Box-Toppers votes eight players to Hall of Fame in internet writers’ ballot

Box-Toppers is voting for eight players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) ballot.

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Mets’ Zack Wheeler tops players for Wednesday, Sept 12; Rays’ Snell edges closer to Box-Toppers leader Scherzer

Mets pitcher Zack Wheeler is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the 38th player this season to earn 10 or more Box-Toppers points.

Also Wednesday, Rays pitcher Blake Snell who leads American League pitchers in 2018 Box-Toppers points and is ranked second overall, edged closer to overall leader Max Scherzer of the Nationals after earning AL Player of the Day honors. In addition Wednesday, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

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Red Sox’ David Price tops players for Thursday, Aug. 23; Phillies’ Nola maintains 3rd place in player rankings

Red Sox pitcher David Price is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Thursday, Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola maintained his third-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.

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Dbacks’ Greinke tops players for Sunday, July 22, rises to 7th on ‘all-time’ career points list; Red Sox’ Sale rises to 3rd in season rankings

Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to seventh place in “all-time” career Box-Toppers points, passing Alex Rodriguez.

Also Sunday, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.

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Blue Jays’ J.A. Happ tops players for Tuesday, April 24; Yankees’ Sabathia earns Box-Toppers points for 18th straight season

Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Tuesday, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia earned Box-Toppers points in his 18th straight season after earning Player of the Game honors, setting the record for longest such streak among pitchers (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began) and taking sole possession of the longest active streak.


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A look at Box-Toppers points leaders by position over several time frames (after 2017)

Here are Box-Toppers points leaders at each position over a variety of time frames.

For example, the all-time leader, Randy Johnson leads with 278.8 career Box-Toppers points (earned since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began). Johnson also leads in Box-Toppers points among all pitchers since 1995. Chris Sale leads over past season, Max Scherzer leads over past two seasons and Clayton Kershaw leads over past six seasons and also leads all active players in career Box-Toppers points.

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Box-Toppers top closing pitchers by time frame (after 2017)

Trevor Hoffman has the most Box-Toppers points of any closing pitcher since tracking began in 1995, more even than Mariano Rivera, considered by many to be the greatest closer of all time.

Craig Kimbrel leads active closers in career Box-Toppers points. Other leaders include Edwin Diaz, Greg Holland and Kenley Jansen.

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Box-Toppers top shortstops by time frame (after 2017)

Miguel Tejada has the most Box-Toppers points of any shortstop since tracking began in 1995. Derek Jeter ranks a distant second.

Other leaders at shorstop include Troy Tulowitzki, Elvis Andrus, Corey Seager and Stephen Drew.

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How 2018 Hall of Fame candidates fared in Box-Toppers

Four players—Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome and Trevor Hoffman—were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Wednesday. Key players overlooked: Curt Schilling, Jeff Kent, Johan Santana and the PED-clouded five of Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield and Sammy Sosa.

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Carlos Beltran ties Jason Giambi in 2017 for most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points (19)

In 2017, Carlos Beltran tied Jason Giambi for the longest streak of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points at 19. With Beltran's retirement, CC Sabathia and Albert Pujols now have the longest active streaks of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points at 17.

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A look at Box-Toppers top 100 players of 'all-time' after the 2017 season

Randy Johnson leads Box-Toppers "all-time" career top 100 list, since record-keeping began in 1995. Clayton Kershaw, ranked third overall, leads all active players. And Box-Toppers 2017 Player of the Year Chris Sale makes the biggest jump up the top 100 chart.

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Dodgers' Rich Hill tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 27; Yankees' Severino rises to 5th in Box-Toppers rankings

Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Wednesday, Yankees pitcher Luis Severino rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

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Kershaw retakes Box-Toppers points lead in return from DL; Brewers' Nelson tops players for Friday, Sept. 1

Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw retakes the season Box-Toppers player rankings lead only four days after losing it to Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer. Kershaw, making his first start Friday after returning from five weeks on the disabled list, earns Player of the Game honors and retakes the 2017 Box-Toppers points lead he held for more than three months.

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Reds' Luis Castillo tops players for Sunday, July 30; Mariners' Paxton rises to 6th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Reds pitcher Luis Castillo is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Mariners pitcher James Paxton rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.

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Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players for Friday, June 2, maintaining first place in Box-Toppers player rankings

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his spot atop season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 2:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 12.7
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 10.0
3 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 9.4
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp bos al 8.4
5 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp ari nl 7.7
6 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 7.4
7 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 7.4
8 Ray, Robbie 3502 pi sp ari nl 7.0
9 Wood, Alex 3246 pi sp lad nl 7.0
10 Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 7.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Friday, three other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel and Royals pitcher Jason Vargas.

Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 14 over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Brewers. Kershaw did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Dodgers trailed 1-0 when he exited.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.7 for the season, maintaining his first place spot in season player rankings, ahead of second-place player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (10.0).

Kershaw also now has 196.4 career Box-Toppers points, third among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails second-place player Pedro Martinez (244.8). Kershaw leads all active players in career points.

American League Player of the Day—Danny Valencia of the Mariners homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 12-4 win over the Rays.

National League Batter of the Day—Elias Diaz of the Pirates hit a three-run homer and doubled in the 12-7 win over the Mets. Diaz went 2-for-5, driving in six runs.

This was Diaz’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Diaz made his Major League debut Sept. 12, 2015, and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,813rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Danny Valencia.

Rankings—Three other players who earned Player of the Game honors Friday rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings:

  • Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg (7IP 4H 2R 3BB 7K W in the 13-3 win over the Athletics) rises to sixth place (from ninth) with 7.4 season Box-Toppers points. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

  • Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel (6IP 3H 0R 2BB 7K W in the 7-1 win over the Rangers) rises to seventh place with 7.4 season Box-Toppers points. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

  • Royals pitcher Jason Vargas (CG 7H 0R BB 3K W in the 4-0 win over the Indians) rises to 10th place with 7.0 season Box-Toppers points. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.

Notable—In addition to Kershaw, two other players with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

  • Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (2-2B 3-3 R 4BI in the 15-5 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 146.9 career points. Cabrera rises to 22nd place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing Jim Thome (146.7) on the “all-time” list. Cabrera now trails 21st-ranked player Javier Vazquez (148.3). Cabrera now rises to sixth place among all batters since 1995 in career Box-Toppers points. He has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

  • Cubs pitcher John Lackey (7IP 4H 2R 2BB 6K ND in the 3-2 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 124.2 career points, rising to 38th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Friday, he passes Gary Sheffield (124.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 37th-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4). Lackey has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Valencia earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Diaz earns 1.5 points for being NL 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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

6/2 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 16.0 `LAD 2, MIL 1 (F/12) Clayton Kershaw - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 1 14
AL 8.0 SEA 12, TB 4 Danny Valencia, 1B 3 3 3 5 - - - - - -
8.0 HOU 7, TEX 1 Dallas Keuchel (W,9-0) - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 2 7
6.0 SF 10, PHI 0 Ty Blach (W,4-2) - - - - 9.0 7 0 0 0 4
5.0 DET 15, CHW 5 Miguel Cabrera, 1B 3 1 3 4 - - - - - -
4.1 BAL 3, BOS 2 Alec Asher (W,2-3) - - - - 6.1 3 2 2 0 5
BAT 4.0 PIT 12, NYM 7 Elias Diaz, C 5 1 2 6 - - - - - -
4.0 TOR 7, NYY 5 Justin Smoak, 1B 3 2 2 3 - - - - - -
4.0 KC 4, CLE 0 Jason Vargas (W,7-3) - - - - 9.0 7 0 0 1 3
3.0 MIN 11, LAA 5 Joe Mauer, 1B 5 1 4 3 - - - - - -
3.0 MIA 7, ARI 5 Giancarlo Stanton, RF 3 3 2 1 - - - - - -
3.0 WSH 13, OAK 3 Stephen Strasburg (W,7-1) - - - - 7.0 4 2 2 3 7
3.0 `CHC 3, STL 2 John Lackey - - - - 7.0 4 2 2 2 6
2.0 SD 8, COL 5 Allen Cordoba, LF 4 1 3 2 - - - - - -
2.0 CIN 3, ATL 2 (F/10) Devin Mesoraco, C 1 1 1 1 - - - - - -
MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

Player of the Game Pos Team ’17 ’16-17 ’12-17 Career +/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 12.7 37.1 136.8 196.4 -11.7
Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 7.4 22.5 81.6 90.3 -7.7
Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 7.4 14.4 50.2 50.2 0.4
Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 7.0 8.0 33.4 54.2 6.0
Smoak, Justin 2731 1b tor al 5.5 9.0 22.2 28.4 2.0
Lackey, John 1640 pi sp chi nl 3.0 16.4 42.8 124.2 -10.4
Cabrera, Miguel 1776 1b det al 2.0 14.0 59.8 146.9 -10.0
Blach, Ty 3754 pi sp sf nl 2.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 0.0
Mauer, Joe 1869 1b min al 2.0 3.5 25.0 72.6 0.5
Cordoba, Allen 3780 lf pr sd nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
Valencia, Danny 2772 1b 3b sea al 1.7 6.2 10.7 14.7 -2.8
Diaz, Elias 3813 ca pit nl 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 rf fla nl 1.0 7.5 31.7 40.2 -5.5
Asher, Alec 3735 pi sp bal al 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Mesoraco, Devin 3037 ca cin nl 1.0 1.0 13.5 13.5 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Padres' Richard tops players for Tuesday, April 4; Yankees' Sabathia resumes lead among active players in career Box-Toppers points

Padres pitcher Clayton Richard is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Tuesday, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia resumed the lead among active players in career Box-Toppers points only one day after losing that lead to Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.

All-time leaders

Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Randy Johnson pi sp retired 278.8
2 Pedro Martinez pi sp retired 244.8
3 Curt Schilling pi sp retired 194.1
4 Alex Rodriguez dh released 187.0
5 CC Sabathia pi sp nyy al 186.0
6 Clayton Kershaw pi sp lad nl 185.7
7 Albert Pujols 1b dh ana al 182.3
8 Roy Halladay pi sp retired 170.7
9 Felix Hernandez pi sp sea al 168.7
10 Manny Ramirez lf dh retired 167.2
11 Johan Santana pi sp free agent 166.6
12 Roger Clemens pi sp retired 164.8
13 John Smoltz pi sp retired 160.9
14 Tim Hudson pi sp retired 157.0
15 Zack Greinke pi sp ari nl 156.1
16 Mike Mussina pi sp retired 155.6
17 Barry Bonds lf retired 153.2
18 Greg Maddux pi sp retired 151.7
19 Chipper Jones 3b retired 149.0
20 Bartolo Colon pi sp atl nl 148.5
BTP: Box-Toppers points
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.

Sabathia earned Player of the Game honors in the win over the Rays, earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point and giving him 186.0 for his career. On Monday, Kershaw passed him by earning overall Player of the Day honors, giving him 185.7 career points. With Tuesday’s point, Sabathia resumes his spot in fifth place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.

In addition, Sabathia has now earned Box-Toppers points for 17 straight seasons, tied for the seventh-longest streak in Box-Toppers tracking history and currently the second-longeststreak among active players (behind only Carlos Beltran’s 18-season streak).

Player of the Day—Richard pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 4-0 win over the Dodgers.

Richard now ranks third among all players in season Box-Toppers points with 2.0.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander struck out 10 over 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and six hits, in the 6-3 win over the White Sox.

Verlander has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons and has 141.0 career Box-Toppers points, 28th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 27th-ranked player Jake Peavy (141.8). Verlander ranks 10th among active players in career Box-Toppers points. 

Verlander, who has played his entire career with the Tigers, earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006. His best seasons were 2011 (24.4 points) and 2012 (24.8), when he led all AL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Gorkys Hernandez of the Giants doubled and went 2-for-5, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 8-4 win over the Diamondbacks.

This was Hernandez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut May 21, 2012, and was playing in his 105th career game. He is the 3,758th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because no AL batter earned Player of the Game honors.

Notable—Sabathia, one day after losing the lead, regained the lead among active players in career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Sabathia (5IP 3H 0R 2BB 2K W in the 5-0 win over the Rays) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 186.0 for his career. That puts him ahead of Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (185.7), who only passed Sabathia on Monday. Sabathia again ranks fifth among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when tracking began. He now trails fourth-ranked player Alex Rodriguez (187.0) by only 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Sabathia also has now earned Box-Toppers points for 17 straight seasons, tied for the seventh-longest streak in Box-Toppers history with six others who had 17-year streaks—Mariano Rivera (1995-2011), Derek Jeter (1996-2012), Paul Konerko (1998-2014), Tim Hudson (1999-2015), Torii Hunter (1999-2015) and David Ortiz (2000-2016). Sabathia’s streak is the second-longest streak among active players, behind only Carlos Beltran, who has earned Box-Toppers points for 18 straight seasons from 1999-2016 and could extend it to 19 seasons if he earns Box-Toppers points in 2017.

Sabathia earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2001 with the Indians. His best season was 2008 with the Indians and Brewers when he had 26.7 Box-Toppers points, ending the season ranked first among NL pitchers. In 2014, he barely kept the streak alive earning only 1.0 Box-Toppers point as a Yankee.

Scoring—Richard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Verlander earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Hernandez earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/4 Score Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 6.0 SD 4, LAD 0 Clayton Richard (W,1-0) - - - - 8.0 5 0 0 2 5
5.0 CHC 2, STL 1 Jake Arrieta (W,1-0) - - - - 6.0 4 1 0 2 6
AL 4.1 DET 6, CHW 3 Justin Verlander (W,1-0) - - - - 6.1 6 2 2 2 10
4.0 HOU 2, SEA 1 Lance McCullers Jr. (W,1-0) - - - - 6.0 5 1 1 2 7
3.2 CLE 4, TEX 3 Carlos Carrasco (W,1-0) - - - - 5.2 4 2 2 1 7
3.0 COL 6, MIL 5 Greg Holland (S,2) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
BAT 2.0 SF 8, ARI 4 Gorkys Hernandez, CF 5 1 2 4 - - - - - -
2.0 NYY 5, TB 0 CC Sabathia (W,1-0) - - - - 5.0 3 0 0 2 2
2.0 LAA 7, OAK 6 Cam Bedrosian (S,1) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

Player of Game Pos Team ’17 ’16-17 ’12-17 Career +/-
Richard, Clayton 2584 pi sp sd nl 2.0 4.0 12.2 31.6 0.0
Verlander, Justin 2112 pi sp det al 1.7 16.4 61.6 141.0 -13.0
Hernandez, Goryks 3758 cf sf nl 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5
Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 1.0 16.7 71.5 76.5 -14.7
Carrasco, Carlos 2885 pi sp cle al 1.0 13.4 42.1 47.5 -11.4
McCullers, Lance 3488 pi sp hou al 1.0 7.1 13.8 13.8 -5.1
Sabathia, C.C. 1492 pi sp nyy al 1.0 7.0 33.5 186.0 -5.0
Bedrosian, Cam 3694 pi cp ana al 1.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 -2.0
Holland, Greg 2906 pi cp col nl 1.0 1.0 31.0 34.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

A Box-Toppers look back at 2016, with a preview of the coming 2017 season

A compilation of player and team standings from the end of the 2016 season, featuring a plethora of posts to prep for the 2017 season, including preseason team standings and Box-Toppers 2017 playoff and World Series picks.

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Box-Toppers top players by position over several time frames

A look at Box-Toppers points leaders by position over several time frames, summarizing the series of nine High by Position posts.

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Box-Toppers top closing pitchers by time frame

Trevor Hoffman leads closing pitchers in career Box-Toppers points, ahead of Mariano Rivera, the all-time saves leader.

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