Royals' Omar Infante tops players in World Series Game 2, Wednesday, Oct. 22

Omar Infante of the Royals is Box-Toppers.com Player of the Day in Wednesday’s Game 2 of the World Series.

Infante doubled and hit a two-run homer, going 2-for-3 and scoring twice in the 7-2 win over the Giants. The Royals tie the best-of-seven game World Series 1-1.

Infante had a Box-Toppers game score of +3, the best of any Royals player Wednesday. (Pitchers Greg Holland and Wade Davis of the Royals also had Box-Toppers game scores of +3—see the chart below—but in cases of game score ties, Box-Toppers rules have batters finishing ahead of pitchers.)

During the regular season, Infante had 4.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking 243rd among all players, 51st among all AL batters and eighth among all AL second basemen.

This was the first time this postseaon Infante has earned Player of the Game honors. In fact, in the Royals’ nine postseason wins of 2014, a different player has earned Player of the Game honors each time. The previous eight are listed in this earlier post. (To compare, five different players have earned Player of the Game honors in the Giants' nine postseason wins of 2014.)

The World Series takes a day off Thursday before resuming Friday in San Francisco:

World Series Game 3: Royals at Giants, series tied, 1-1

The pitching matchup Friday:

Royals: Jeremy Guthrie, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 113rd among all players, 40th among AL pitchers.

Giants: Tim Hudson, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 71st among all players, 34th among NL pitchers.

Guthrie has started once this postseason and Hudson has started twice. Neither pitcher has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors so far this postseason.

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 2014 World Series previews:

Giants have clear Box-Toppers advantage over Royals in World Series, but since 2014 is underdog year, watch out for David slaying 'Giant'

Royals sweep Giants in series—in regular season, interleague series back in August, that is

Can a Royals diehard fan of the 1970s rekindle lapsed fandom with Kansas City's 2014 World Series team? A personal essay

Top 6 players in World Series Game 2 

Here are the top six Royals players in Wednesday's World Series Game 2, ranked from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (how game score is calculated). Omar Infante, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0, is Player of the Game (POG). Under Box-Toppers rules, batters beat pitchers in cases of game score ties, so Infante finished ahead of two pitchers who also had game scores of +3.0—Greg Holland and Wade Davis.

1022	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
POG	3.0	Royals	Omar Infante 2B	3	2	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Royals	Greg Holland	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	3
	3.0	Royals	Wade Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	1.0	Royals	Billy Butler DH	3	0	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Royals	Terrance Gore PR, DH	0	1	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.2	Royals	Kelvin Herrera (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.2	0	0	0	2	1

Tryin' to get the feelin': Boyhood team Royals in World Series—but where did my fandom go?

My Kansas City Royals are in the World Series.

That’s actually a weird thing to say since it’s been more than 30 years since I actively rooted for the Royals.

The Royals were my boyhood team. I celebrated their wins and I was in a funk over their losses. Did I cry when they lost? Oh yes, when they lost year after year to the hated New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series—in 1976, in 1977, in 1978—I sobbed inconsolably. 

Where did my fandom go?

Did I grow up and grow out of it? 

Was I upset at having my heart broken so many times that I could never commit so loyally to a team for fear of being hurt again?

Was it just that in high school and college, I was too busy?

Was it the baseball strike of 1981? During the strike, which lasted from June to August, I lost interest in baseball. When baseball came back, I didn’t. I never made any angry declaration I was done with the sport, but at age 16, I stopped collecting baseball cards, my subscription to The Sporting News lapsed and I impassively moved on.

So for me to say “my” Royals are in the World Series seems funny. Let’s face it, they were “my” team for only six years, starting in 1975 when I made my one and only visit to Royals (now Kauffman) Stadium. Today, six years in the dim, dark past is a tiny sample of my life. But at 16, that was a long time. I could barely remember a time before I was a Royals fan. It seemed to be part of my core being.

The pinnacle of my fandom was 1980 when the Royals finally beat the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. I’m not sure what it says about me, but I don’t remember a lot of that series. Somehow, I remember the losing more than the winning. In my memory, the Royals always lost to the Yankees in the playoffs. I see Chris Chambliss hitting the game- and series-winning homer for the Yankees in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 5 in 1976 and getting mobbed by fans as he tries to round the bases. But I know the Royals beat the Yankees in 1980 because I do vividly remember the Royals losing that year's World Series to the Phillies.

I didn’t lose my fandom because the Royals stopped being successful. In fact, after I stopped being a fan, they had their greatest success. In 1985, the Royals won the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. That Royals team still had a core group of players who stuck around from 1980. It was a team I would have still known well.

But by then, they weren’t really “my” Royals. I was aware of the Royals’ win but paid little attention. I remember thinking that “after all those years of my suffering,” the Royals had “at long last” won a World Series. Again, my fandom was only six years, the Royals in 1985 were only in their 17th season of existence. (For comparison and to drive the point home at how temporally naive I was, the Chicago Cubs at the time were only in their 77th year without a World Series title—the streak is now at 106 years.)

While the 1981 strike seemed to end my baseball fandom, I became a fan again in 1994, oddly, the same year as an even more devastating strike cancelled much of the season and the entire postseason.

I came back to baseball not really a fan of any team. The only thing I was able to commit myself to was a hatred of the Yankees, which has sort of been my baseball constant, thanks to my being a Royals fan. Hating the Yankees, I became a casual fan of their rivals—the Atlanta Braves of the 1990s and the Boston Red Sox of the 2000s.

Of course, it would not have been easy to be a Royals fan for the 20 years since I turned my attention back to baseball. Royals teams languished and were downright bad. Until this year, they had the longest playoff drought (29 years, since the 1985 World Series) of any team in the four major sports.

Since my return to baseball, I have never been able to fully love any team like I loved the Royals. Why? What is holding me back?

Fear of embarrassment for aligning oneself with a potential loser?

Fear of the pain when they will inevitably lose? (Even the Yankees lose.)

Fear of appearing childish for tying my emotional fortunes to one team?

Plus, if I finally decide to root for the Royals, I would hate to appear like a fair-weather fan jumping on the bandwagon. But I never jumped on the bandwagon in 1985 when it would have been so easy—I knew the team, I knew most of the players.

“Team loyalty is a hard thing to justify. The players are always changing. You’re actually rooting for the clothes when you get right down to it. You are standing and cheering and yelling for your clothes to beat the clothes from another city. Laundry! We’re rooting, we’re screaming about laundry here.”

— Jerry Seinfeld

Frankly, I knew very little about this 2014 Royals team prior to the postseason. My ties to this team are tenuous. My only connection to the past is George Brett—the Hall-of-Fame Royals third baseman and favorite player of my youth. He’s now a team executive, seen on TV cheering each time Kansas City advances in the playoffs.

If I root for the Royals am I simply, as Jerry Seinfeld says, rooting for the laundry?

“Team loyalty is a hard thing to justify,” he says. “The players are always changing. You’re actually rooting for the clothes when you get right down to it. You are standing and cheering and yelling for your clothes to beat the clothes from another city. Laundry! We’re rooting, we’re screaming about laundry here.”

So, just for argument’s sake, let’s say I still can lay claim to being a fan of the Royals. What made me a Royals fan in the first place?

Was it simply geography? I grew up in southeast Iowa, far from any Major League city but there were six teams within a six-hour driving radius—Cubs, White Sox, Brewers, Twins, Cardinals, Royals. 

Was it because Royals Stadium is where I went for my first Major League game? I saw the Royals beat the Yankees (who I hadn’t yet learned to hate) in August 1975.

Was it because I listened to the Royals on a local affiliate of the team’s radio network most summer nights? (I only recently began listening to Royals broadcasts again on the Internet and was pleasantly surprised to hear Denny Matthews still doing play-by-play all these years later, a voice that transported me back to my 1970s bedroom radio.)

Or was it simply because I wore glasses like Darrell Porter’s, the Royals catcher of the era?

If I can lay claim to being a fan of any team, it’s the Royals. It helps that this year’s team, as I’ve gotten to know them in the postseason, is both exciting and humble. They play as a team. Unlike a team with a high payroll that can buy free agents who hit for power and pitchers who rack up strikeouts, the Royals are largely a homegrown team with a strong work ethic and know their strengths. They are speedy on the bases. Their speed contributes to their defense. They lay down the bunt and sacrifice themselves for the good of the team. And they have the three-headed monster of a bullpen of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland that can shut teams down after the sixth inning. And they hang out in Kansas City bars with their fans after games to celebrate playoff series victories. How cool is that?

On the one hand, you don’t want fans to jump on your team’s bandwagon just because they are winning. But on the other hand, if the way the team is winning attracts fans to your cause, how can you do anything as a true fan but help pull new converts aboard the bandwagon and say, “Welcome!”

There can be a great joy in returning to the things you loved as a child. I returned to baseball as a fan in 1994 because it reminded me of my childhood. But without a team of my own, I never really fully came back.

So maybe it’s time to change that. Maybe it’s time to fully commit again. It is crazy to try to justify my fandom with logic, since fandom can be so illogical. But it’s logical I root for the Royals. I just need to relax, forget whatever reservations, whatever fear of pain or loss I have and say simply: Go Royals!

Shawn Plank writes the Box-Toppers blog (at Box-Toppers.com/blog) covering Major League Baseball and created the Box-Toppers points statistic it is based on in 1995. 

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.

Previous Box-Toppers 2014 World Series previews:

Giants have clear Box-Toppers advantage over Royals in World Series, but since 2014 is underdog year, watch out for David slaying 'Giant'

Royals sweep Giants in series—in regular season, interleague series back in August, that is

Giants have clear Box-Toppers advantage over Royals in World Series, but since 2014 is underdog year, watch out for David slaying 'Giant'

The San Francisco Giants have the clear Box-Toppers advantage over the Kansas City Royals in the upcoming 2014 World Series.

Giants players accumulated more Box-Toppers points during the regular season and position-by-position match-ups tend to favor Giants in both batting and pitching.

But in a postseason dominated by underdog Davids beating baseball’s Goliaths, it would be folly to rule out the Royals slaying these Giants.

The best-of-seven game World Series begins Tuesday in Kansas City.

Both teams entered the postseason as Wild Cards with no division title. Both had to endure a one-game Wild Card playoff. Both went on to beat the top-seeded team in their league in their League Division Series. All around them, the mighty teams fell, leaving two final teams no one could have predicted. 

The Giants have the fewest Box-Toppers points of any team to qualify to play in one of the National League Division Series—they are ranked eighth among all teams with 110.8 Box-Toppers points. The Royals have the fewest Box-Toppers points of any American League team to qualify for the playoffs—they are ranked 10th, with 101.1 Box-Toppers points.

With the downtrodden, underdog quality of both teams, it’s hard to cast the Giants as “Goliath.” If anything, the 2014 World Series between the Royals and Giants will not be a contest of David and Goliath, but one of David and a slightly-larger David.

But is it possible that in this topsy-turvy postseason that being the lesser team actually is the thing that gives a team the advantage? If so, then the Royals are bound to win. They are the bigger underdog, having not won a World Series since 1985 and have endured a playoff drought ever since. Meanwhile, the Giants win the Fall Classic every even-numbered year. (But the Royals bigger underdog status does have one flaw—they actually won more games during the regular season than did the Giants—89 to 88.)

The Royals may also have the advantage in the bullpen with three pitchers closing down teams at the end of playoff games. They may also have an advantage with speed on the bases and defense, factors Box-Toppers doesn’t directly measure. 

Below are position-by-position match-ups of each player likely in the starting line-up for both teams, along with the highest-rated starting pitchers in Box-Toppers points, the top closing pitcher and an extra pitcher. Also listed are each player’s Box-Toppers points earned in 2014, along with their overall rank among all players.

Matching up 15 key players against each other position-by-position, the Giants have the advantage in nine spots, the Royals only in six spots (the players with the advantage below are denoted with a checkmark in the “Adv” column). The Giants have the advantage in both batting and pitching. In the nine key batting positions, the Giants have the advantage in five spots, the Royals four. In six key pitching spots, the Giants have the advantage, 4-2.

When adding the Box-Toppers points of those 15 key players together, the Giants have the advantage over the Royals—92.1 Box-Toppers points to 83.1.

The Giants have two players who will be on Box-Toppers end-of-season NL All-Star team:

• Madison Bumgarner, starting pitcher, 22.6 Box-Toppers points, ranked third among all players and second among NL pitchers.

• Buster Posey, catcher, 8.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked second among NL batters.

The Royals have one player who will be on Box-Toppers end-of-season AL All-Star team:

• Wade Davis, middle relief pitcher, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, first among AL middle relievers.

We have taken some liberties with the “starting” players listed below. We’ve plugged Michael Morse into the designated hitter spot for the Giants (when they play in Kansas City) because he is the batter with the most regular season Box-Toppers points who hasn’t regularly started in postseason games. Tim Lincecum has not pitched yet this postseason and hasn’t started a game since August, but he is listed because he is still on postseason rosters and still has the second-most Box-Toppers points among Giants starters this season (he pitched a no-hitter on June 25). Sergio Romo is listed as closer for the Giants (even though Santiago Casilla has been closing games recently) because Romo has more Box-Toppers points.

World Series Game 1: Giants at Royals

The pitching matchup Tuesday:

Giants: Madison Bumgarner, 22.6 Box-Toppers points, ranked third among all players, second among NL pitchers.

Royals: James Shields, 13.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 22nd among all players, 11th among AL pitchers.

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.

World Series player comparisons

Likely starting players for the Giants and Royals listed by position with their Box-Toppers point total (BTP) for the 2014 regular season and their overall player rank among all players. The column "Adv" shows which team's position player has a higher Box-Toppers player ranking. 

	Giants	BTP	Rank	Adv		Royals	BTP	Rank	Adv
1B	Brandon Belt	2.0	412			Eric Hosmer	2.5	368	✓
2B	Joe Panik	1.0	701			Omar Infante	4.0	243	✓
SS	Brandon Crawford	3.0	322			Alicides Escboar	5.0	190	✓
3B	Pablo Sandoval	4.5	220	✓		Mike Moustakas	4.0	251
CA	Buster Posey	8.5	76	✓		Salvador Perez	4.7	210
CF	Gregor Blanco	3.0	346	✓		Lorenzo Cain	2.0	421
LF	Travis Ishikawa	1.0	644			Alex Gordon	3.0	203	✓
RF	Hunter Pence	2.5	367	✓		Norichika Aoki	2.0	443
DH	Michael Morse	6.5	144	✓		Billy Butler	2.5	365
SP	Madison Bumgarner	22.6	3	✓		James Shields	13.7	22
SP	Tim Lincecum	10.4	54	✓		Danny Duffy	10.0	58
SP	Tim Hudson	8.7	71	✓		Yordano Ventura	8.7	75
SP	Ryan Vogelsong	8.7	74	✓		Jason Vargas	7.0	107
CP	Sergio Romo	4.0	242			Greg Holland	7.0	106	✓
PI	Jake Peavy	5.7	165			Jeremy Guthrie	7.0	113	✓

Giants' Petit, Royals' Vargas top players for Wednesday, Oct. 15; Royals advance to World Series

Yusmeiro Petit shut down the Cardinals in innings four, five and six, winning Game 4 of the National League Championship Series for the Giants and earning Box-Toppers Player of the Day honors for Wednesday.

Petit pitched three scoreless innings, allowing one hit, one walk and striking out four in the Giants’ 6-4 win over the Cardinals. The Giants take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven game series.

Petit, who entered the game with the Giants trailing 4-3, picked up the win after the Giants took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth inning. He had the highest Box-Toppers game score of any Giants player of 5.0.

During the regular season, Petit, normally a starter, had 4.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 247th among all players, 78th among NL pitchers.

ALCS Game 4, Royals win series over Orioles, 4-0 

The Kansas City Royals are returning to the World Series for the first time in 29 years. Jason Vargas, who started and won the game Wednesday to secure the AL pennant for the Royals, is Box-Toppers.com Player of the Game.

Vargas gave up one run over 5 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and striking out six in the 2-1 win over the Orioles. He was top player in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series which the Royals won four games to zero.

Vargas had the highest Box-Toppers game score of any Royals player of 4.1.

During the regular season, Vargas had 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 107th among all players, 38th among AL pitchers.

The Royals are 10th in Box-Toppers team rankings with 101.1 Box-Toppers points. They sweep the Orioles, ranked sixth with 113.4 Box-Toppers points.

The Royals have also won eight straight consecutive postseason games and a different player has earned Player of the Game honors in each of the wins:

• Sept. 30, AL Wild Card Game: Eric Hosmer

• Oct. 2, AL Division Series Game 1: Greg Holland

• Oct. 3, ALDS Game 2: Yordano Ventura

• Oct. 5, ALDS Game 3: Norichika Aoki

• Oct. 10, AL Championship Series Game 1: Wade Davis

• Oct. 11, ALCS Game 2: Lorenzo Cain

• Oct. 14, ALCS Game 3: Kelvin Herrera

• Oct. 15, ALCS Game 4: Jason Vargas

The Royals await the winner of the NL pennant in the World Series. Game 1 is Tuesday, Oct. 21, in Kansas City.

Coming Thursday:

NLCS Game 5: Giants lead Cardinals, 3-1

In Box-Toppers player rankings top 10 list, only two players remain active in the postseason—Adam Wainwright and Madison Bumgarner. They face each other again Thursday. In their previous match-up in Game 1 of the NLCS on Oct. 11, the Giants won the game and Bumgarner was Box-Toppers Player of the Day:

Cardinals: Adam Wainwright, 18.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked eighth among all players, fourth among NL pitchers.

Giants: Madison Bumgarner, 22.6 Box-Toppers points, ranked 3rd overall, 2nd among NL pitchers.

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.

Top player from each game

Players of the Game (POG) listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

1014	Score	Team	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
POG	5.0	Giants	Yusmeiro Petit (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.0	1	0	0	1	4
POG	4.1	Royals	Jason Vargas (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.1	2	1	1	3	6

Royals' Herrera, Giants' Ishikawa top players in LCS games, Tuesday, Oct. 14

Kelvin Herrera, who pitched a perfect seventh inning in relief for the Royals in their Game 3 American League Championship Series win over the Orioles, is Box-Toppers.com Player of the Day for Tuesday.

Herrera struck out two in one scoreless inning in the 2-1 win, as the Royals took a three games to zero lead over the Orioles in the best-of-seven game ALCS.

Herrera, who held the lead for the Royals, is an unconventional player to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors—he did not pick up a win or a save and pitched only one inning. He had a Box-Toppers game score of 3.0, the highest of any Royals player Tuesday.

Normally, a pitcher without a win or a save who pitched fewer than three innings is not even considered for Player of the Game. But they can win the honor if they pitch the same or more innings as the pitcher who otherwise would earn Player of the Game honors and have a higher Box-Toppers game score.

In this game, Jason Frasor, who pitched the sixth inning for the Royals and earned the win (because the Royals scored the winning run in the bottom of the sixth) would normally be Player of the Game with a Box-Toppers game score of +1. But two other players who also pitched one inning actually had higher Box-Toppers game scores—Wade Davis, who pitched the eighth inning, struck out one and held the lead, had a Box-Toppers game score of +2. And Herrera, Player of the Game, had a game score of +3.

No Royals batter had a positive Box-Toppers game score in the low-scoring contest. The highest score was Jarrod Dyson’s, who had a Box-Toppers game score of 0—he went 0-for-1 with a run.

Three Royals relievers have earned Player of the Game honors so far during the postseason. Previously, closer Greg Holland was Player of the Game in the ALDS Game 1 on Oct. 2. Wade Davis was Player of the Day in the ALCS Game 1 on Oct. 10.

Herrera had 2.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranking 439th among all players and 114th among AL pitchers.

NLCS Game 3: Giants 5, Cardinals 4

Travis Ishikawa drove in three runs on a first inning double and is Box-Toppers.com Player of the Game in the Giants’ National League Championship Series Game 3 win over the Cardinals.

Ishikawa went 1-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Cardinals, as the Giants take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven game series. He had a Box-Toppers game score of +1.

Giants reliever Santiago Casilla (1IP 1K) actually had a higher Box-Toppers game score than Ishikawa of +2. However, because Casilla pitched fewer than three innings and did not earn the win or save, the only way he could be considered for Player of the Game is if he had a higher Box-Toppers game score and the same or more innings pitched as a pitcher who otherwise would have earned Player of the Game.

During the regular season, Ishikawa had 1.0 Box-Toppers point, ranked 644th among all players and 159th among NL batters.

Coming Wednesday:

ALCS Game 4: Royals lead Orioles, 3-0

The pitching matchup Wednesday:

Orioles: Miguel Gonzalez, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 70th among all players, 31st among AL pitchers.

Royals: Jason Vargas, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 107th among all players, 38th among AL pitchers.

NLCS Game 4: Giants lead Cardinals, 2-1

The pitching matchup Wednesday:

Cardinals: Shelby Miller, 9.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 64th among all players, 30th among NL pitchers.

Giants: Ryan Vogelsong, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 74th among all players, 36th among NL pitchers.

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.

Top player from each game

Players of the Game (POG) listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

1013	Score	Team	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
POG	3.0	`Royals	Kelvin Herrera (H, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
POG	1.0	Giants	Travis Ishikawa LF	3	0	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Royals' Wade Davis tops players in ALCS Game 1, Friday, Oct. 10

Royals reliever Wade Davis shut down the Orioles in the eighth and ninth innings of the American League Championship Series Game 1, earning the win and Box-Toppers.com Player of the Day honors for Friday.

Davis struck out four over the two scoreless innings, keeping the score tied 5-5 going into the 10th inning, when the Royals struck for three runs and the lead. The Royals won 8-6 in 10 innings, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven game series.

Davis had the highest Box-Toppers game score of any Royals player of +6. Alex Gordon, who hit the go-ahead homer in the top of the 10th, had a Box-Toppers game score of +4, second highest among Royals. He went 3-for-4 with a run and four RBIs.

During the regular season, Davis had 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 117th among all players, 42nd among AL pitchers and first among AL middle relievers.

Coming Saturday:

ALCS Game 2, Royals lead Orioles, 1-0

The pitching matchup Saturday:

Royals: Yordano Ventura, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 75th among all players, 33rd among AL pitchers.

Orioles: Bud Norris, 10.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 51st among all players, 23rd among AL pitchers.

NLCS Game 1, Giants at Cardinals

The pitching matchup Saturday:

Giants: Madison Bumgarner, 22.6 Box-Toppers points, ranked third among all players, second among NL pitchers.

Cardinals: Adam Wainwright, 18.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked eighth among all players, fourth among NL pitchers.

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.

Top player from each game

Players of the Game (POG) listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

1010	Score	Team	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
POG	6.0	Royals	Wade Davis (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	4

ALCS Preview: Royals may have edge not because their pitching is strong, but because Orioles' pitching is weak

The Kansas City Royals may have an edge over the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Championship Series not because their pitching is so strong but because the Orioles pitching staff is comparatively weaker.

However, the Orioles have the overall higher Box-Toppers team ranking and have two outfielders on Box-Toppers end-of-season 2014 All-Star team. The best-of-seven game ALCS begins Friday in Baltimore.

Below are position-by-position match-ups of each player likely in the starting line-up for both teams, along with the highest-rated starting pitchers in Box-Toppers points, the top closing pitcher and an extra pitcher. Also listed are each player’s Box-Toppers points earned in 2014, along with their overall rank among all players.

The top pitcher for both teams, James Shields of the Royals, had 13.7 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranking 22nd among all players. The Orioles top pitcher is Bud Norris, with 10.7, ranked 51st among all players. Only three other teams in baseball had their top pitcher earn fewer Box-Toppers points than Norris:

• Padres, Ross Tyson, 9.7.

• Red Sox, Koji Uehara, 9.0.

• Rockies, Tyler Matzek, 4.7.

In fact, the Orioles are one of only two teams in baseball whose leader in Box-Toppers points was a batter—Adam Jones, with 11.5 points, ranked 40th among all players. (The other team was the Rockies—Troy Tulowitzki had 11.6 points.)

Matching up the four top starting pitchers from highest to lowest Box-Toppers points from both teams, the Royals have the edge each time (see the chart below). The Royals also have the edge in closers (Greg Holland with 7.0 over Zachary Britton with 6.0). The Royals also have the edge when matching up the next-highest rated pitcher (Jeremy Guthrie, 7.0 over Ubaldo Jimenez, 3.7). And one more thing, not included in the chart below—the Royals also have the AL’s top middle relief pitcher, Wade Davis, who has 7.0 Box-Toppers points.

The Orioles have the edge in overall Box-Toppers team rankings from 2014. They rank sixth among all teams with 113.4 Box-Toppers points, while the Royals are ranked 10th with 101.1 points—the Royals were the lowest ranked team that qualified for any of the four league division series. However, the Orioles will play the ALCS without suspended first baseman, Chris Davis, who earned 6.2 Box-Toppers points during the regular season.

The Orioles also have two players who will be on Box-Toppers end-of-season AL All-Star team. Adam Jones had the most Box-Toppers points among AL outfielders with 11.5. Nelson Cruz was second with 8.5. The Orioles also have the most notable batter (not included in the prospective starting line-up below) coming off the bench—Delmon Young with 5.5 Box-Toppers points.

However, looking at the prospective starting line-ups below, Royals batters have higher Box-Toppers point totals at five positions, while the Orioles are better in four. Also, adding up Box-Toppers points for the nine batters and six pitchers listed below, the Royals have the point total advantage—83.1 Box-Toppers points vs. 81.5.

Both teams were able to get a lot of bang for their buck this season, spending comparatively little and making it all the way to the ALCS. The Orioles had an opening day payroll of $107 million, ranking 15th among all teams. The Royals’ payroll of $92 million, ranked 19th.

ALCS Game 1, Royals at Orioles

The pitching matchup Friday:

Royals: James Shields, 13.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 22nd among all players, 11th among AL pitchers.

Orioles: Chris Tillman, 6.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 152nd among all players, 53rd among AL pitchers.

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.

AL Championship Series player comparisons

Likely starting players for the Royals and Orioles listed by position with their Box-Toppers point total (BTP) for the 2014 regular season and their overall player rank among all players

Pos	Royals	BTP	Rank		Orioles	BTP	Rank
1B	Eric Hosmer	2.5	368		Steve Pearce	7.0	121
2B	Omar Infante	4.0	243		Jonathan Schoop	2.5	395
SS	Alicides Escboar	5.0	190		J.J. Hardy	4.2	236
3B	Mike Moustakas	4.0	251		Ryan Flaherty	0	761
CA	Salvador Perez	4.7	210		Caleb Joseph	2.0	470
CF	Lorenzo Cain	2.0	421		Adam Jones	11.5	40
LF	Alex Gordon	3.0	203		Alejandro De Aza	1.0	537
RF	Norichika Aoki	2.0	443		Nick Markakis	3.0	320
DH	Billy Butler	2.5	365		Nelson Cruz	8.5	77
SP	James Shields	13.7	22		Bud Norris	10.7	51
SP	Danny Duffy	10.0	58		Miguel Gonzalez	8.7	70
SP	Yordano Ventura	8.7	75		Wei-Yin Chen	6.7	131
SP	Jason Vargas	7.0	107		Chris Tillman	6.0	152
CP	Greg Holland	7.0	106		Zachary Britton	6.0	161
PI	Jeremy Guthrie	7.0	113		Ubaldo Jimenez	3.7	270