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Nelson Cruz of the Twins is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extending his streak of earning Box-Toppers points to 15 consecutive seasons.
Cruz hit two homers and two doubles, going 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in seven runs, in the 14-2 win over the White Sox.
Read MoreCubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander extended his consecutive streak of seasons earning Box-Toppers points to 15, tied for the third-longest active streak.
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Imagine a Major League Baseball season beginning normally in the spring and ending on June 4.
That’s what the proposed pandemic-shortened 60-game schedule for 2020 will seem like.
In 2019, most clubs had played at least 60 games by June 4. That was barely more than a third of the regular season’s 162 games (37 percent). But for 2020, if all goes according to plan and the coronavirus doesn’t intervene to cut it even shorter, 60 games will be the complete, entire season.
Read MoreAlex Rodriguez has the most career Box-Toppers points of all Major League Baseball number-one draft picks since 1990.
Rodriguez, who was the first pick in the 1993 draft, earned 187.0 Box-Toppers points during his career from 1994 to 2016, which is 10th overall since 1995 and second among all batters (behind Albert Pujols of the Angels with 201.8).
Read MoreAlbert 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.
Read MoreAnalyzing 25 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.
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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.
Read MoreComparing Box-Toppers’ All-Decade All-Star teams from the 2000s and the 2010s, a couple of interesting things stand out:
Albert Pujols was the leading batter in Box-Toppers points in both decades.
Batters overall earned precipitously fewer Box-Toppers points in the 2010s compared to the 2000s.
Cubs pitcher Cole Hamels is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander maintains his second-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. He also now has the 12th-highest single-season Box-Toppers point total (27.5) since 1995, when player tracking began.
Read MoreMets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Astros pitcher Zack Greinke rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreYankees pitcher James Paxton is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Paxton struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 10-1 win over the Rangers.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw led the list of Box-Toppers Active Career All-Stars at the end of the 2018 season.
Kershaw was one of four active players to be included on Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team at the end of 2018.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Walker Buehler is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Nelson Cruz of the Twins rises to lead American League batters in 2019 Box-Toppers points after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.
Read MoreRoyals pitcher Brad Keller is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester earned Player of the Game honors for batting and rises to 12th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list.
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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.
Read MoreDiamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Kelly struck out five over 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Phillies.
Read MoreIn 2019, CC Sabathia and Albert Pujols have tied Box-Toppers’ record for the longest streak of consecutive seasons earning at least one Player of the Game honor.
Both Sabathia and Pujols this season have earned Box-Toppers points for their 19th straight season (from 2001 to 2019). That ties the record held by Jason Giambi (1995 to 2013) and Carlos Beltran (1999 to 2017).
Read MoreAnalyzing 24 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching & batting in both leagues
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With Max Scherzer’s rise into Box-Toppers career points top 10 list during 2018, there are now six active players in the top 10, the most since 2008, when there were eight.
Box-Toppers player tracking began in 1995 and the overall top 10 players in career points was composed entirely of active players until 2008. The number of active players on the list slipped to as low as two as recently as 2014, but grew to six on June 5, when Nationals pitcher Scherzer joined the list, rising to 10th place with 172.1 Box-Toppers points, displacing retired pitcher Roy Halladay. Scherzer finished the season with 181.8 points, ranked ninth.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Max Scherzer leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2013.
Scherzer has 137.0 Box-Toppers points over the period 2013-2018, just 2.6 points ahead of Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has 134.4 points over that span.
In fact, Scherzer unseats Kershaw from atop the six-year rolling Box-Toppers point total, a spot Kershaw has held at the end of each season since 2013, five straight seasons.
Read MoreBox-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.