Angels' Weaver tops players for Friday, May 8; Nationals' Harper rises to lead NL batters in Box-Toppers points

Angels pitcher Jered Weaver is Friday’s Player of the Day.

Meanwhile, Bryce Harper of the Nationals takes the Box-Toppers points lead among National League batters, rising to fourth place in overall player rankings and four players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earn Player of the Game honors Friday.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 8.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	7.7
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
4	Harper, Bryce 3011	lf rf	dc nl	5.0
5	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	4.7
6	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
7	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	4.7
8	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	4.7
9	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
10	Rodriguez, Alex	dh	nyy al	4.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Weaver pitched a complete game, six-hit shutout, striking out six, in the 2-0 win over the Astros.

Earning 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Weaver has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Angels. His best year was 2011 with the Angels, when he had 22.8 Box-Toppers points, second among American League pitchers (Justin Verlander of the Tigers had 24.4).

Weaver now has 117.4 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 37th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Friday, he passes Barry Zito (117.4) and Todd Helton (116.4) on that list. Weaver’s 117.4 points ranks 25th among all pitchers since 1995 and fifth among active pitchers currently in the AL.

National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum pitched six scoreless innings, striking out eight, in the 6-0 win over the Marlins.

Lincecum earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 113.0 for his career, which puts him at 45th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Friday, Lincecum passes Kevin Brown (112.8) on that list. Lincecum’s 113.0 points ranks 31st among all pitchers since 1995 and ninth among all active pitchers currently in the NL.

American League Batter of the Day—Torii Hunter of the Twins homered and hit two doubles, going 4-for-4 with two runs and four RBIs, in the 9-3 win over the Indians.

Hunter earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 110.4 career Box-Toppers points, putting him in 49th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Friday, Hunter passes Dan Haren (110.2) and Jeff Kent (109.7) on that list. Hunter’s 110.4 points ranks 15th among all batters since 1995 and fifth among active batters currently in the AL.

National League Batter of the Day—Bryce Harper of the Nationals hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 9-2 win over the Braves.

Harper earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season. He now leads all NL batters—passing Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins (4.5)—and rises to fourth place among all players this season.

Notable—Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels now has 113.8 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday (7IP R 8K W in the 3-1 win over the Mets). 

Hamels now ranks 42nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With the 1.0 Box-Toppers point he earned Friday, Hamels passes Chris Carpenter (113.3) and Sammy Sosa (113.2) on that list. Hamels’ 113.8 points ranks 29th among all pitchers since 1995 and eighth among active pitchers currently in the NL.

Debut—Mariners pitcher Carson Smith made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Smith (2IP 0R 3K W in the 4-3 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2014, and was playing in his 24th career game. He is the 3,460th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Weaver earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lincecum earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Hunter and Harper each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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

5/8	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	Angels	Jered Weaver (W, 1-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	6	0	0	0	6
NL	8.0	Giants	Tim Lincecum (W, 3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	3	8
	7.0	Phillies	Cole Hamels (W, 2-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	2	8
BAT	6.0	Twins	Torii Hunter RF	4	2	4	4	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	6.0	Nationals	Bryce Harper RF	4	2	3	5	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	Rays	Nathan Karns (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	2	2	2	9
	5.0	Mariners	Carson Smith (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.0	Cubs	Jason Hammel (W, 3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	2	2	3	8
	3.0	Blue Jays	Aaron Sanchez (W, 3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	5	3
	2.1	Yankees	Dellin Betances (W, 4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Cardinals	Kolten Wong 2B	5	1	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Padres	Will Venable CF	5	2	3	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Tigers	Ian Kinsler 2B	4	0	4	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	Dodgers	Adrian Gonzalez 1B	3	0	2	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

Dodgers' Grandal (2 3R HRs) tops players for Thursday, May 7; A-Rod hits 661st HR, rises to 9th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers is Thursday’s Player of the Day.

Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees earned Player of the Game honors as he hit his 661st career home run, passing Willie Mays’ mark of 660. Rodriguez also moved up to ninth 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 7.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	7.7
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
4	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	4.7
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
6	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	4.7
7	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	4.7
8	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
9	Rodriguez, Alex	dh	nyy al	4.5
10	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Grandal hit two three-run homers and drove in eight runs, going 4-for-4 and scoring three times, in the 14-4 win over the Brewers.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Joakim Soria struck out four over the final 1 1/3 innings, allowing no runs or hits and earning the save, in the 4-1 win over the White Sox.

American League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Royals hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4 with two runs in the 7-4 win over the Indians.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday since the overall Player of the Day (Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers) was a batter from the NL.

Rankings—Alex Rodriguez rises to ninth in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game in the Yankees’ 4-3 win over the Orioles (HR 2-3 R 2BI). Rodriguez earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.5 for the season. Rodriguez already has more Box-Toppers points this season than he did in 2013 (3.0) and as many as he had in all of 2012 (4.5). In 2011, he had 4.7 points and in 2010, he had 13.7, the last time he had 10.0 or more in a season.

In the game, Rodriguez moved to fourth place on the all-time home run list with his 661st home run, passing Willie Mays (660). Rodriguez now has 183.8 career Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players since record keeping began in 1995 and first among all batters during that time.

Notables—Two players had notable Box-Toppers achievements Thursday:

• Dan Haren of the Marlins became the second pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. Haren (2B 2-3 2R 2BI in the 7-2 win over the Giants) also pitched seven innings and picked up the win. It is the third time in his career he has earned Player of the Game honors for batting—he last did it June 14, 2014. Haren earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.0 for the season and 110.2 for his career. With the point, he rises to 49th among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995, passing Jeff Kent (109.7) on that list.
• Cardinals pitcher John Lackey becomes the 66th player to earn 100 or more Box-Toppers points after he earned Player of the Game honors Thursday (7.2IP R 10K W in the 5-1 win over the Cubs). Lackey earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 100.8 for his career. He moves to 62nd place among all players (since record keeping began in 1995) and passes four players on that list—Aramis Ramirez (100.8), Paul Konerko (100.7), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Larry Walker (100.1). Lackey’s career 100.8 Box-Toppers points ranks 13th among active pitchers currently in the NL.

Debut—Rangers pitcher Alex Claudio made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Claudio (1.1IP 0R 0H 2K W in the 5-4 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut Aug. 13, 2014, and was playing in his 21st career game. He is the 3,459th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Grandal earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Soria earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Hosmer earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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

5/7	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Dodgers	Yasmani Grandal C	4	3	4	8	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	9.2	Cardinals	John Lackey (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	5	1	1	1	10
	9.0	Dbacks	Rubby De La Rosa (W, 3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	2	7
AL	5.1	Tigers	Joakim Soria (S, 11)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	4
	4.1	`Astros	Collin McHugh	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	5	2	2	1	7
	3.1	Rangers	Alex Claudio (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	3.0	Royals	Eric Hosmer 1B	4	2	2	3	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Marlins	Dan Haren P	3	2	2	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.1	Twins	Glen Perkins (S, 10)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Pirates	Andrew McCutchen CF	4	2	3	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Yankees	Alex Rodriguez DH	3	1	2	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Giants' Tim Lincecum (8IP 0R) tops players for Sunday, May 3

Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum is Sunday’s Player of the Day.

Lincecum pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 5-0 win over the Angels.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 3.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
4	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	4.7
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
6	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	4.7
7	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	4.7
8	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4
10	Upton, Justin 2411	lf	sd nl	4.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Lincecum earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season. He now has 111.3 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 46th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With his points Sunday, he passed three players on that list—Jon Lester (111.1), Tom Glavine (110.6) and Jeff Kent (109.7). He ranks 32nd among all pitchers since 1995 and ninth among active pitchers currently in the NL.

American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing two hits, in the 7-1 win over the Rangers. Gray rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings—he earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season.

American League Batter of the Day—Evan Gattis of the Astros hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four, in the 7-6 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—Justin Upton of the Padres homered and hit two doubles, scoring twice and driving in three, in the 8-6 win over the Rockies. Upton rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season. He ranks second among NL batters, behind Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins (4.5 Box-Toppers points).

Rankings—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday (HR 3-4 R 2BI in the 6-4 win over the Royals). Cabrera earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.7 for the season. He leads all AL batters.

With Sunday’s point, Cabrera now has 132.9 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 25th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). He is just behind two players with 133.4 Box-Toppers points—David Ortiz and Jason Giambi.

Streak—Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers achieved two Box-Toppers milestones Sunday—he became the 65th player with 100 or more Box-Toppers points and also has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 16 straight seasons.

Ramirez was Player of the Game in Sunday’s 5-3 win over the Cubs (HR 2-3 R 3BI) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Ramirez earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2000 with the Pirates. His best season was 2005 with the Cubs when he had 11.7 Box-Toppers points, fifth among NL batters. In 2014, he had 5.0 Box-Toppers points with the Brewers, most among NL third basemen.

Ramirez has 100.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 62nd among all players (since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With Sunday’s point, he passes three players on that list—Paul Konerko (100.7), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Larry Walker (100.1). Ramirez ranks 21st among all batters since 1995 and sixth among active batters currently in the NL.

Debut—Cardinals pitcher Miguel Socolovich made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Socolovich (1IP 0R K W in the 3-2, 14-inning win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut July 14, 2012, and was playing in his 13th career game. He is the 3,456th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Lincecum earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gray earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Gattis and Upton each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s 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

5/3	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	8.0	Giants	Tim Lincecum (W, 2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	1	4
AL	7.2	Athletics	Sonny Gray (W, 4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	2	0	0	7	10
	7.0	Braves	Julio Teheran (W, 3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	2	6
	5.2	Twins	Ryan Pressly (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.2	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	5.0	Astros	Evan Gattis DH	4	3	2	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	`Dodgers	Brett Anderson	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	0	0	0	4
	4.1	Nationals	Doug Fister (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	5	0	0	0	3
	4.0	Indians	Jason Kipnis 2B	5	3	4	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	Padres	Justin Upton LF	4	2	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Brewers	Aramis Ramirez 3B	3	1	2	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.1	Orioles	Zach Britton (S, 5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	1	2
	2.0	Yankees	Jacoby Ellsbury CF	4	2	4	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Tigers	Miguel Cabrera 1B	4	1	3	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Cardinals	Miguel Socolovich (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Phillies	Ryan Howard 1B	4	1	2	2	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Mariners' Hernandez, pitching complete game shutout, tops players for Friday, April 24, extends his Box-Toppers player rankings lead

Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, pitching a complete game shutout, is Friday’s Player of the Day and extends his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Hernandez struck out nine over nine innings, allowing five hits, in the 2-0 win over the Twins. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season and is now 2.0 points ahead of the second-place player, Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole (4.0 Box-Toppers points).

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 24.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	4.0
3	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
4	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	3.4
6	Harang, Aaron 1599	pi sp	phi nl	3.4
7	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	3.0
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	3.0
9	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	3.0
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	3.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Hernandez now has 149.3 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 16th among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1994. With Friday's points, he passes Chipper Jones (149.0 Box-Toppers points) on the "all-time" list (since 1995).

National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Aaron Harang pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing two hits, in the 1-0 win over the Braves. Harang had a no-decision because he left the game with the score tied 0-0. The Phillies won the game in the bottom of the ninth on a walk-off run by Freddy Galvis.

Harang earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.4 for the season. He rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for 2015.

American League Batter of the Day—Brandon Moss of the Indians homered twice, doubled and drove in seven runs in the 13-1 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies hit two doubles and went 3-for-4, driving in two runs and scoring another, in the 6-4 win over the Giants.

Rankings—Besides Hernandez and Harang, three other players who earned Player of the Game honors Friday rose in Box-Toppers player rankings:

• Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole (7.2IP R 7K W in the 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks) rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season.
• Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke (7IP 0R 7K W in the 3-0 win over the Padres) rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. Greinke now has 128.7 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 28th among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With Friday's point, he passes Vladimir Guerrero (128.3 Box-Toppers points) on the "all-time" list (since 1995).
• Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel (9IP 2H 0R 4K ND in the 5-4 win over the Athletics) rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.

Streak—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. Lester was Player of the Game in Friday’s 7-3 win over the Reds (6IP 3R 10K ND) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season. 

Lester earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Red Sox. His best season was 2010 with the Red Sox when he had 23.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among all players. In 2014, he had 16.4 Box-Toppers points in a season split between the Red Sox (10.0 Box-Toppers points) and the Athletics (6.4 points). He ranked sixth among AL pitchers in 2014. 

Lester has 110.1 career Box-Toppers points, moving him up to 47th place among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. (With Friday’s 1.0 Box-Toppers point, he passes Jeff Kent—109.7 and Tim Lincecum—109.3.) Lester ranks 33rd among all pitchers in Box-Toppers points since 1995 and ranks ninth among active pitchers currently in the NL.

Debut—Tim Beckham of the Rays made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Beckham (HR 2-2 R 2BI in the 12-3 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut Sept. 19, 2013, and was playing in the 21st game of his career. He is the 3,452nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. 

Scoring—Hernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Harang earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Moss and LeMahieu each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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

4/24	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	Mariners	Felix Hernandez (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	5	0	0	0	9
NL	11.0	`Phillies	Aaron Harang	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	0	0	1	6
	9.0	Cardinals	Carlos Martinez (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	2	8
	9.0	`Astros	Dallas Keuchel	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	0	0	2	4
	7.2	Yankees	Michael Pineda (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	5	1	1	0	7
BAT	7.0	Indians	Brandon Moss RF	5	2	3	7	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	Dodgers	Zack Greinke (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	3	7
	4.0	`Cubs	Jon Lester	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	3	3	1	10
	3.2	Pirates	Gerrit Cole (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	7	1	1	2	7
	3.0	Rays	Tim Beckham PH, DH	2	1	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	2.0	Rockies	DJ LeMahieu 2B	4	1	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Red Sox	Brock Holt SS, LF	4	1	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Angels	Garrett Richards (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	2	2	3	5
	1.0	Marlins	Adeiny Hechavarria SS	3	2	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

One in a series

Box-Toppers’ Stick-A-Fork-In-Them series looks at 14 players whose careers are done or may be done. Included is a look at how they have fared in Box-Toppers points over their careers, reflecting their impact on the game over time. This is the 10th of the series:

10. Todd Helton

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

Todd Helton

Here are Todd Helton's Box-Toppers statistics. The third column shows his Box-Toppers points (BTP) per season. The final column shows his All-Star Selections, his Box-Toppers key season rankings and his standing in key postseason awards voting.

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

AS All-star selection
BTP Finish among all players in Box-Toppers points
BTP-NL bat Finish among all NL batters in BTP
MVP Finish in league Most Valuable Player Award voting

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other career highlights for Helton:

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

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

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

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

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

Coming next in the series: Barry Zito

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

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