Box-Toppers All-time All-Star teams, 1995-2019

Shawn Plank May 18, 2020

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw leads the list of Box-Toppers Active Career All-Stars and is one of four active players included on Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team.

The Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team consists of the best players by position since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and includes 10 players who have retired and four who are still active—Kershaw, along with Albert Pujols of the Angels, Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers and Astros pitcher Zack Greinke, who joined the All-Time All-Star team in 2019.

Albert Pujols could break record for most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points in 2020

Shawn Plank May 2, 2020

Albert Pujols has the chance in 2020 to break the record for most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points.

If Pujols of the Angels earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors once in 2020, he will have earned Box-Toppers points for 20 straight seasons (2001-2020). Pujols is currently tied for the longest streak at 19 seasons with three other players—CC Sabathia, Jason Giambi and Carlos Beltran.

An overview of Box-Toppers category leaders over several time frames after 2019

Shawn Plank March 24, 2020

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer holds the lead in three of Box-Toppers’ main leaderboards at the end of 2019, most of any player.

Scherzer leads all players in Box-Toppers points over the past six seasons (2014-2019) and also leads National League pitchers in points over those same past six seasons, plus he leads NL pitchers over 2018-19. Scherzer has 134.3 Box-Toppers points over 2014-19 and 40.5 points over 2018-19.

Yankees top Box-Toppers 2020 preseason team rankings; champion Nationals rank 2nd

Shawn Plank March 9, 2020

The New York Yankees are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2020 preseason rankings, rising from fifth place at the end of the 2019 season.

The 2019 World Series-champion Washington Nationals, ranked second at the end of 2019, maintain second place in the 2020 preseason rankings.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Houston Astros—2019’s top-ranked team and American League champion—had the biggest decline.

A look at Box-Toppers season-by-season AL & NL pitching & batting leaders, 1995-2019

Shawn Plank March 4, 2020

Analyzing 25 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.

A look at Box-Toppers' ‘all-time' top 10 lists—top overall players, top pitchers, top batters—since tracking began in 1995

Shawn Plank February 27, 2020

The Box-Toppers career points top 10 list had no new members during the 2019 season but saw a massive reshuffling among players ranked fourth through 10th.

Meanwhile, there was one new player rising into the top 10 list among pitchers in “all-time” career Box-Toppers points in 2019 (Cole Hamels of the Cubs). Plus, the top 10 “all-time” points list for batters was largely dormant during 2019 and included just two active players—Albert Pujols of the Angels and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers. However, Cabrera actually rose from sixth to fifth place, while earning just 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2019.

A look at Box-Toppers top 100 players of ‘all-time’ after the 2019 season

Shawn Plank February 17, 2020

Randy Johnson leads all players in career Box-Toppers points and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Johnson earned 278.8 Box-Toppers points from the time Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995 until he retired in 2009.

How 2020 Hall of Fame candidates fared in Box-Toppers

Shawn Plank January 21, 2020

Derek Jeter and Larry Walker were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Tuesday.

Both received the necessary 75 percent of the vote from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and will be inducted in the Hall in Cooperstown, N.Y., in July.

A look at Box-Toppers’ top 100 players for 2019

Shawn Plank January 13, 2020

Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole tops Box-Toppers list of the top 100 players in 2019.

Cole had 32.2 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, which is the fourth-highest single-season point total in the 25 seasons of Box-Toppers tracking, which began in 1995. It was 1.5 points short of the record, 33.7, set by Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks in both 2000 and 2002.

Box-Toppers selects six players for Hall of Fame in internet writers’ ballot

Shawn Plank December 17, 2019

Box-Toppers votes Todd Helton, Derek Jeter, Jeff Kent,, Curt Schilling, Billy Wagner and Larry Walker into the Hall of Fame on Internet Baseball Writers of America ballot.

A look at players who made biggest gains in Box-Toppers points from 2018 to 2019

Shawn Plank November 24, 2019

Padres rookie pitcher Chris Paddack had the biggest gain in Box-Toppers point totals from 2018 to 2019.

Paddack earned 15.8 Box-Toppers points in his first season in 2019 after obviously earning no points in 2018, making his 15.8-point gain the largest among all players this season.

Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole had the biggest gain in Box-Toppers points among returning players and among American League pitchers. His 14.2-point gain from 2018 to 2019 was the second-biggest of the season.

Verlander, deGrom win 2019 Cy Young Awards over Box-Toppers leaders Cole, Strasburg

Shawn Plank November 14, 2019

Gerrit Cole of the Astros, who led all players in 2019 Box-Toppers points and had the fourth-highest single-season point total in Box-Toppers’ 25-year tracking history, fell short of winning baseball’s top pitching prize Wednesday.

Teammate Justin Verlander, who ranked second overall in Box-Toppers points, edged Cole to win the 2019 American League Cy Young Award. Cole finished second in voting. In the National League, Jacob deGrom of the Mets won the Cy Young Award for the second straight year. He finished second among NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points behind leader Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals.

Astros’ Gerrit Cole, Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka top players in Saturday's pair of ALDS games

Shawn Plank October 6, 2019

Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole and Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka are Saturday’s Box-Toppers top players in a pair of American League Division Series games.

Box-Toppers picks Astros’ Gerrit Cole for AL Cy Young & MVP: A look at our postseason awards ballot

Shawn Plank September 30, 2019

Box-Toppers is casting a vote for the American League Cy Young Award to Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole.

We are also casting our vote for AL Most Valuable Player to … Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole.

Astros’ Gerrit Cole is 2019 Box-Toppers Player of the Year

Shawn Plank September 30, 2019

Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole is Box-Toppers Player of the Year for 2019, earning the fourth-most Box-Toppers points in a single season since tracking began in 1995.

Meanwhile, Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals leads among National League pitchers, Nelson Cruz of the Twins leads among AL batters and Marcell Ozuna of the Cardinals leads among NL batters.

Rangers’ Lynn tops players for Sunday, Sept. 29; Astros’ Cole extends player rankings lead

Shawn Plank September 29, 2019

Rangers pitcher Lance Lynn is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Cole now has 32.2 Box-Toppers points for the season, the fourth-highest single-season total since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and most in any season since 2002.

Marlins’ Yamamoto tops players for Thursday, Sept. 26; Nationals’ Strasburg increases lead among NL pitchers

Shawn Plank September 27, 2019

Marlins pitcher Jordan Yamamoto is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Thursday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg increases his lead among National League pitchers in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Brewers pitcher Josh Hader rises to eighth place in player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Astros’ Gerrit Cole, top player for Tuesday, Sept. 24, becomes 4th to reach 30 Box-Toppers points in a season

Shawn Plank September 25, 2019

Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, increasing his lead in season player rankings and becoming just the fourth player to reach 30 Box-Toppers points in a season.

Cole struck out 14 over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 3-0 win over the Mariners.

Athletics’ Bailey tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 18; Astros’ Cole extends player rankings lead

Shawn Plank September 19, 2019

Athletics pitcher Homer Bailey is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Wednesday, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole increased his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Cole now has 29.2 Box-Toppers points for the season, the eighth-highest single-season total since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.

Astros’ Gerrit Cole tops players for Friday, Sept. 13, extends lead in Box-Toppers player rankings

Shawn Plank September 14, 2019

Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole, Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extends his lead in season player rankings and now has the 11th-best single-season Box-Toppers point total in 25 seasons.

Cole struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, in the 4-1 win over the Royals.