Dodgers' Zack Greinke (7IP 0R 7K) tops players for Sunday, April 12

Shawn Plank April 13, 2015

Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke is Sunday’s Player of the Day.

Greinke pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out seven in the 7-4 win over the Diamondbacks.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 12.


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	2.0
2	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	2.0
3	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	2.0
4	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	2.0
5	Wilson, C.J. 2074	pi sp	ana al	2.0
6	Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	2.0
7	Pomeranz, Drew 3061	pi sp	oak al	2.0
8	Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349	pi sp	bal al	2.0
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	1.7
10	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	1.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Greinke earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 127.7 for his career, moving to 29th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He passes Mariano Rivera (126.4) and Roy Oswalt (127.2) on the “all-time” list.

American League Player of the Day—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers hit two home runs and a double and went 4-for-4 with three runs and four RBIs in the 8-5 win over the Indians.

Cabrera earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 129.9 for his career, moving to 26th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He passes Vladimir Guerrero (128.3) and Trevor Hoffman (129.4) on the “all-time” list.

Cabrera has now also scored at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 13 straight seasons. He scored his first points in 2003 with the Marlins. His best season was 2013 with the Tigers, when he led all AL batters with 16.9. He had 12.5 Box-Toppers points in 2014, second among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four, in the 10-2 win over the Brewers.

A-Rod—Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees earned Player of the Game honors for the first time since his season long suspension and his first since Sept. 20, 2013. Rodriguez hit a three-run double and drove in four total runs in the 14-4 win over the Red Sox. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 180.3 for his career. He leads all batters in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began—second place is Albert Pujols (167.3).

Debut—Cubs pitcher Neil Ramirez made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. This was Ramirez’ 54th career game—he made his Major League debut April 25, 2014. Ramirez (0.2IP 0R 2K W in the 6-5 win over the Rockies) is the 3,439th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Greinke earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cabrera earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. McCutchen earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

  
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
  

    4/12
    Score
    Team
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    BB
    K
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    9.0
    Dodgers
    Zack Greinke (W, 1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    5
    0
    0
    0
    7
  

    AL
    7.0
    Tigers
    Miguel Cabrera   1B
    4
    3
    4
    4
    1
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    6.0
    Rays
    Nathan Karns (W, 1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    7.0
    2
    2
    1
    2
    6
  

    
    6.0
    White Sox
    Chris Sale (W, 1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    5
    1
    1
    1
    8
  

    
    5.0
    Astros
    Will Harris (W, 1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    
    4.0
    Yankees
    Alex Rodriguez   DH
    2
    1
    1
    4
    2
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    4.0
    `Cardinals
    Carlos Martinez
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    4
    2
    2
    2
    8
  

    
    4.0
    `Nationals
    Max Scherzer
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    6.0
    6
    1
    1
    2
    8
  

    BAT
    3.0
    Pirates
    Andrew McCutchen   CF
    5
    2
    2
    4
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    Mariners
    Rickie Weeks   PH, DH
    2
    1
    1
    3
    0
    0
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

    
    3.0
    `Mets
    Jerry Blevins (H, 2)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.2
    Royals
    Yordano Ventura (W, 2-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    5.2
    4
    2
    2
    2
    7
  

    
    2.2
    Blue Jays
    Aaron Loup (W, 1-1)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    1.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    1
  

    
    2.2
    Cubs
    Neil Ramirez (W, 1-0)
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    
    0.2
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    2.0
    Padres
    Wil Nieves   C
    4
    1
    1
    4
    0
    1
    
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
    -
  

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

Box-Toppers' top 2 ‘all-time' players—Johnson & Martinez—among 4 new Hall inductees

Shawn Plank January 6, 2015

Pitchers Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez—number one and number two respectively in Box-Toppers points (since record keeping began in 1995)—will be joined in July’s induction ceremony by pitcher John Smoltz and second baseman Craig Biggio.

A look at Box-Toppers top 100 players of 'all-time'

Shawn Plank January 3, 2015

Randy Johnson’s perch atop Box-Toppers’ “all-time” player standings was safe during 2014.The flame-throwing, likely Hall-of-Fame pitcher retired in 2009 with 278.8 Box-Toppers points, the most of any player since record keeping began in 1995.

Padres' Andrew Cashner pitches shutout, tops players for Friday, April 11

Shawn Plank April 12, 2014

Padres pitcher Andrew Cashner is Friday’s Player of the Day. Cashner pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out 11, in the 6-0 win over the Tigers.

Cashner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, moving him into third place among all players in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish is American League Player of the Day. Darvish pitched eight scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and striking out nine, in the 1-0, 12-inning win over the Astros. Darvish earned a no-decision and did not pick up the win because he left when the game was in a scoreless tie.

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is National League Batter of the Day. Bumgarner hit a grand slam and a sacrifice fly, driving in five runs and going 1-1 in the 6-5 win over the Rockies. Bumgarner also picked up the win as pitcher, though his Box-Toppers game score as pitcher was −6, while his Box-Toppers game score as batter of +6 topped all players for the Giants. He is the first pitcher to earn Player of the Game honors for batting in 2014. In 2013, six pitchers won Player of the Game honors for batting.

Connor Gillaspie of the White Sox is AL Batter of the Day. Gillaspie drove in four runs and went 2-3 in the 9-6 win over the Indians.

Notable: Box-Toppers points leader for 2014 Felix Hernandez scored again to maintain his lead. The Mariners pitcher was Player of the Game in the 6-4 win over the Athletics. Hernandez (7IP 2R 11K W) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.4 for the season, in first place among all players.

Hernandez now has 126.9 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 25th on the all-time list (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). With Friday's point, Hernandez passed both David Ortiz and Mariano Rivera on the list, both of whom have 126.4 career Box-Toppers points.

Chris Colabello of the Twins maintained his hold on second place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors in the 10-1 win over the Royals. Colabello (2-3 3RBI R) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.2 for the season.

Cashner receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Darvish receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Bumgarner and Gillaspie each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

411ScoreTeamPlayersABRHBIBBKIPHRERBBK
MLB17.0PadresAndrew Cashner (W, 1-1)------9.0100211
AL15.0`RangersYu Darvish------8.010019
12.0DodgersHyun-Jin Ryu (W, 2-1)------7.020018
11.1RaysDavid Price (W, 2-0)------8.1411110
10.0MarinersFelix Hernandez (W, 3-0)------7.0422011
BAT6.0GiantsMadison Bumgarner   P111500------
4.2`Blue JaysBrett Cecil (H, 3)------1.200003
4.0BravesJustin Upton   LF323210------
4.0BrewersFrancisco Rodriguez (S, 3)------1.000003
BAT3.0White SoxConor Gillaspie   3B302410------
3.0TwinsChris Colabello   RF312301------
3.0`CubsJeff Samardzija------7.061104
3.0`AngelsErnesto Frieri------1.000002
2.2PhilliesJake Diekman (W, 1-0)------0.200002
2.0Red SoxGrady Sizemore   LF412301------

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

Fourteen players whose careers are done (or may be done) — plus eight honorable mention retirees

Shawn Plank March 12, 2014

Box-Toppers’ Stick-A-Fork-In-Them series has looked 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 a summary of the 14 players featured with links to more detailed posts on each. Also included are eight honorable mention players who have announced their retirements:

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.

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).

This summary features the 14 players featured in the Box-Toppers’ Stick-A-Fork-In-Them series in recent weeks. It includes players whose careers are done or may be done. 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 is suspended for the 2014 season under baseball’s drug policy. The earliest he could come back to the game is 2015, when he will be 39. But will he come back? Will he be too old? Will any team give him the chance given the baggage he brings?

If it is the end for A-Rod, baseball loses the player who has 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).

He is a three-time American League Most Valuable Player (2003 with the Rangers and 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.

2. Roy Halladay

Halladay, 36, announced his retirement in December after injuries cut short his 2013 season. He won the Cy Young 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.

He had 170.7 career Box-Toppers points, fifth among all pitchers and sixth among all players (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). He was the second-ranked active pitcher in Box-Toppers points until his retirement (CC Sabathia, with 172.3 is No. 1).

He won the AL Cy Young in 2003 with the Blue Jays and NL Cy Young in 2010 with the Phillies. In 2010, he also had the most Box-Toppers points of any NL player with 23.4.

3. Manny Ramirez

Manny Ramirez, 41, has not played in the Major Leagues since 2011 but he’s attempted comebacks in 2012 and 2013 and reports say he is not ruling out another try in 2014.

He is the second-ranked batter in career Box-Toppers points with 167.2, behind only Alex Rodriguez with 179.3 (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). Ramirez is ranked seventh among all players since 1995.

Ramirez had the most Box-Toppers points of any AL batter in 1999 (19.9 with the Indians). He’s been among the top 10 batters in his league in Box-Toppers season points eight times.

Ramirez’ glory years were with the Indians from 1993 to 2000, the Red Sox from 2001 to 2008 and the Dodgers from 2008 to 2010. In 2010 and 2011, he also played with the White Sox and Rays and late in his career was twice suspended under baseball’s drug policy.

4. Johan Santana

Johan Santana, Box-Toppers’ most dominant player of the mid-2000s, is attempting a comeback after a second shoulder injury that wiped out his 2011 and 2013 seasons.

Santana, 34, recently signed with the Orioles, though reports for the past year have questioned whether he will be able to continue pitching.

While with the Twins, Santana led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and led all American League pitchers in 2007. He won two Cy Young Awards during this period (2004 and 2006).

He has 166.6 career Box-Toppers points, sixth among pitchers and eighth among all players (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). He is ranked second among currently active pitchers, behind CC Sabathia with 172.3 Box-Toppers points.

Santana’s biggest year was in 2004 (26.8 Box-Toppers points). He was with the Twins from 2000-2007 and with the Mets from 2008 to 2013, where he has largely missed two of the last three seasons.

5. Jim Thome

Jim Thome, 43, last played in the Major Leagues in 2012 for the Orioles and in 2014, the Indians will erect a statue in his honor. But in December, he said he would not rule out a comeback. He is currently unsigned.

Thome has 146.7 Box-Toppers points, sixth among all batters and 17th among all players. He was among the season’s overall top 10 players in Box-Toppers points twice and among his league’s top 10 batters in five different seasons. (His career began in 1991, so his first four seasons are unrecorded by Box-Toppers, which didn’t begin record keeping until 1995).

Thome never led his league’s batters in Box-Toppers points, but finished as high as second among American League batters in 2002 with the Indians. He had 16.0 Box-Toppers points, just behind Jason Giambi of the Yankees with 17.0.

6. Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter will retire at the end of the 2014 season at the age of 40, ending a 20-year career, all with the Yankees.

He has 76.4 career Box-Toppers points, second among all shortstops, behind only Miguel Tejada with 102.3 (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). Jeter’s 76.4 Box-Toppers points ranks 60th among batters and 121st among all players on the career list.

Jeter is a five-time World Series champion, 2000 World Series Most Valuable Player, 1996 Rookie of the Year, a member of the 3,000-hit club (3,316 at the start of 2014) and Yankees team captain since 2003.

Jeter had one season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points—he had exactly 10.0 in 1998, ninth among American League batters that year.

7. Mariano Rivera

Mariano Rivera retired at the end of the 2013 season at the age of 43 and ranks second among closing pitchers in career Box-Toppers points.

The all-time saves king has 126.4 career Box-Toppers points, just behind closing pitcher Trevor Hoffman with 129.4. Rivera, who spent his entire 19-season career with the Yankees, ranks 25th among all players and 16th among all pitchers in Box-Toppers points.

Rivera, with a reputation for postseason dominance, helped the Yankees to five World Series championships and earned World Series Most Valuable Player in 1999 and American League Championship Series MVP in 2003.

Rivera finished in the top 10 in Box-Toppers points among American League pitchers three times, he had four seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points and scored at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 17 straight seasons. His best year was 2008 when he had 14.0 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL pitchers that year.

8. Roy Oswalt

Roy Oswalt, 36, has retired after finishing five times among the top 10 National League pitchers in Box-Toppers points.

He had 127.2 career Box-Toppers points, 23rd among all players and 15th among pitchers (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). He played for the Astros from 2001 to 2010 and moved to the Phillies in 2010. He struggled with injuries from 2011 forward, spending 2012 with the Rangers and 2013 with the Rockies.

His best year was his rookie season, 2001, when he had 17.1 Box-Toppers points, fourth among NL pitchers and seventh among all players.

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

9. Andy Pettitte

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

He had 138.4 career Box-Toppers points, 19th among all players and 13th among all pitchers (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). 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.

His best season was 2005 when he had 12.7 Box-Toppers points with the Astros, eighth among National League pitchers and 21st among all players. He had three seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points and 16 straight seasons with at least 1.0 point.

10. Todd Helton

Todd Helton, who retired at the end of the 2013 season at the age of 40, led National League batters in Box-Toppers points in two seasons and was among the league’s top three batters four seasons in a row.

Despite the impressive numbers, Helton never won an NL Most Valuable Player Award.

Helton, who played his entire 17-year career with the Rockies, had 116.4 career Box-Toppers points, the third-most among first basemen on Box-Toppers “all-time” list (record keeping began in 1995). He ranks 12th among all batters 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 2000, he led NL batters with 15.2 Box-Toppers points and in 2001, he again led NL batters with 17.0 points (his best season).

11. Barry Zito

Barry Zito, 35, is taking a year off from pitching but says he is not retired.

Zito won the 2002 American League Cy Young Award and was the No. 2 AL pitcher in Box-Toppers points in both 2001 and 2002.

He has 117.4 career Box-Toppers points from 2000 to 2013, ranking 21st among all pitchers and 31st among all players (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). He pitched for the Athletics from 2000 to 2006 and for the Giants from 2007 to 2013, where he was on the 2010 and 2012 World Series-winning teams.

In 2001, he had 18.1 Box-Toppers points, second among AL pitchers. In 2002, he had 20.1 points (his best season), and again ranked second among AL pitchers (though he won the Cy Young).

Zito had four seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points, two seasons with 15.0 or more and one season with more than 20.0. He has scored at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in each of the 14 seasons he’s played.

12. Chris Carpenter

Chris Carpenter, 38, who retired at the end of the 2013 season, led National League pitchers in Box-Toppers points in 2005, the same year he won the NL Cy Young Award.

Carpenter had 113.3 career Box-Toppers points, 24th among all pitchers and 37th among all players (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). He began his career in 1997 with the Blue Jays, moving to the Cardinals in 2004. He was NL Comeback Player of the Year in 2009 with the Cardinals and a two-time World Series champion with the Cardinals in 2006 and 2011.

Carpenter was among the top 10 NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points four times.

His best year was 2005, when he had 21.0 Box-Toppers points, first among NL pitchers and second among all players. He won the NL Cy Young Award that year. Carpenter had six seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points, three seasons with 15.0 or more and one season with 20.0 or more.

13. Lance Berkman

Lance Berkman led all National League batters in Box-Toppers points in 2006 and finished among the top five NL batters three times, but never won the NL Most Valuable Player Award.

Berkman, who retired in January and is now 38, has 108.1 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 16th among batters and 46th among all players (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). Berkman played most of his career with the Astros (1999-2010). He moved to the Yankees to end the 2010 season. He played 2011 and 2012 with the Cardinals (where in 2011, he won a World Series title and NL Comeback Player of the Year). He finished his career in 2013 with the Rangers.

His best season was 2006 with the Astros, when he had 20.8 Box-Toppers points, first among NL batters and second among all players. (He finished third in NL Most Valuable Player voting.)

Berkman had four seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points and one season with more than 20.0.

14. Ryan Dempster

Ryan Dempster, 36, says he will not pitch in 2014 but did not announce his formal retirement.

He has 95.2 career Box-Toppers points, 42nd among pitchers and 70th among all players (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). He began his career in 1998 with the Marlins, moved to the Reds in midseason 2002, played for the Cubs from 2004 to 2012 and finished 2012 with the Rangers before playing for the Red Sox in 2013. He won a World Series title in 2013 with the Red Sox.

His career best season was 2008 with the Cubs, when he had 12.7 Box-Toppers points, ninth among National League pitchers and 22nd among all players. Dempster had two seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points.

Honorable mention

Derek Lowe

Derek Lowe, 40, retired during the 2013 season.

Lowe, who spent most of his career as a starting pitcher, had 91.5 Box-Toppers points over 16 seasons, scoring at least 1.0 point in each season he was active. He ranks 82nd among players and 47th among pitchers (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995).

He pitched for the Red Sox (1998-2004), the Dodgers (2005-2008), the Braves (2009-2011), the Indians (2012), the Yankees (2012) and the Rangers (2013). His best season was 2002, when he had 14.4 Box-Toppers points with the Red Sox, ranking fourth among AL pitchers.

Mark Prior

Mark Prior had not made a Major League appearance since 2006, yet he made several efforts in subsequent years to come back. However, in December, he made it official and retired at the age of 33.

Prior played for the Cubs from 2002 to 2006. In 2003, he had 20.1 Box-Toppers points, second among National League pitchers. He had 44.2 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 315th among all players (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). He scored his last Box-Toppers point on Aug. 19, 2005.

Prior helped lead the Cubs to the NL Championship Series in 2003 (which they lost to the Marlins). Injuries hampered his career from 2004 on, though he attempted a comeback as recently as 2013 with the Reds—he was released in June 2013.

Ted Lilly

Ted Lilly, 38, retired at the end of the 2013 season after a 14-year career as a starting pitcher.

He had 93.3 career Box-Toppers points, 76th among all players and 44th among all pitchers (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995).

His best season was 2010, when he had 13.7 Box-Toppers points. He recorded 6.7 points with the Cubs before being traded in midseason to the Dodgers, where he recorded 7.0 more points. He ranked 12th among National League pitchers and 22nd among all players that season.

Lilly had two seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. He recorded his last point May 18, 2012, with the Dodgers.

Michael Young

Michael Young, 37, retired prior to the 2014 season after a 14-year career mainly with the Rangers, primarily at shortstop and third base.

He had 73.1 career Box-Toppers points, 67th among batters and 132nd among all players (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). He ranks fourth among shortstops on Box-Toppers “all-time” list (since 1995), behind Miguel Tejada, Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra.

His best season was 2006 with the Rangers when he had 8.5 Box-Toppers points. He was American League batting champion in 2005.

Aubrey Huff

Aubrey Huff, 37, who led American League batters in Box-Toppers points in 2008, announced his retirement in January after a 13-year career.

Huff had 61.6 Box-Toppers points for his career, 91st among batters and 184th among all players (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995).

But his best season was 2008 with the Orioles when he led AL batters with 12.5 Box-Toppers points. (He finished just ahead of Torii Hunter of the Angels with 12.4.) Huff finished 16th in AL Most Valuable Player Award voting, which was won by Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox. Pedroia had 3.7 Box-Toppers points, 76th among AL batters.

Huff finished seventh in AL MVP voting in 2010, when he had 7.5 Box-Toppers points. He split that year between the Orioles and the Tigers.

Huff played primarily for the Rays, but also had stints with the Orioles, Giants (where he won two World Series titles in 2010 and 2012), Astros and Tigers. He played a variety of positions also, including third base, designated hitter, first base and outfield.

Huff did not play in 2013. He scored his final Box-Toppers point on July 23, 2011 with the Giants.

Mark DeRosa

Mark DeRosa, 39, retired in November after a 16-year career.

DeRosa, who played primarily third base and second base, had 47.1 career Box-Toppers points, 288th among all players since 1995. He played from 1998 to 2013 primarily for the Braves (1998-2004), but also had stints with the Cubs, Rangers, Blue Jays and Giants.

His best season was 2006 with the Rangers when he had 9.7 Box-Toppers points. He had 6.5 points in 2013, his final season, with the Blue Jays.

Carl Pavano

Carl Pavano, 38, the starting pitcher who helped the Marlins to the 2003 World Series title, announced his retirement in February.

Pavano had 55.8 career Box-Toppers points, 221st among all players since 1995.

His best year was the 2003 championship season when he had 12.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 11th among National League pitchers. In 2004, he had his second-best season with 10.7 Box-Toppers points, also with the Marlins, 13th among NL pitchers. He also finished sixth in Cy Young Award voting that year.

Pavano played 14 seasons from 1998-2012 primarily with the Twins, but also had stints with the Marlins, Expos, Yankees and Indians. He did not play in 2013. His final game was June 1, 2012. He scored his last Box-Toppers point on Sept. 28, 2011.

Rick Ankiel

Rick Ankiel, 34, retired this month after an 11-year career begun as a starting pitcher and improbably resurrecting himself in mid-career as an outfielder.

Ankiel had 32.6 career Box-Toppers points, 490th among all players since 1995. But he goes down in history as the first player since Babe Ruth to win 10 games and hit 50 home runs.

He was a starting pitcher from 1999 to 2004. His best season was 2000 with the Cardinals when he had 13.4 Box-Toppers points, sixth among National League pitchers. He finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting. However, in the 2000 postseason, Ankiel began to pitch wildly and ineffectively. After being sent down to the minors and after injuries, he took a chance of switching positions to the outfield and gradually worked his way back to the Majors.

He did not play in 2002 with injury and in 2005 and 2006, did not play in the Majors as he developed in his new position.

He debuted as an outfielder for the Cardinals in 2007 and had his best season at the plate that year with 6.5 Box-Toppers points.

During his career, he recorded 14.4 Box-Toppers points as a pitcher and 18.2 as a batter.

He played primarily for the Cardinals, but also had stints with the Nationals, Braves, Royals, Astros and Mets. He played his last game with the Mets on June 8, 2013. He scored his last Box-Toppers point July 4, 2012, with the Nationals.

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

Shawn Plank February 19, 2014

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.

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

Shawn Plank February 14, 2014

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.

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

Shawn Plank February 13, 2014

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.

Coming next in the series: Derek Jeter

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

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

Shawn Plank February 3, 2014

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.

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

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).

Coming next in the series: Roy Halladay

Giants' Sandoval, Red Sox' Ortiz top players for Wednesday, Sept. 4

Shawn Plank September 5, 2013

Pablo Sandoval of the Giants is Wednesday's Player of the Day. Sandoval hit three home runs, drove in six and went 4-for-5 in the 13-5 win over the Padres.

David Ortiz is American League Player of the Day. Ortiz hit two home runs, drove in four and went 3-for-5 in the 20-4 win over the Tigers.

Ortiz rises to 23rd place on the season's Box-Toppers player rankings. He earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season.

Wednesday was a rare occurrence in which batters earned both top player honors over pitchers.

Notable: Yankees closer Mariano Rivera earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day. Rivera (1.1IP 0H 0R 1K Sv in 6-5 win vs. White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season.

Rivera now has 125.4 career Box-Toppers points and is in 26th place overall. However, he trails the all-time leader among closing pitchers, Trevor Hoffman, who earned 129.4 points and is in 21st place overall. Rivera, who has announced he is retiring after this season, would need to double his season total in Box-Toppers points over the next few weeks to catch Hoffman in career Box-Toppers points.

Ortiz, who was AL Player of the Day Wednesday, has 126.4 career Box-Toppers points and is in 24th place. Box-Toppers record-keeping began in 1995.

Sandoval receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Ortiz receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. No pitchers received Box-Toppers bonus points since no pitchers had higher Box-Toppers game scores than the top batters.

All of Wednesday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

904ScoreTeamBATTERSABRHRBIBBSO--PITCHERSIPHRERBBSO
MLB8.0Giants Pablo Sandoval   3B534600  00.000000
AL5.0Red Sox David Ortiz   DH533400  00.000000
 5.0Mets 0000000  Dillon Gee (W, 11-9)7.041115
 4.0Rays Wil Myers   DH423300  00.000000
 4.0Athletics Coco Crisp   CF422400  00.000000
 4.0Brewers Aramis Ramirez   3B332210  00.000000
 3.0Rockies Josh Rutledge   2B433100  00.000000
 3.0`Diamondbacks 0000000  Randall Delgado 7.043306
 2.1Yankees 0000000  Mariano Rivera (S, 41)1.100001
 2.0Cubs Dioner Navarro   C522300  00.000000
 2.0Indians Yan Gomes   C413201  00.000000
 2.0Mariners 0000000  Lucas Luetge (W, 1-2)2.000000
 2.0Nationals 0000000  Rafael Soriano (S, 38)1.000001
 1.0Cardinals       Matt Adams   1B522201  00.000000
 0.0Astros Trevor Crowe   LF512201  00.000000

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

A look at Box-Toppers 'all-time' top 100 players

Shawn Plank July 19, 2013

In the midst of the long All-Star break, here is a look at the top 100 players since Box-Toppers record-keeping began in 1995:

Randy Johnson has always been Box-Toppers' most dominant player.

Until he retired in 2009, he was consistently earning Box-Toppers Player of the Day honors by being the player who most helped his team to wins by pitching a lot of innings and striking out a lot of batters.

And even in retirement, Johnson with 278.8 Box-Toppers points, continues to dominate the "all-time" Box-Toppers list, with only one distant challenger, starting pitcher Pedro Martinez (also retired) with 244.8 points.

All other players are at least 84.7 Box-Toppers points behind Johnson (pitcher Curt Schilling, in third place, has 194.1 points). Earning 84.7 points for any single player would be a major career achievement, worthy of landing them on the "all-time" top 100 Box-Toppers list. (We put "all-time" in quotes, since we're not covering all of baseball history, but only the time since 1995 when Box-Toppers stats have been tracked.)

In the top 100 "all-time" chart, you'll see that 95 of the top 100 players have 84.7 or more career Box-Toppers points. If the player ranked in 19th place all time, Andy Pettitte, doubled his already impressive career Box-Toppers points total of 137.5, he still would not have enough points to catch Johnson.

So what we're saying here is this: Randy Johnson—good. Very good.

Alex Rodriguez is the batter with the highest Box-Toppers total on the "all-time" list with 176.3 points, fourth place overall. He is also the current leader among active players.

Rodriguez's Yankees teammate, C.C. Sabathia recently took over as the leader among active pitchers—he has 172.3 points (fifth place overall) and this season passed Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay with 170.7 points. Sabathia is also not far behind Rodriguez and could take the outright lead among all active players on the "all-time" list this season.

There are five active players in the "all-time" top 10 list, but not all of them can be considered extremely active. Rodriguez has been out all season and is preparing to come back from injury (and is under a cloud of suspicion that may get him suspended under baseball's performance enhancing drug policy). Halladay is out, perhaps for the season, rehabbing from shoulder surgery. Manny Ramirez (167.2 points, seventh place) is attempting a comeback and is in the minor leagues with the Texas Rangers. And Johan Santana (166.6 points, eighth place) is out for the season with injury and may be unable to return to pitch.

Albert Pujols is two or three Player of the Game honors away from joining the top 10. He is in 11th place with 158.3 points, behind John Smoltz with 160.9 points. However, Pujols has only 2.5 Box-Toppers points this season at the All-Star break—if he doubles his season total, he won't reach Smoltz.

There are 48 active players on the top 100 list (that number includes players such as Ramirez, who are in the minor leagues, or Halladay, on the disabled list). All other players are either listed as "free agents," (who either hope to come back to baseball or haven't said they are retired) are playing outside the Major Leagues (in Japan or an independent league) or have retired. Recent retirees (such as Derek Lowe, who told a reporter Thursday he is retired) are listed as "retired" in their team status in the top 100 list. Players with a blank team status retired in 2012 or earlier.

There are 16 players in the top 100 "all-time" list who are also in the top 100 list for 2013. They are all listed in the chart at the bottom of this post. They include:

Miguel Cabrera, 3B, Tigers: 37th in all-time list with 112.2 points, 3rd in 2013 list with 13.4 points.
Clayton Kershaw, PI, Dodgers, 73rd in all-time list with 93.1 points, 5th in 2013 list with 12.7.
Sabathia, PI, Yankees, 5th in the all-time list with 172.3 points, 94th in 2013 list with 4.7.

Pitchers narrowly outnumber batters in the "all-time" top 100 list. There are 53 pitchers vs. 47 batters on the list. However, in the top 100 list for 2013, pitchers far outnumbered batters—74 to 26. Why? It could be because pitchers burst onto the scene and tend to be very productive for a shorter period of time, while batters, while scoring relatively less in the short term, keep that level of production over a longer time and tend to catch up to pitchers' higher point totals. That's just a theory. But here is the breakdown of players on the "all-time" list by their primary position:

Starting pitchers: 49
Outfielders: 17
Designated hitters: 12
Third basemen: 9
First basemen: 7
Closing pitchers: 4
Second basemen: 1 (Jeff Kent)
Catchers: 1 (Mike Piazza)
Shortstops: 0

Keep in mind that these are only statistics since 1995. For many players who debuted before then (such as Johnson, Martinez, Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux), their career Box-Toppers totals would likely be far higher if the years before 1995 were accounted for. On the other hand, for a player like Chipper Jones (ranked 15th), Box-Toppers covers virtually his entire career—he only played in eight games before 1995, so Box-Toppers covers 2,491 games of his 2,499-game career.

If you note how the names are listed in the chart—some all lowercase, some properly capitalized, some with numbers after them—you might cringe at the inconsistencies if you were a copy editor. But there is an unintentional method to this madness. In early days of keeping the Box-Toppers database from 1995 to 1997, names were inputted quickly, often with no capitalization—Box-Toppers' e.e. cummings phase, if you will. In about 1997, names were pretty consistently properly capitalized. And in 1998, numbers were added at the ends of names to denote their order of first appearance in the Box-Toppers database (the first time they earned Player of the Game).

So today, when you see player names like "rivera, mariano," (now ranked 26th) you'll know that Rivera first appeared early in Box-Toppers history (in his case, the first year, 1995). "Ortiz, David," (properly capitalized) made his Box-Toppers debut in 1997 (now ranked 27th). And "Helton, Todd 1060," was one of the first players with the debut order number appended, when he first appeared in 1998 (now ranked 32nd).

While many notable players from the past 20 years appear on the top 100 list, others did not earn enough Box-Toppers points to make the cut. A couple of notables:

Mark McGwire had 77.3 points, in 112th place.
Derek Jeter has 76.4 points, in 118th place.

Box-Toppers points reward 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. These top players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game. Among each day's top players, bonus points are awarded for the top players and batters of the day in each league. Players accumulate points through the season to provide a data point for comparison, such as determining which players are most worthy as All-Stars or for postseason awards.

What are those numbers after players' names?

How does Box-Toppers scoring work?

Top 100 players since 1995

RANKPLAYERPOSTEAMBTP (All-time)BTP 2013
1Johnson, randypi sp 278.8 
2Martinez, Pedro J.pi sp 244.8 
3schilling, curtpi sp 194.1 
4Rodriguez, Alex3b dhnyy al176.3 
5Sabathia, C.C. 1492pi spnyy al172.34.7
6Halladay, Roy 1178pi spphi nl170.71.0
7Ramirez, mannylf dhtex al167.2 
8Santana, Johan 1448pi spnym nl166.6 
9clemens, rogerpi sp 164.8 
10smoltz, johnpi sp 160.9 
11Pujols, Albert 1438dh 1bana al158.32.5
12mussina, Mikepi sp 155.6 
13bonds, barrylf 153.2 
14maddux, gregpi sp 151.7 
15jones, chipper3bretired149.0 
16Vazquez, Javier 1146pi sp 148.3 
17thome, jimdhfree agent146.7 
18Hudson, Tim 1231pi spatl nl143.35.7
19pettitte, andypi spnyy al137.53.0
20giambi, jasondhcle al131.41.5
21hoffman, trevorpi cp 129.4 
22Guerrero, Vladimirdhindy league128.3 
23Oswalt, Roy 1469pi spcol nl127.2 
24Peavy, Jake 1635pi spchi al124.16.0
25sheffield, garylf 124.1 
26rivera, marianopi cpnyy al122.41.0
27Ortiz, Daviddhbos al122.28.2
28Hernandez, Felix 2064pi spsea al118.110.4
29Delgado, Carlos1b 117.7 
30Zito, Barry 1415pi spsf nl117.43.0
31Colon, Bartolopi spoak al116.36.7
32Helton, Todd 10601bcol nl114.9 
33Carpenter, Chrispi spstl nl113.3 
34sosa, sammyrf 113.2 
35Lee, Cliff 1798pi spphi nl113.19.4
36brown, kevin j.pi sp 112.8 
37Cabrera, Miguel 17763bdet al112.213.4
38Verlander, Justin 2112pi spdet al112.28.0
39glavine, tompi sp 110.6 
40kent, jeff2b 109.7 
41Wagner, Billypi cp 108.7 
42Millwood, Kevinpi spretired108.3 
43Berkman, Lance 1261dh rftex al108.11.0
44Beckett, Josh 1544pi splad nl107.2 
45Burnett, A.J. 1300pi sppit nl107.13.7
46thomas, frankdh 106.2 
47moyer, jamiepi sp 104.0 
48Weaver, Jered 2178pi spana al103.04.0
49Tejada, Miguel3b sskc al102.3 
50griffey, ken jr.cf 102.2 
51wakefield, timpi sp 101.4 
52schmidt, jasonpi sp 101.2 
53Greinke, Zack 1871pi splad nl100.510.7
54bagwell, jeff1b 100.4 
55walker, larryrf 100.1 
56Konerko, Paul 1107dh 1bchi al99.71.0
57Hunter, Torii 1190rfdet al99.41.0
58edmonds, jimcf rf ph 98.8 
59Buehrle, Mark 1407pi sptor al98.33.7
60Rolen, Scott3bfree agent97.6 
61Jones, Andruwdh lf phjapan96.5 
62Wolf, Randy 1235pi spfree agent96.4 
63Lincecum, Tim 2288pi spsf nl95.95.7
64piazza, mikeca 95.7 
65Abreu, Bobbydhfree agent95.5 
66nomo, hideopi sp 95.5 
67Ordonez, Maggliorf 94.5 
68Dempster, Ryan 1109pi spbos al94.23.0
69williams, bernierf 93.8 
70Hamels, Cole 2135pi spphi nl93.75.7
71Beltran, Carlos 1194rfstl nl93.41.5
72Lilly, Ted 1452pi splad nl93.3 
73Kershaw, Clayton 2494pi splad nl93.112.7
74giles, brianrf 92.5 
75Wood, Kerrypi sp cp 92.4 
76Ramirez, Aramis 13643bmil nl92.3 
77Cain, Matt 2081pi spsf nl92.04.0
78Glaus, Troy 11323b 91.6 
79Haren, Danny 1787pi spdc nl91.51.7
80Lowe, Derekpi spretired91.51.0
81Dunn, Adam 1512dh 1bchi al90.84.2
82Ibanez, Raul 1137lf dhsea al89.72.0
83Teixeira, Mark 17381bnyy al87.81.5
84alou, moiseslf 87.5 
85belle, albertrf 87.5 
86wells, davidpi sp 87.5 
87castilla, vinny3b 86.9 
88Beltre, Adrian 11413btex al86.65.7
89anderson, garretdh lf 86.5 
90leiter, alpi sp 86.2 
91Lester, Jon 2173pi spbos al85.75.7
92Lee, Carlos 1246lfretired85.5 
93Lackey, John 1640pi spbos al85.44.0
94Zambrano, Carlos 1676pi spphi nl85.2 
95radke, bradpi sp 85.0 
96Howard, Ryan 20401bphi nl84.03.5
97Martinez, Tino1b 81.4 
98Lee, Derrek1bfree agent81.3 
99percival, troypi cp 80.7 
100Holliday, Matt 1836lfstl nl80.34.0

BTP (All-time): Box-Toppers points accumulated since 1995, when this stat-keeping method began.

BTP 2013: Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season.

Note: The team column shows a player's current team status. Active players are listed on either their current MLB team or where they are currently playing (i.e. Japan or an independent league). Other players are listed as "free agent" or "retired." Players who have retired in 2012 or before are listed with no team affiliation.

Overlapping players

Players on both the Top 100 list since 1995 and Top 100 of 2013

PLAYERPOSTEAMBTP (All-time)RANK (All-time)BTP (2013)RANK (2013)
Cabrera, Miguel 17763bdet al112.23713.43
Kershaw, Clayton 2494pi splad nl93.17312.75
Greinke, Zack 1871pi splad nl100.55310.712
Hernandez, Felix 2064pi spsea al118.12810.413
Lee, Cliff 1798pi spphi nl113.1359.422
Ortiz, Daviddhbos al122.2278.225
Verlander, Justin 2112pi spdet al112.2388.026
Colon, Bartolopi spoak al116.3316.740
Peavy, Jake 1635pi spchi al124.1246.053
Hamels, Cole 2135pi spphi nl93.7705.764
Beltre, Adrian 11413btex al86.6885.765
Lincecum, Tim 2288pi spsf nl95.9635.766
Hudson, Tim 1231pi spatl nl143.3185.768
Lester, Jon 2173pi spbos al85.7915.770
Sabathia, C.C. 1492pi spnyy al172.354.794

BTP: Box-Toppers points

White Sox' Chris Sale is 2013 All-Star Game top player in AL win

Shawn Plank July 17, 2013

White Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Box-Toppers All-Star Game Player of the Day.

Sale pitched two perfect innings Tuesday, struck out two and earned the win as the American League beat the National League 3-0.

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, pitching in his final All-Star Game, was named the game Most Valuable Player after pitching the eighth inning, allowing no hits and no runs.

Sure, picking Rivera, who is retiring after a brilliant and long career, is more a sentimental than logical choice. And choosing the top player in an All-Star Game is a bit of a fool's errand. The game has the feeling of a presidential ceremonial bill signing in which the president uses 15 different pens to sign a bill, so that key backers can each get a souvenir. This pen is used to make the "B," this to make the "a," and so on. In the All-Star Game, pitchers who are normally conditioned to throw seven to nine innings, are brought out to throw a ceremonial one or two innings—this one makes the "r," and this one makes the "a." In these conditions, it's hard to really determine who is the top player of the game any more than one can determine the pen that truly made the difference in the presidential bill signing.

For this year, we'll say Sale. True, his appearance was limited, but he did pitch two innings (scribbling the proverbial "c" and "k" of the presidential signature), more than any other AL pitcher.

Since it is the All-Star Game and it is an exhibition, no Box-Toppers points are awarded. (Sale has 10.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, ranking 10th among all players and third among AL pitchers.)

Following the results chart below, we'll show the process of how a Box-Toppers Player of the Game is determined, using Tuesday's All-Star Game as our example:

716ScoreTeamBATTERSABRHRBIBBSO--PITCHERSIPHRERBBSO
MLB4.0American League 000000000Chris Sale (W, 1-0)2.000002

Determining Box-Toppers Players of the Game

The chart below shows all players from the winning American League team who appeared in Tuesday's game. They are ranked in order of their Box-Toppers game score, from highest to lowest.

Sale, the top player, had a game score of 4.0. (How the Box-Toppers game score formula works.) Joe Nathan, Rangers closing pitcher, was in second with 2.0. The top batter was Jason Kipnis of the Indians with 1.0. He and Salvador Perez of the Royals had identical scores of 1.0, but Kipnis breaks the tie because he has more RBIs. Rivera, the game MVP, has a Box-Toppers game score of 1.0.

Moving down the list, 14 players had Box-Toppers game scores below 0.0.

ScoreTeamBATTERSABRHRBIBBSO--PITCHERSIPHRERBBSO
4.0American League 0000000  Chris Sale (W, 1-0)2.000002
2.0American League 0000000  Joe Nathan (S, 1)1.010002
2.0American League 0000000  Max Scherzer 1.000001
1.1American League 0000000  Brett Cecil (H, 1)0.000001
1.1American League 0000000  Steve Delabar (H, 1)0.000001
1.0American League       Jason Kipnis   2B101100  00.000000
1.0American League       Salvador Perez   C111000  00.000000
1.0American League 0000000  Grant Balfour (H, 1)1.000011
1.0American League 0000000  Matt Moore (H, 1)1.000000
1.0American League 0000000  Mariano Rivera (H, 1)1.000000
0.0American League       Prince Fielder   1B101000  00.000000
0.0American League       Jhonny Peralta   SS101000  00.000000
0.0American League Jose Bautista   RF100101  00.000000
0.0American League 0000000  Felix Hernandez (H, 1)1.010000
0.0American League Robinson Cano   2B000000  00.000000
-0.9American League 0000000  Greg Holland (H, 1)0.010000
-1.0American League Miguel Cabrera   3B311001  00.000000
-1.0American League Adam Jones   CF311002  00.000000
-1.0American League Joe Mauer   C201000  00.000000
-1.0American League J.J. Hardy   SS200100  00.000000
-1.0American League       Torii Hunter   PH, CF100000  00.000000
-1.0American League       Manny Machado   3B100001  00.000000
-1.0American League       Nelson Cruz   RF100010  00.000000
-1.0American League       Alex Gordon   LF100000  00.000000
-2.0American League Mike Trout   LF, CF301000  00.000000
-2.0American League Chris Davis   1B301001  00.000000
-2.0American League       Dustin Pedroia   PR, 2B200001  00.000000
-2.0American League David Ortiz   DH200000  00.000000
-2.0American League       Edwin Encarnacion   PH, DH200000  00.000000

All-Star rosters include most Box-Toppers points leaders, only a few minor snubs

Shawn Plank July 16, 2013

With the 2013 All-Star Game here, it's time for a Box-Toppers examination of the choices for the game by fans and the managers.

Overall, not bad. The players with the highest Box-Toppers points totals in each league were almost always named to the American League and National League teams.

For example, Box-Toppers points leader and Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin was named to the NL roster (though Mets pitcher Matt Harvey was named the game's starter). And AL points leader and Indians pitcher Justin Masterson was named to the AL roster (though Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer was named AL starter).

The player with the most Box-Toppers points this season who was not selected as an All-Star is Cardinals pitcher Shelby Miller, who has 11.4 Box-Toppers points, the fifth highest among NL pitchers and more than NL starter Harvey (11.0).

Other notable snubs (a full list is in the chart below) include:

Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez, the AL player with the most Box-Toppers points (8.0) left off the roster.
Yunel Escobar of the Rays, who has more Box-Toppers points than any other AL shortstop (4.5).
J.P. Arencibia of the Blue Jays, who has more points than any other AL catcher (5.5).
Athletics outfielders Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Reddick, who are among the top three AL outfielders in Box-Toppers points. Both have 4.5.
Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals, who has more points than any other NL third basemen (6.7).

The elected starters for the AL are generally stronger than the starters for the NL in terms of Box-Toppers points and player rankings (see the charts at right). Five players are among the top one or two players in Box-Toppers points at their position among AL starters, while only three players in the NL can say the same.

The chart shows the players Box-Toppers points for the season, BTP, and their rank according to their field position in their league. Generally speaking, the the lower the rank by position number, the better. For example, Chris Davis, Miguel Cabrera, David Ortiz and Carlos Gonzalez all rank No. 1 among players in their respective positions. However, elected NL starter Carlos Beltran of the Cardinals, ranks only 39th among NL outfielders in Box-Toppers points for the season.

While the NL starting line-up is not as strong as the AL line-up, the NL reserves include most of the players leading in Box-Toppers points at their position. For example, in the reserves and pitchers chart at the right below the elected starters, you can see that four NL players leading in Box-Toppers points in their position were selected to the team by NL manager Bruce Bochy of the Giants. They include:

Brian McCann of the Braves, leading among NL catchers with 7.0 Box-Toppers points.
Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks, leading among NL first basemen with 9.7 Box-Toppers points.
Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals, leading among NL second basemen with 6.0 Box-Toppers points.
Everth Cabrera of the Padres, leading among NL shortstops with 4.5 Box-Toppers points.

Often, players are chosen to the All-Star for sentimental and nostalgic reasons. That might seem to be the case for Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who has only 1.0 Box-Toppers point this season and ranks 137th among AL pitchers in points. And though he's having a strong year (30 saves in 32 chances and a 1.83 ERA), he hasn't picked up a lot of Box-Toppers points since he hasn't been the player who most contributed to the win in most of the games in which he's appeared. Still, Rivera has a very strong career Box-Toppers total. He has 122.4 career Box-Toppers points, 26th among all players since 1995 and second among closing pitchers only to Trevor Hoffman (129.4). Even if he weren't having a great year statistically, his career Box-Toppers numbers would cry out for his selection to the All-Star Game in this, the year he is retiring.

Box-Toppers is set up to determine the 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. These top players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game. Among each day's top players, bonus points are awarded for the top players and batters of the day in each league. Players accumulate points through the season to provide a data point for comparison, such as determining which players are most worthy as All-Stars.

ALL-STAR GAME TOP SNUBS   
AL PLAYERSPOSTEAMBTPRANK BY POS.
Anibal SanchezPI SPTigers8.010
Derek HollandPI SPRangers7.711
Joe SaundersPI SPMariners7.712
R.A. DickeyPI SPBlue Jays6.713
Hiroki KurodaPI SPYankees6.714
Josh Donaldson3BAthletics6.52
Yunel EscobarSSRays4.51
J.P. ArencibiaCABlue Jays5.51
Yoenis CespedesOFAthletics4.52
Josh ReddickOFAthletics4.53
     
NL PLAYERSPOSTEAMBTPRANK BY POS.
Shelby MillerPI SPCardinals11.45
Zack GreinkePI SPDodgers10.78
Lance LynnPI SPCardinals10.49
Gio GonzalezPI SPNationals8.711
Mat LatosPI SPReds8.712
Ryan Zimmerman3BNationals6.71

ALL-STAR GAME ELECTED STARTERS  
AL PLAYERSPOSTEAMBTPRANK BY POS.
Chris Davis1BOrioles10.21
Robinson Canó2BYankees7.02
J. J. HardySSOrioles3.04
Miguel Cabrera3BTigers13.41
Joe MauerCTwins5.02
Mike TroutOFAngels3.59
Adam JonesOFOrioles3.510
José BautistaOFBlue Jays1.532
David OrtizDHRed Sox8.21
     
NL PLAYERSPOSTEAMBTPRANK BY POS.
Joey Votto1BReds1.514
Brandon Phillips2BReds5.02
Troy TulowitzkiSSRockies2.07
David Wright3BMets1.012
Yadier MolinaCCardinals3.05
Carlos BeltránOFCardinals1.539
Carlos GonzálezOFRockies9.51
Bryce HarperOFNationals6.92

ALL-STAR GAME RESERVES & PITCHERS  
AL PLAYERSPOSTEAMBTPRANK BY POS.
Jason CastroCAstros2.07
Salvador PérezCRoyals0.018
Prince Fielder1BTigers3.57
Jason Kipnis2BIndians7.01
Dustin Pedroia2BRed Sox1.59
Ben Zobrist2BRays2.06
Manny Machado3BOrioles1.014
Jhonny PeraltaSSTigers1.011
Nelson CruzOFRangers4.51
Alex GordonOFRoyals1.042
Torii HunterOFTigers1.043
Edwin EncarnaciónDHBlue Jays5.72
Justin MastersonPI SPIndians13.71
Matt MoorePI SPRays13.12
Chris SalePI SPWhite Sox10.73
Félix HernándezPI SPMariners10.44
Clay BuchholzPI SPRed Sox10.15
Yu DarvishPI SPRangers10.06
Max ScherzerPI SPTigers9.77
Hisashi IwakumaPI SPMariners9.78
Justin VerlanderPI SPTigers8.09
Bartolo ColónPI SPAthletics6.715
Greg HollandPI CPRoyals6.020
Glen PerkinsPI CPTwins6.021
Chris TillmanPI SPOrioles4.035
Joe NathanPI CPRangers3.059
Grant BalfourPI CPAthletics3.060
Brett CecilPI MRBlue Jays2.093
Jesse CrainPI MRWhite Sox2.096
Steve DelabarPI MR CPBlue Jays1.0112
Mariano RiveraPI CPYankees1.0137
     
NL PLAYERSPOSTEAMBTPRANK BY POS.
Buster PoseyCGiants6.02
Brian McCannCBraves7.01
Paul Goldschmidt1BDiamondbacks9.71
Allen Craig1BCardinals1.015
Freddie Freeman1BBraves6.52
Matt Carpenter2BCardinals6.01
Marco Scutaro2BGiants0.018
Pedro Álvarez3BPirates6.22
Everth CabreraSSPadres4.51
Jean SeguraSSBrewers2.56
Domonic BrownOFPhillies3.515
Michael CuddyerOFRockies6.53
Carlos GómezOFBrewers2.035
Andrew McCutchenOFPirates2.027
Patrick CorbinPI SPDiamondbacks14.41
Clayton KershawPI SPDodgers12.72
Madison BumgarnerPI SPGiants11.73
Adam WainwrightPI SPCardinals11.74
Matt HarveyPI SPMets11.06
Jordan ZimmermannPI SPNationals10.77
Cliff LeePI SPPhillies9.410
José FernándezPI SPMarlins8.014
Aroldis ChapmanPI CPReds6.018
Jason GrilliPI CPPirates5.729
Travis WoodPI CPCubs5.033
Jeff LockePI SPPirates5.036
Craig KimbrelPI CPBraves3.052
Edward MujicaPI CPCardinals3.058
Sergio RomoPI CPGiants2.077
Mark MelanconPI MRPirates1.0121

BTP: Box-Toppers points for the current season.

RANK BY POS.: A players ranking among players in the same position for the current season.

Top 10 players

Top player from each game

Top player from each game

1. Alex Rodriguez

2. Roy Halladay

3. Manny Ramirez

4. Johan Santana

5. Jim Thome

6. Derek Jeter

7. Mariano Rivera

8. Roy Oswalt

9. Andy Pettitte

10. Todd Helton

11. Barry Zito

12. Chris Carpenter

13. Lance Berkman

14. Ryan Dempster

Honorable mention

Derek Lowe

Mark Prior

Ted Lilly

Michael Young

Aubrey Huff

Mark DeRosa

Carl Pavano

Rick Ankiel

7. Mariano Rivera

Mariano Rivera

Rivera vs. Hoffman

Trevor Hoffman

Coming next in the series: Roy Oswalt

6. Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter

Coming next in the series: Mariano Rivera

5. Jim Thome

Jim Thome

Coming next in the series: Derek Jeter

Alex Rodriguez

1. Alex Rodriguez

Coming next in the series: Roy Halladay

Top player from each game

Top 100 players since 1995

Overlapping players

Players on both the Top 100 list since 1995 and Top 100 of 2013

Box-Toppers

Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.