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After massive reshuffling during the 2019 season, Box-Toppers’ “all-time” career points top 10 list remained unchanged during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
There were also few changes among the top 10 pitchers and top 10 batters in career Box-Toppers points. Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to ninth place among all pitchers in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, with 176.3. Lester had ranked 11th among pitchers at the end of 2019 with 172.6.
Read MoreRandy Johnson leads all players in career Box-Toppers points and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Johnson earned 282.5 Box-Toppers points from the time Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995 until he retired in 2009. The most likely rival to Johnson’s throne at the moment is Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw who has 235.2 career Box-Toppers points, third among all players since 1995 and most among active players.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Justin Verlander had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2019 to 2020.
Verlander, who earned 27.5 Box-Toppers points in 2019 (second among all players), earned 1.0 point in 2020. His decline of 26.5 points was ahead of Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, whose 7.4 points in 2020 represented a 24.8-point drop from the 32.2 points he earned to lead all players in 2019.
Read MoreBox-Toppers is voting for seven players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) ballot—Todd Helton, Tim Hudson, Torii Hunter, Jeff Kent, Aramis Ramirez, Curt Schilling and Billy Wagner.
Read MoreYankees pitcher J.A. Happ is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, two players rise into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earn Player of the Game honors—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rises to seventh place and Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes rises to ninth place.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in season player rankings.
Kershaw struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks, in the 5-1 win over the Diamondbacks.
Read MoreThursday was an unusual day in an unusual baseball season in an unusual year.
Only eight games were played and none of them lasted nine innings. All were part of pandemic-shortened, seven-inning doubleheaders and one went into “extra” innings, lasting eight innings.
It was a day in which seven games were postponed as teams protested for social justice in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis.
Read MoreWhite Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to ninth place in season player rankings.
Also Thursday, Indians pitcher Shane Bieber extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRangers pitcher Lance Lynn is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third place in season player rankings.
Also Friday, three other players rose in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after each earned Player of the Game honors—Reds pitcher Sonny Gray rose to fourth, Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly rose to eighth and Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole rose to 10th.
Read MoreReds pitcher Trevor Bauer is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to ninth in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Meanwhile, three other players rose into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday—Aaron Judge of the Yankees rises to third place, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to sixth and Athletics pitcher Chris Bassitt rises to seventh.
Read MoreTo get a reward, you need to complete a task. As other nations sacrificed to bring coronavirus case counts down, to flatten the curve, we didn’t. Cases increased. It seems crazy to reward ourselves now with baseball, putting many at risk, simply because we want it. We are not worthy.
And yet, here we are: So here’s an opening day introduction to Box-Toppers, tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score statistics. We begin our 26th season of tracking and our eighth season on the web.
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 MoreRandy 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 MoreDerek 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.
Read MoreBox-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.
Read MoreGerrit 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.
Read MoreBox-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.
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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.
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.