Teheran	pi sp	Braves			7	7	13.7
Jedd Gyorko	2b	Padres			2	2	2.0
Nolan Arenado	3b	Rockies			1	1	0.0
Evan Gattis	ca	Braves			1	1	1.0

* Jose Iglesias began the season playing for the Red Sox. 

Shane Victorino helps Red Sox win World Series, tops players in Game 6, Wednesday, Oct. 30

Shane Victorino helped the Red Sox wrap up a World Series title Wednesday, earning Player of the Day honors in the deciding Game 6. 

Victorino, with two hits, including a three-run double, led the Red Sox to a 6-1 win over the Cardinals in Game 6 and sealing a 4-2 game victory in the series.

Victorino went 2-for-3 in the game and drove in four runs. He had 4.5 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranking 224th overall.

Victorino was also Player of the Day in the deciding Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, in which the Red Sox beat the Tigers 5-2. 

Related story: Box-Toppers previews 2013 World Series in this post from Oct. 21. 

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. In regular season games, 2.0 Box-Toppers points are awarded for Player of the Day, 1.7 for top player in the opposite league, 1.5 for top batter in each league and 1.0 for the top players in each of the other games.

Thanks for following Box-Toppers this season. Stay tuned via RSS, Twitter or Facebook for offseason posts to follow postseason player awards, season wrap-ups and other odd bits of essential knowledge and/or trivia. 

Top 6 players in World Series Game 6 

Here are the top six Red Sox players in Wednesday's World Series Game 6, ranked from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (how game score is calculated). Shane Victorino, who had a Box-Toppers game score of 3.0, is Box-Toppers Player of the Game (POG). 

1030	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
POG	3.0	Red Sox	Shane Victorino RF	3	0	2	4	1	0	0	0		0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Koji Uehara	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Red Sox	David Ortiz DH	1	2	0	0	4	1	1	0		0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Brandon Workman	1.0	0	0	0	0	0
	0.1	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Junichi Tazawa (H, 2)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0
	0.0	Red Sox	Stephen Drew SS	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	0		0.0	0	0	0	0	0

World Series Game 6 preview: Cards' Wacha, Red Sox' Lackey duel in pitching rematch from Game 2

World Series Game 6 Wednesday features a pitching rematch of Game 2 won by the Cardinals.

Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha faces Red Sox pitcher John Lackey, the same two who started Game 2 in Boston last Thursday won by the Cardinals 4-2. St. Louis closing pitcher Trevor Rosenthal was Box-Toppers Player of the Day in that game. Wacha, who pitched six innings, earned the win.

The Red Sox lead the best-of-seven series 3-2 and could wrap up the World Series championship with a win Wednesday.

Wacha had 3.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranking 361st overall. However, the rookie has earned Player of the Game honors for the Cardinals three times already this postseason (Game 4 of the National League Divisional Series vs. the Pirates, and Game 2 and Game 6 of the NL Championship Series vs. the Dodgers).

Lackey had 6.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranking 148th overall. Lackey was Player of the Day in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series vs. the Tigers.

Related story:  Box-Toppers previews 2013 World Series in this post from Oct. 21. 

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. In regular season games, 2.0 Box-Toppers points are awarded for Player of the Day, 1.7 for top player in the opposite league, 1.5 for top batter in each league and 1.0 for the top players in each of the other games. 

Red Sox' Jon Lester, Game 1 hero, tops players again in World Series Game 5

Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester earned Box-Toppers Player of the Day honors Monday for the second time this World Series.

Lester struck out seven over 7 2/3 innings and held the Cardinals to one run and four hits in the 3-1 win in Game 5 of the Fall Classic. The Red Sox take a three-to-two-games lead in the best-of-seven series. 

Lester was also Player of the Day in World Series Game 1 as the Red Sox beat the Cardinals 8-1. He was also Player of the Game in the first game of the American League Division Series against the Rays. 

Lester had 12.7 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranking 34th overall and is the Red Sox 2013 regular season leader in Box-Toppers points.

Game 6 is Wednesday in Boston. 

Box-Toppers tracks players who most help their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. In regular season games, 2.0 Box-Toppers points are awarded for Player of the Day, 1.7 for top player in the opposite league, 1.5 for top batter in each league and 1.0 for the top players in each of the other games.

Related story:  Box-Toppers previews 2013 World Series in this post from Oct. 21.

Top 3 players in World Series Game 5

Here are the top three Red Sox players in Monday's World Series Game 5, ranked from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (how game score is calculated). Red Sox starting pitcher Jon Lester, who had a Box-Toppers game score of 8.2, was Player of the Game (POG).

1028	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
POG	8.2	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Jon Lester (W, 2-0)	7	4	1	1	0	7
	3.1	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Koji Uehara (S, 2)	1	0	0	0	0	2
	0.0	Red Sox	David Ortiz 1B	4	0	3	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Jonny Gomes' 3-run homer lifts Red Sox to World Series Game 4 win, tops players for Sunday, Oct. 27

Jonny Gomes hit a three-run homer to lead the Red Sox to a Game 4 World Series win, earning Sunday's Box-Toppers Player of the Day honors. 

The Red Sox beat the Cardinals 4-2 to even the best-of-seven World Series at two games apiece. 

Gomes, starting in place of an injured Shane Victorino, had 5.5 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranking 156th overall.

Coming Monday: The World Series resumes Monday in St. Louis. Here is the pitching match-up:

World Series Game 5, Red Sox at Cardinals, series tied 2-2

Red Sox: Jon Lester, 12.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 34th overall. 

Cardinals: Adam Wainwright, 20.2 Box-Toppers points, ranked second overall. 

This is a rematch of World Series Game 1, won by the Red Sox 8-1. Lester was Player of the Game.  Both players are their team's overall leader in Box-Toppers points.

Box-Toppers tracks players who most help their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. In regular season games, 2.0 Box-Toppers points are awarded for Player of the Day, 1.7 for top player in the opposite league, 1.5 for top batter in each league and 1.0 for the top players in each of the other games.

Related story:  Box-Toppers previews 2013 World Series in this post from Oct. 21.

Top 6 players in World Series Game 4

Here are the top six Red Sox players in Sunday's World Series Game 4, ranked from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (how game score is calculated). Jonny Gomes, who had a Box-Toppers game score of 3.0, was Player of the Game (POG). He  edged out middle relief pitcher Felix Doubront, who had a game score of 2.2, and who picked up the win.

1027	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
POG	3.0	Red Sox	Jonny Gomes LF	2	1	1	3	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.2	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Felix Doubront (W, 1-0)	2.2	1	1	1	0	3
	2.0	Red Sox	David Ortiz 1B	3	2	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	John Lackey (H, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0
	0.1	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Junichi Tazawa (H, 1)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0
	0.0	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Koji Uehara (S, 1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	0

Cardinals' Trevor Rosenthal tops players for 2nd straight World Series game

Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for the second straight World Series game. 

Rosenthal is Box-Toppers top player in Saturday's Game 3, pitching the final five outs to lead the Cardinals to a 5-4 win over the Red Sox. The Cardinals now lead the World Series two games to one.

Rosenthal struck out two and gave up one hit over 1 2/3 innings and earned the win when the Cardinals scored the walk-off winning run on an obstruction call when Allen Craig got tangled in Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks' feet as he was trying to score from third on an overthrow. Craig was tagged out at the plate, but was ruled safe at home because of the obstruction call.  

Rosenthal had 6.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranking 147th overall. He was also Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Game 2. 

 Coming Sunday: The World Series resumes Sunday in St. Louis. Here is the pitching match-up:

World Series Game 4, Cardinals lead Red Sox 2-1

Red Sox: Clay Buchholz, 11.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked 41st overall. 

Cardinals: Lance Lynn, 16.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked 11th overall. 

Box-Toppers tracks players who most help their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. In regular season games, 2.0 Box-Toppers points are awarded for Player of the Day, 1.7 for top player in the opposite league, 1.5 for top batter in each league and 1.0 for the top player in each of the other games.

Related story:  Box-Toppers previews 2013 World Series in this post from Oct. 21.

Top 6 players in World Series Game 3

Here are the top six Cardinals players in Saturday's World Series Game 3, ranked from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (how game score is calculated). Trevor Rosenthal, who had a Box-Toppers game score of 2.2, was Player of the Game (POG). He narrowly edged out starter Joe Kelly, who had a game score of 2.1, for top player. Highest-ranking batter was Matt Holliday (game score of 1.0), who went 2-for-5 and drove in three runs.

1026	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
POG	2.2	Cardinals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Trevor Rosenthal (W, 1-0)	1.2	1	0	0	0	2
	2.1	Cardinals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Joe Kelly	5.1	2	2	2	3	6
	2.0	Cardinals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Kevin Siegrist	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Cardinals	Matt Holliday LF	5	1	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Cardinals	Allen Craig PH	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	0.0	Cardinals	Yadier Molina C	4	0	3	1	1	1	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0

World Series Game 3 preview: Red Sox' Peavy vs. Cardinals' Kelly

Red Sox pitcher Jake Peavy matches up against Cardinals pitcher Joe Kelly in Game 3 of the World Series Saturday.  

Peavy had 8.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranking 84th overall. Kelly had 4.0 points, ranking 264th overall. 

The best-of-seven series is tied at one game apiece as it moves to St. Louis for Game 3.

Related story:  Box-Toppers previews 2013 World Series in this post from Oct. 21. 

Box-Toppers tracks players who most help their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. In regular season games, 2.0 Box-Toppers points are awarded for Player of the Day, 1.7 for top player in the opposite league, 1.5 for top batter in each league and 1.0 for the top player in each of the other games.

Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal saves World Series Game 2, tops players for Thursday, Oct. 24

Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal is Thursday's Player of the Day, earning the save in Game 2 of the World Series.

Rosenthal pitched the ninth inning and struck out three in the 4-2 win over the Red Sox. The Cardinals tie the Red Sox at one game apiece in the best-of-seven World Series.

Rosenthal had 6.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranking 147th overall.  It is the first time this postseason he has earned Player of the Game honors.

The World Series moves to St. Louis for Game 3 Saturday. 

In regular season games, 2.0 Box-Toppers points are awarded for Player of the Day, 1.7 for top player in the opposite league, 1.5 for top batter in each league and 1.0 for the top player in each of the other games. However, no Box-Toppers points are awarded during the postseason. 

Related story:  Box-Toppers previews 2013 World Series in this post from Oct. 21.

Top 4 players in World Series Game 2 

Here are the top four Cardinals players in Thursday's World Series Game 2, ranked from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (how game score is calculated). Trevor Rosenthal, who had a Box-Toppers game score of 4.0, was Player of the Game (POG). Middle reliever Carlos Martinez also had a game score of 4.0, but Rosenthal was named Player of the Game because he picked up the save.

1024	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
POG	4.0	Cardinals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Trevor Rosenthal (S, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	4.0	Cardinals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Carlos Martinez (H, 1)	2.0	1	0	0	0	3
	1.0	Cardinals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Michael Wacha (W, 1-0)	6.0	3	2	2	4	6
	0.0	Cardinals	Pete Kozma PR, SS	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0		0.0	0	0	0	0	0