Nationals' Max Scherzer (7IP 0R 11K) tops players for Saturday, May 16, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Saturday’s Player of the Day and rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 16.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	8.7
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	6.0
4	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
5	Harang, Aaron 1599	pi sp	phi nl	5.1
6	Miller, Shelby 3134	pi sp	atl nl	5.0
7	Hosmer, Eric 2886	1b	kc al	5.0
8	Harper, Bryce 3011	lf rf	dc nl	5.0
9	Heston, Chris 3437	pi sp	sf nl	5.0
10	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	4.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, CC Sabathia and Jonathan Papelbon extended their streaks of consecutive seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point—Sabathia now has 15 seasons and Papelbon has 10—and Kris Bryant earned Player of the Game honors two days in a row, the third time in six days.

Player of the Day—Scherzer struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits, in the 4-1 win over the Padres.

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, rising to second place in overall player rankings for the season. He now ranks first among all NL players, passing Gerrit Cole of the Pirates. Both Scherzer and Cole have 6.0 Box-Toppers points, but Scherzer wins the tie-breaker because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2014—22.1 vs. 5.7.

American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 6-1 win over the Orioles.

National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Crawford of the Giants homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 11-2 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Eduardo Escobar of the Twins doubled and went 4-for-4, with one run and one RBI, in the 6-4 win over the Rays.

Streaks—Two players extended their streaks of consecutive seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point after earning Player of the Game honors Friday:

• Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia has now earned Box-Toppers points in 15 straight seasons, extending his lead in career points among active pitchers (174.3) and earning his first Player of the Game honor in more than a year.

Sabathia (7IP R 5K W in the 5-1 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season. He earned his first points in 2001 with the Indians. His best year was 2008 with the Indians and Brewers when he had 26.7 Box-Toppers points, first among NL pitchers that year (while he played in both leagues in 2008, he is counted as an NL pitcher since that’s where he ended his season).

In 2014, Sabathia had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Yankees. Saturday marked the first time Sabathia earned Player of the Game honors since April 24, 2014.

Sabathia’s career 174.3 Box-Toppers points is fifth among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). He trails Randy Johnson (278.8), Pedro Martinez (244.8), Curt Schilling (194.1) and Alex Rodriguez (183.8).

• Phillies closing pitcher Jonathan Papelbon has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons. Papelbon (1IP 0R 2K Sv in the 7-5 win over the Diamondbacks) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, his first of the season.

Papelbon earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Red Sox. His two best seasons were 2006 with the Red Sox and 2012 with the Phillies—he had 7.0 Box-Toppers points in both seasons. In 2006, he ranked seventh among AL closing pitchers. In 2012, he ranked fifth among NL closing pitchers.

In 2014, he had 3.0 Box-Toppers points with the Phillies. 

Papelbon has 49.4 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks 20th among all closing pitchers since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. His career 49.4 points ranks second among active closing pitchers currently in the NL (behind Francisco Rodriguez of the Brewers with 59.4).

Notable—Kris Bryant of the Cubs earned Player of the Game honors for the second day in a row and the third time in six days.

Bryant (2-2 2R in the 4-1 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He was also Player of the Game Thursday and on May 11, when he made his Box-Toppers debut. He has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season (and for his career) and currently ranks eighth among NL batters for 2015.

Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

• Jace Peterson of the Braves (grand slam 2-5 in the 5-3 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut April 25, 2014, and was playing in his 60th career game. He is the 3,469th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Tigers pitcher Blaine Hardy (1IP 0R 2K W in the 4-3 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut June 16, 2014, and was playing in his 51st career game. He is the 3,470th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Shoemaker earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Crawford and Escobar each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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

5/16	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	12.0	Nationals	Max Scherzer (W, 4-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	2	11
AL	9.0	Angels	Matt Shoemaker (W, 3-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	1	0	7
	8.1	Rockies	Jorge De La Rosa (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	2	0	0	0	3
BAT	6.0	Giants	Brandon Crawford SS	5	2	3	6	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Mets	Wilmer Flores SS	4	2	2	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Yankees	CC Sabathia (W, 2-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	0	5
	3.0	White Sox	John Danks (W, 2-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	2	2	3	6
	3.0	`Red Sox	Tommy Layne (H, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	Phillies	Jonathan Papelbon (S, 9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.2	Astros	Scott Feldman (W, 3-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	3	3	3	10
	2.0	Braves	Jace Peterson 2B	5	1	2	4	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	2.0	Twins	Eduardo Escobar SS	4	1	4	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Cubs	Kris Bryant 3B	2	2	2	0	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Tigers	Blaine Hardy (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	1	2
	2.0	Indians	Cody Allen (S, 6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Clayton Kershaw, top player for Tuesday, Sept. 2, stays on track to break Randy Johnson's single season Box-Toppers points record

Box-Toppers points leader Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers, Tuesday’s Player of the Day, stays on track to break Randy Johnson’s record for most Box-Toppers points in a single season.

Kershaw struck out eight over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 4-1 win over the Nationals. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 27.8 for the season. He ranks first among all players this season. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.)

Most BTP single season

Randy Johnson is the all-time leader in Box-Toppers points in a single season—he scored 33.7 twice, in 2000 and 2002. Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers rose into the top 10 list for 2014 on Tuesday, he now has 27.8.

Rank	Player	Team	Pos	Year	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2000	33.7
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	33.7
3	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2000	33.5
4	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	1999	31.5
5	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	1999	31.4
6	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2001	29.4
7	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2002	28.8
8	Curt Schilling	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	28.4
9	*Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2014	27.8
10	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1997	27.4
11	Johan Santana	Twins	pi sp	2004	26.8
12	Pedro Martinez	Expos	pi sp	1997	26.7
12	CC Sabathia	Indians/Brewers	pi sp	2008	26.7
14	Randy Johnson	Mariners/Astros	pi sp	1998	26.4
15	John Smoltz	Braves	pi sp	1996	26.1
15	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2011	26.1
17	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1998	25.8
18	Johan Santana	Twins	pi sp	2006	25.7
19	Cliff Lee	Phillies	pi sp	2011	25.4

* Current season
BTP: Box-Toppers points

Kershaw is now within 5.9 Box-Toppers points of Johnson’s record of 33.7 he set with the Diamondbacks in both 2000 and 2002. Kershaw likely has three or four starts remaining. If he is Player of the Day in three upcoming starts, he would score 6.0 Box-Toppers points and pass Johnson with 33.8.

Kershaw’s 27.8 Box-Toppers points is now the ninth-highest single season total since record keeping began in 1995. He has the most points in a single season since 2002, when Johnson tied his record of 33.7 set in 2000. Also in 2002, Pedro Martinez of the Red Sox had 28.8 Box-Toppers points and Curt Schilling of the Diamondbacks had 28.4.

Kershaw also passed his career high for most Box-Toppers points in a season Tuesday—his previous high was 26.1, set in 2011. Kershaw has 129.9 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 24th on the “all-time” list, 16th among pitchers (record keeping began in 1995).

Previous post about Kershaw's chances for breaking Johnson's single-season record.

Orioles pitcher Bud Norris is American League Player of the Day. Norris pitched six scoreless innings and struck out seven in the 5-4 win over the Reds.

Buster Posey of the Giants is National League Batter of the Day. Posey homered, doubled twice and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 12-7 win over the Rockies.

Daniel Nava of the Red Sox is AL Batter of the Day. Nava homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 9-4 win over the Yankees.

Kershaw receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Norris receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Posey and Nava each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

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

Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed, click here.

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

902	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw (W, 17-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	1	1	2	8
AL	8.0	Orioles	Bud Norris (W, 12-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	1	7
	6.0	Phillies	Kyle Kendrick (W, 8-11)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	2	4
BAT	5.0	Giants	Buster Posey 1B	5	3	3	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Mets	Juan Lagares CF	4	3	4	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	`Padres	Odrisamer Despaigne	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	0	4
BAT	4.0	Red Sox	Daniel Nava RF	3	2	2	3	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Blue Jays	R.A. Dickey (W, 11-12)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	2	2	3	6
	3.1	`Tigers	Kyle Lobstein	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.1	5	2	2	3	10
	3.0	Astros	Jose Altuve 2B	5	2	4	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	White Sox	Tyler Flowers C	5	2	2	4	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Mariners	Endy Chavez RF	1	1	1	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Cubs	Luis Valbuena 3B	4	2	2	1	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Cardinals	Peter Bourjos CF	4	2	2	1	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Royals	Aaron Crow (S, 3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	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 recalls 2004's postseason, when Cards-Red Sox also met in World Series

With the Red Sox and the Cardinals matched up against each other for the fourth time in World Series history, let's take a Box-Toppers look back to the last time they faced off, in the 2004 Fall Classic. 

With nine years of separation, there aren't a lot of returning players from the previous Cards-Sox title bout—in fact, only two: 

• Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz.
• Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.

Ortiz had 10.7 Box-Toppers points during the 2004 regular season, his best at the time and was Player of the Game in two postseason contests—once in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees and once in Game 1 of the World Series against the Cardinals. This season, Ortiz had 12.4 Box-Toppers points and has already been Player of the Game in Game 2 of the ALCS vs. the Tigers.

Molina was in his first year with the Cardinals in 2004 and had only 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He was playing behind then-starting catcher (now Cardinals manager) Mike Matheny. This season, Molina has 4.0 Box-Toppers points. 

One other current Cardinal player did play a prominent role in 2004's postseason. Carlos Beltran, then of the Astros, was twice Player of the Game during the National League Division series, as the Astros defeated the Braves, three games to two. The Astros lost to the Cardinals in the NLCS, four games to three. 

The 2004 postseason was also notable because it was the first and only time a team with a 3-0 game deficit in a best-of-seven series came back to win it 4-3. That was the Red Sox, beating the Yankees in the ALCS, sparked by Ortiz' Game 4 performance. Ortiz hit a walk-off, 12th-inning, two-run home run to beat the Yankees 6-4. The Sox then trailed that series three games to one.

The 2004 postseason was also notable because it was the first time the Red Sox had won the World Series since 1918—a span of 86 years. The Red Sox went on to sweep the Cardinals in the Fall Classic. Then-Cards stars like Albert Pujols, who contributed to St. Louis wins in the first two rounds of the postseason, were shut out from even once earning Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors during the World Series. However, Ortiz was joined by three other arguably legendary Red Sox as Player of the Game in the other three World Series victories: 

• Game 1: Ortiz, who has 126.4 Box-Toppers points for his career, ranked 24th all-time (since 1995 when Box-Toppers record-keeping began).
• Game 2: Pitcher Curt Schilling, who had 21.0 Box-Toppers points in 2004 and has 194.1 since 1995, ranked third on the all-time (since 1995) list.  
• Game 3: Pitcher Pedro Martinez, who had 17.1 Box-Toppers points in 2004 and has 244.8 since 1995, ranked second on the all-time (since 1995) list, behind only Randy Johnson (278.8). 
• Game 4: Pitcher Derek Lowe, who had a career-low 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2004, but has 91.5 for his career, ranked 82nd on the all-time list. 

2004 League Division Series Box-Toppers results 

Here are Box-Toppers Players of the Games for each of the league division series games played in 2004. Games are listed by day. The Red Sox beat the Angels 3-0. The Yankees beat the Twins 3-1. The Cardinals beat the Dodgers 3-1. The Astros beat the Braves 3-2.

2004	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Oct 5
MLB	2.0	Red Sox	Manny Ramirez lf	5	2	2	3	0	1				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
NL	2.0	Cardinals	Larry Walker rf	4	2	2	2	0	2				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Twins		0	0	0	0	0	0			Johan Santana (W, 1-0)	7.0	9	0	0	1	5
Oct 6
MLB	5.0	Astros	Carlos Beltran cf	3	3	3	2	0	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
AL	3.1	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Keith Foulke (S, 1)	1.1	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	3.0	Yankees	Alex Rodriguez 3b	6	2	4	3	0	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 7
MLB	4.0	`Braves		0	0	0	0	0	0			John Smoltz	3.0	0	0	0	2	3
BAT	3.0	Cardinals	Edgar Renteria ss	4	3	3	1	0	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 8
MLB	4.0	`Red Sox		0	0	0	0	0	0			Bronson Arroyo	6.0	3	2	2	2	7
BAT	1.0	Yankees	Derek Jeter ss	5	0	3	3	0	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 9
MLB	7.0	Dodgers		0	0	0	0	0	0			Jose Lima (W, 1-0)	9.0	5	0	0	1	4
NL	3.0	Astros		0	0	0	0	0	0			Brad Lidge (S, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	2.0	Yankees	Ruben Sierra dh	4	1	2	3	1	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 10
MLB	3.0	Cardinals	Albert Pujols 1b	4	1	2	4	1	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Braves	Adam LaRoche 1b	3	1	1	3	1	1				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 11
MLB	7.0	Astros	Carlos Beltran cf	5	3	4	5	0	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0

2004 League Championship Series Box-Toppers results 

Here are Box-Toppers Players of the Games for each of the league championship series games played in 2004. The Red Sox beat the Yankees 4-3. The Cardinals beat the Astros 4-3.

2004	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Oct 12
MLB	5.0	Yankees	Hideki Matsui lf	5	2	3	5	0	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 13
MLB	4.0	Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jon Lieber (W, 1-0)	7.0	3	1	1	1	3
NL	3.0	Cardinals	Albert Pujols 1b	3	2	2	2	2	1				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 14
MLB	3.0	Cardinals	Scott Rolen 3b	4	2	2	3	0	1				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 16
MLB	9.0	Yankees	Hideki Matsui lf	6	5	5	5	0	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
NL	5.0	Astros	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Brad Lidge (S, 2)	2.0	1	0	0	1	5
Oct 17
MLB	4.0	Astros	Lance Berkman, RF	2	1	2	3	2	0
AL	2.0	Red Sox	David Ortiz, DH	5	1	2	4	1	1
Oct 18
MLB	9.0	`Astros										Brandon Backe	8.0	1	0	0	2	4
AL	5.0	Red Sox										Tim Wakefield (W,1-0)	3.0	1	0	0	1	4
Oct 19
MLB	5.0	Red Sox										Curt Schilling (W,2-1)	7.0	4	1	1	0	4
Oct 20
MLB	5.0	Red Sox	Johnny Damon cf	6	2	3	6	0	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
NL	4.0	Cardinals		0	0	0	0	0	0			Julian Tavarez (W, 2-1)	2.0	0	0	0	0	2
Oct 21
MLB	4.0	Cardinals		0	0	0	0	0	0			Jeff Suppan (W, 2-1)	6.0	3	2	1	2	6

2004 World Series Box-Toppers results 

Here are Box-Toppers Players of the Games for each of the World Series games played in 2004. The Red Sox beat the Cardinals 4-0.

2004	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Oct 23
MLB	4.0	Red Sox	David Ortiz, DH	3	1	2	4	2	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 24
MLB	4.0	Red Sox		0	0	0	0	0	0			Curt Schilling (W, 1-0)	6.0	4	1	0	1	4
Oct 26
MLB	8.0	Red Sox		0	0	0	0	0	0			Pedro Martinez (W, 1-0)	7.0	3	0	0	2	6
Oct 27
MLB	7.0	Red Sox		0	0	0	0	0	0			Derek Lowe (W, 1-0)	7.0	3	0	0	1	4

In the first column of each chart, the designation MLB indicates Player of the Day, AL or NL indicates Player of the Day in the opposite league and BAT indicates the player was the top batter of the day in his league. Usually, top players of the game receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point, top batters in the league receive 1.5, top players in the league receive 1.7 and top overall players receive 2.0. However, postseason Box-Toppers points are not counted in regular season Box-Toppers totals.

` 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

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

RANK	PLAYER	POS	TEAM	BTP (All-time)	BTP 2013
1	Johnson, randy	pi sp		278.8
2	Martinez, Pedro J.	pi sp		244.8
3	schilling, curt	pi sp		194.1
4	Rodriguez, Alex	3b dh	nyy al	176.3
5	Sabathia, C.C. 1492	pi sp	nyy al	172.3	4.7
6	Halladay, Roy 1178	pi sp	phi nl	170.7	1.0
7	Ramirez, manny	lf dh	tex al	167.2
8	Santana, Johan 1448	pi sp	nym nl	166.6
9	clemens, roger	pi sp		164.8
10	smoltz, john	pi sp		160.9
11	Pujols, Albert 1438	dh 1b	ana al	158.3	2.5
12	mussina, Mike	pi sp		155.6
13	bonds, barry	lf		153.2
14	maddux, greg	pi sp		151.7
15	jones, chipper	3b	retired	149.0
16	Vazquez, Javier 1146	pi sp		148.3
17	thome, jim	dh	free agent	146.7
18	Hudson, Tim 1231	pi sp	atl nl	143.3	5.7
19	pettitte, andy	pi sp	nyy al	137.5	3.0
20	giambi, jason	dh	cle al	131.4	1.5
21	hoffman, trevor	pi cp		129.4
22	Guerrero, Vladimir	dh	indy league	128.3
23	Oswalt, Roy 1469	pi sp	col nl	127.2
24	Peavy, Jake 1635	pi sp	chi al	124.1	6.0
25	sheffield, gary	lf		124.1
26	rivera, mariano	pi cp	nyy al	122.4	1.0
27	Ortiz, David	dh	bos al	122.2	8.2
28	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	118.1	10.4
29	Delgado, Carlos	1b		117.7
30	Zito, Barry 1415	pi sp	sf nl	117.4	3.0
31	Colon, Bartolo	pi sp	oak al	116.3	6.7
32	Helton, Todd 1060	1b	col nl	114.9
33	Carpenter, Chris	pi sp	stl nl	113.3
34	sosa, sammy	rf		113.2
35	Lee, Cliff 1798	pi sp	phi nl	113.1	9.4
36	brown, kevin j.	pi sp		112.8
37	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	3b	det al	112.2	13.4
38	Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	112.2	8.0
39	glavine, tom	pi sp		110.6
40	kent, jeff	2b		109.7
41	Wagner, Billy	pi cp		108.7
42	Millwood, Kevin	pi sp	retired	108.3
43	Berkman, Lance 1261	dh rf	tex al	108.1	1.0
44	Beckett, Josh 1544	pi sp	lad nl	107.2
45	Burnett, A.J. 1300	pi sp	pit nl	107.1	3.7
46	thomas, frank	dh		106.2
47	moyer, jamie	pi sp		104.0
48	Weaver, Jered 2178	pi sp	ana al	103.0	4.0
49	Tejada, Miguel	3b ss	kc al	102.3
50	griffey, ken jr.	cf		102.2
51	wakefield, tim	pi sp		101.4
52	schmidt, jason	pi sp		101.2
53	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	100.5	10.7
54	bagwell, jeff	1b		100.4
55	walker, larry	rf		100.1
56	Konerko, Paul 1107	dh 1b	chi al	99.7	1.0
57	Hunter, Torii 1190	rf	det al	99.4	1.0
58	edmonds, jim	cf rf ph		98.8
59	Buehrle, Mark 1407	pi sp	tor al	98.3	3.7
60	Rolen, Scott	3b	free agent	97.6
61	Jones, Andruw	dh lf ph	japan	96.5
62	Wolf, Randy 1235	pi sp	free agent	96.4
63	Lincecum, Tim 2288	pi sp	sf nl	95.9	5.7
64	piazza, mike	ca		95.7
65	Abreu, Bobby	dh	free agent	95.5
66	nomo, hideo	pi sp		95.5
67	Ordonez, Magglio	rf		94.5
68	Dempster, Ryan 1109	pi sp	bos al	94.2	3.0
69	williams, bernie	rf		93.8
70	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	phi nl	93.7	5.7
71	Beltran, Carlos 1194	rf	stl nl	93.4	1.5
72	Lilly, Ted 1452	pi sp	lad nl	93.3
73	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	93.1	12.7
74	giles, brian	rf		92.5
75	Wood, Kerry	pi sp cp		92.4
76	Ramirez, Aramis 1364	3b	mil nl	92.3
77	Cain, Matt 2081	pi sp	sf nl	92.0	4.0
78	Glaus, Troy 1132	3b		91.6
79	Haren, Danny 1787	pi sp	dc nl	91.5	1.7
80	Lowe, Derek	pi sp	retired	91.5	1.0
81	Dunn, Adam 1512	dh 1b	chi al	90.8	4.2
82	Ibanez, Raul 1137	lf dh	sea al	89.7	2.0
83	Teixeira, Mark 1738	1b	nyy al	87.8	1.5
84	alou, moises	lf		87.5
85	belle, albert	rf		87.5
86	wells, david	pi sp		87.5
87	castilla, vinny	3b		86.9
88	Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	86.6	5.7
89	anderson, garret	dh lf		86.5
90	leiter, al	pi sp		86.2
91	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	bos al	85.7	5.7
92	Lee, Carlos 1246	lf	retired	85.5
93	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	bos al	85.4	4.0
94	Zambrano, Carlos 1676	pi sp	phi nl	85.2
95	radke, brad	pi sp		85.0
96	Howard, Ryan 2040	1b	phi nl	84.0	3.5
97	Martinez, Tino	1b		81.4
98	Lee, Derrek	1b	free agent	81.3
99	percival, troy	pi cp		80.7
100	Holliday, Matt 1836	lf	stl nl	80.3	4.0

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

PLAYER	POS	TEAM	BTP (All-time)	RANK (All-time)	BTP (2013)	RANK (2013)
Cabrera, Miguel 1776	3b	det al	112.2	37	13.4	3
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	93.1	73	12.7	5
Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	100.5	53	10.7	12
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	118.1	28	10.4	13
Lee, Cliff 1798	pi sp	phi nl	113.1	35	9.4	22
Ortiz, David	dh	bos al	122.2	27	8.2	25
Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	112.2	38	8.0	26
Colon, Bartolo	pi sp	oak al	116.3	31	6.7	40
Peavy, Jake 1635	pi sp	chi al	124.1	24	6.0	53
Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	phi nl	93.7	70	5.7	64
Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	86.6	88	5.7	65
Lincecum, Tim 2288	pi sp	sf nl	95.9	63	5.7	66
Hudson, Tim 1231	pi sp	atl nl	143.3	18	5.7	68
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	bos al	85.7	91	5.7	70
Sabathia, C.C. 1492	pi sp	nyy al	172.3	5	4.7	94

BTP: Box-Toppers points