Box-Toppers selects 4 players for 2025 Hall of Fame induction in internet writers' ballot

Box-Toppers is voting for four players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the 2025 Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) ballot.

Box-Toppers is voting for these players: Felix Hernandez, Torii Hunter, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.

Notably, Box-Toppers is not voting for Ichiro Suzuki, who is on the Hall ballot for the first time for 2025. While Suzuki is expected to be a shoo-in for the Hall and to possibly be only the second player inducted on a unanimous vote, I devoted a previous post to why Box-Toppers doesn’t view him as a Hall of Famer. In addition, this post which will show how unfavorably he compares in Box-Toppers rankings to even this year’s Hall candidates, may even make a more stark case why I don’t see Suzuki as a Hall of Famer.

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Ohtani is Player of the Game in both games of a doubleheader Thursday, July 27

Shohei Ohtani of the Angels earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors twice Thursday—as overall Player of the Day in one game of a doubleheader and as American League Batter of the Day in the second game.

He is just the 12th player to win Player of the Game honors in both games of a twin bill since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and the first to do it as a pitcher in one game and as a batter in the other.

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Astros’ Justin Verlander tops players for Saturday, July 21, rises to 5th in player rankings

Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in season player rankings.

Verlander also rises to 12th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.

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David Ross tops players in World Series Game 7 as Cubs defeat Indians to secure 1st championship in 108 years

David Ross is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in World Series Game 7 as the Chicago Cubs win their first championship in 108 years.

The Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians 8-7 Wednesday in 10 innings, winning the best-of-seven-game series, 4-3.

Ross hit a sixth-inning solo home run, going 1-for-1 with a walk, and earning a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0, the highest among all Cubs players Wednesday.

During the regular season, Ross had 2.5 Box-Toppers points, 91st among National League batters and ninth among NL catchers. Ross has said he will retire after the 2016 season.

It is the first time this World Series and only the fifth time in 35 postseason games this year that a batter has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.

Mike Montgomery, who earned the save, had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+0.1) among Cubs pitchers (0.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 0K), getting the game’s final out with two pitches in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks had a Box-Toppers game score of −1.8 (4.2IP 4H 2R BB 2K ND). Hendricks had 13.4 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranked 17th among all players, 10th among NL pitchers.

Cubs pitcher Jon Lester, who pitched three innings of relief, had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 (3IP 3H 2R BB 4K ND). Lester had the highest regular season Box-Toppers point total of any player in the World Series, 22.1, ranked fourth among all players, third among NL pitchers.

Indians starting pitcher Corey Kluber had a Box-Toppers game score of −10.0 (4IP 6H 4R 0BB 0K ND). Kluber had 21.2 regular season Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players, first among American League pitchers. He earned Box-ToppersPlayer of the Game honors four times during the postseason, most of any player, including twice in the World Series. Pitching on short rest for the second time in the World Series, Kluber got off to a rocky start, giving up a lead-off solo home run to Dexter Fowler.

Cubs left fielder Ben Zobrist was named World Series Most Valuable Player, though he never had a Box-Toppers game score of more than 0.0 in any of the Cubs’ four wins. Box-Toppers would have chosen pitcher Jake Arrieta as MVP; he was Box-Toppers Player of the Game in the Cubs’ Game 2 and Game 6 wins.

Box-Toppers 2016 final team rankings

Box-Toppers 2016 final top 10 player rankings

Box-Toppers point totals of all Cubs players active at season’s end

Box-Toppers point totals of all Indians players active at season’s end

Box-Toppers ALCS Preview

Box-Toppers NLCS Preview

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 Cubs in World Series Game 7: Cubs 8, Indians 7 (10 innings)

Here are the Box-Toppers game scores of all Cubs who played in World Series Game 7 listed from highest-to-lowest Box-Toppers game score.

BTG Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
2.0 * David Ross, C 1 1 1 1 1 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Miguel Montero, C 1 0 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Albert Almora Jr., PR-DH 0 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
0.1 Mike Montgomery (S,1) - - - - - - 0.1 0 0 0 0 0
0.0 Dexter Fowler, CF 5 1 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Anthony Rizzo, 1B 3 1 1 1 1 1 - - - - - -
0.0 Willson Contreras, C 2 0 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Jon Lester - - - - - - 3.0 3 2 1 1 4
0.0 Chris Coghlan, PR - - - - - - - - - - - -
-1.0 Kris Bryant, 3B 4 2 1 0 1 1 - - - - - -
-1.8 Kyle Hendricks - - - - - - 4.2 4 2 1 1 2
-2.0 Kyle Schwarber, DH 5 0 3 0 0 0 - - - - - -
-2.0 Ben Zobrist, LF 5 1 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
-2.0 Javier Baez, 2B 5 1 1 1 0 2 - - - - - -
-2.0 Addison Russell, SS 3 0 0 1 1 0 - - - - - -
-2.8 Carl Edwards Jr. (H,4) - - - - - - 0.2 1 1 1 1 1
-3.9 Aroldis Chapman (W,2-0; BS,3) - - - - - - 1.1 3 2 2 0 2
-5.0 Jason Heyward, RF 5 0 0 0 0 1 - - - - - -
* Player of the Game
BTG: Box-Toppers game score

Game 7 narrative via Box-Toppers Twitter feed

Here are real-time tweets from Box-Toppers Wednesday as World Series Game 7 progressed:

Rangers' Yu Darvish tops players for Friday, Sept. 30; Cardinals' Martinez tops NL players

Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 30:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 25.7
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 24.4
3 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp died* 22.4
4 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 22.1
5 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 21.2
6 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 17.8
7 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 16.7
8 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 16.4
9 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 15.7
10 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 15.1
What are those numbers after players' names?
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.

Darvish struck out 12 over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 3-1 win over the Rays.

Darvish earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season. He becomes the 50th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and rises to 47th place among all players, 19th among American League pitchers.

This is Darvish’s fourth season with 10 or more points. In 2012, he had 16.8 points, in 2013—16.0 and in 2014—12.5. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015 and did not play.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk, in the 7-0 win over the Pirates.

Martinez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Friday. Martinez ranks 29th among all players and 15th among NL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Ben Zobrist of the Cubs hit two home runs, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 7-3 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Francisco Lindor of the Indians hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-2, scoring twice, in the 7-2 win over the Royals.

Notable—David Ortiz of the Red Sox rises to 23rd place in career Box-Toppers points since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Ortiz (HR 2-4 R 3BI in the 5-3 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 145.9 for his career. With his point Friday, he passes Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (144.9) on the “all-time” list and now trails 22nd-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7). Ortiz now rises to seventh place among active players in career Box-Toppers points. He has 8.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 18th among AL batters. Ortiz is retiring after this season.

Debut—Angels pitcher Daniel Wright made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Wright (6IP 6H R 0BB 5K W in the 7-1 win over the Astros) made his Major League debut May 24 and was playing in his ninth career game. He is the 3,753rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Darvish earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Martinez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Zobrist and Lindor each earn 1.5 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.

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

9/30 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 TEX 3, TB 1 Yu Darvish (W,7-5) - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 1 12
NL 10.0 STL 7, PIT 0 Carlos Martinez (W,16-9) - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 1 9
5.2 DET 6, ATL 2 Daniel Norris (W,4-2) - - - - 6.2 5 1 1 2 8
BAT 5.0 CHC 7, CIN 3 Ben Zobrist, 2B-LF 4 3 3 3 - - - - - -
5.0 SF 9, LAD 3 Brandon Belt, 1B 3 2 3 3 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 CLE 7, KC 2 Francisco Lindor, SS 2 2 2 3 - - - - - -
5.0 CHW 7, MIN 3 Carlos Rodon (W,9-10) - - - - 6.0 3 3 2 3 10
4.0 BAL 8, NYY 1 Jonathan Schoop, 2B 4 1 2 5 - - - - - -
3.0 NYM 5, PHI 1 Jay Bruce, RF 4 1 3 3 - - - - - -
3.0 SEA 5, OAK 1 Robinson Cano, 2B 4 2 2 3 - - - - - -
3.0 MIA 7, WSH 4 Christian Yelich, CF 3 2 2 2 - - - - - -
3.0 LAA 7, HOU 1 Daniel Wright (W,1-5) - - - - 6.0 6 1 1 0 5
3.0 COL 4, MIL 1 Adam Ottavino (S,7) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 BOS 5, TOR 3 David Ortiz, DH 4 1 2 3 - - - - - -
1.0 ARI 5, SD 3 Chris Owings, SS 3 1 1 2 - - - - - -

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 (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 12.4 26.1 27.1 27.1 -1.3
Darvish, Yu 3003 pi sp tex al 10.4 10.4 55.6 55.6 10.4
Bruce, Jay 2453 rf nym nl 8.5 11.7 31.7 58.8 5.3
Rodon, Carlos 3494 pi sp chi al 8.0 16.1 16.1 16.1 -0.1
Cano, Robinson 2092 2b sea al 8.0 14.5 43.5 75.4 1.5
Ortiz, David dh bos al 8.0 12.5 43.9 145.9 3.5
Belt, Brandon 2943 1b sf nl 7.0 8.5 20.5 20.5 5.5
Lindor, Francisco 3586 ss cle al 7.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 6.0
Yelich, Christian 3334 lf cf fla nl 5.5 8.0 15.5 15.5 3.0
Schoop, Jonathan 3307 2b bal al 4.5 7.0 9.5 9.5 2.0
Zobrist, Ben 2216 2b rf lf chi nl 4.0 5.0 23.0 32.0 3.0
Ottavino, Adam 3054 pi cp col nl 3.0 5.0 7.0 7.0 1.0
Owings, Chris 3347 ss cf ari nl 3.0 4.0 6.5 6.5 2.0
Norris, Daniel 3548 pi sp det al 2.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 -2.0
Wright, Daniel 3753 pi sp ana al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Max Scherzer ‘most worthy but unchosen' player for 2016 All-Star Game

A look at the All-Star rosters based on Box-Toppers points. Which players were worthy but unchosen? Which players made it but probably shouldn't have?

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Indians' Bauer tops players for Tuesday, May 10; Orioles' Machado rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers points

Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 10:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 7.0
2 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 6.7
3 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 6.0
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 5.7
5 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 5.7
6 De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp ari nl 5.7
7 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 5.4
8 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 5.0
9 Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 5.0
10 Matz, Steven 3516 pi sp nym nl 5.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Manny Machado of the Orioles rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, taking the lead among all American League players.

Player of the Day—Bauer struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 4-0 win over the Astros.

National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Rubby De La Rosa allowed one run over 7 1/3 innings, striking out six, in the 5-1 win over the Rockies. 

De La Rosa earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season and rises to sixth in season player rankings, third among NL pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (7.0) and Jake Arrieta of the Cubs (6.0).

American League Batter of the Day—Travis Shaw of the Red Sox hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 13-5 win over the Athletics.

National League Batter of the Day—Ben Zobrist of the Cubs went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 8-7 win over the Padres.

Rankings—Manny Machado of the Orioles rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Machado (HR 3-3 2R BI in the 5-3 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.7 for the season. He passes White Sox pitcher Chris Sale (5.7) for the AL lead in Box-Toppers points and trails only Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (7.0).

Debut—Ryan Rua of the Rangers made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Rua (HR 3-5 2R 4BI in the 13-11 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut Aug. 29, 2014, and was playing in his 71st career game. He is the 3,631st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Bauer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and De La Rosa earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Shaw and Zobrist each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/10 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 Indians Trevor Bauer (W,3-0) - - - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 3 7
NL 6.1 Dbacks Rubby De La Rosa (W,4-4) - - - - - - 7.1 4 1 1 1 6
6.1 `Dodgers Alex Wood - - - - - - 6.1 4 2 1 2 9
BAT 6.0 Red Sox Travis Shaw, 1B 4 2 3 5 1 0 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 Cubs Ben Zobrist, 2B 4 3 4 2 0 0 - - - - - -
4.2 Blue Jays J.A. Happ (W,5-0) - - - - - - 8.2 6 0 0 3 5
4.0 Rangers Ryan Rua, 1B-LF 5 2 3 4 0 2 - - - - - -
4.0 Cardinals Mike Leake (W,1-3) - - - - - - 8.0 6 1 1 1 5
4.0 Phillies Adam Morgan (W,1-0) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 1 4
3.0 Orioles Manny Machado, SS 3 2 3 1 2 0 - - - - - -
2.1 Mariners Steve Cishek (S,11) - - - - - - 1.1 1 0 0 1 3
2.0 Brewers Aaron Hill, 2B 4 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Yankees Didi Gregorius, SS 4 1 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Tigers Victor Martinez, 1B 5 2 4 0 0 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the 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 (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Machado, Manny 3087 ss 3b bal al 6.7 14.2 17.7 17.7 -0.8
De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp ari nl 5.7 11.7 15.7 15.7 -0.3
Martinez, Victor 1695 dh 1b ph det al 3.5 7.0 26.9 67.1 0.0
Hill, Aaron 2056 3b 2b mil nl 3.0 6.0 20.0 39.0 0.0
Cishek, Steve 2997 pi cp sea al 3.0 4.0 23.0 23.0 2.0
Zobrist, Ben 2216 rf 2b chi nl 2.5 3.5 21.5 30.5 1.5
Happ, J.A. 2536 pi sp tor al 2.0 15.1 30.5 38.5 -11.1
Bauer, Trevor 3065 pi sp cle al 2.0 11.4 20.1 20.1 -7.4
Shaw, Travis 3544 1b bos al 1.5 5.7 5.7 5.7 -2.7
Leake, Mike 2709 pi sp stl nl 1.0 11.0 36.1 40.6 -9.0
Wood, Alex 3246 pi sp lad nl 1.0 8.7 19.4 19.4 -6.7
Gregorius, Didi 3184 ss nyy al 1.0 3.5 5.5 5.5 -1.5
Morgan, Adam 3572 pi sp phi nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
Rua, Ryan 3631 1b lf tex al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Scherzer, with 2nd no-hitter of '15, tops players for Saturday, Oct. 3, rises to 6th in player rankings

Box-Toppers Daily Scorecard graphic.png

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, pitching his second no-hitter of the season, is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to sixth place in player rankings.

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 29.1
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 24.7
3 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 21.4
4 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 21.4
5 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 21.1
6 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 21.0
7 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 20.7
8 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 19.4
9 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 19.0
10 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 18.8
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Scherzer and Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke became the sixth and seventh players this season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points. Plus, Christian Yelich of the Marlins became the 11th player since 1995 to earn Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader.

Player of the Day—Scherzer had a perfect game into the sixth inning, when a batter reached on an error, the only baserunner of the game. Scherzer struck out 17 and walked none in the 2-0 win over the Mets.

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 21.0 for the season, rising to sixth place in player rankings and fourth among National League pitchers. It is the second straight season Scherzer has earned 20 or more points in season. Last season, he had 22.1 with the Tigers.

Scherzer also had the highest Box-Toppers game score of the season Saturday of +26, beating the previous high of +25, set by Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (8IP H 0R 18K) on May 13. Scherzer also has the third-highest score of +23 on June 14 (CG H 0R 16K). It is the eighth time this season a player has achieved a Box-Toppers game score of +20 or more. In Scherzer’s previous no-hitter this season, on June 20, he had a Box-Toppers game score of +19 (CG 0H 0R 0 BB 10K)—the only baserunner allowed was on a hit-by-pitch.

Scherzer also rises to 57th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when record keeping began. Scherzer has 106.0 career Box-Toppers points and passes Aramis Ramirez (105.8) on the “all-time” list. He trails 56th-ranked player Frank Thomas (106.2).

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out nine, in the 2-0 win over the Red Sox. 

Kluber earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 for the season and ranking 21st among all players, 10th among AL pitchers. In 2014, he led all AL pitchers with 25.8 Box-Toppers points.

American League Batter of the Day—Gerardo Parra of the Orioles doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 9-2 win over the Yankees.

Doubleheader Players of the Game

Christian Yelich of the Marlins became the 11th player since 1995 to earn Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader. Here are all 11 players who have achieved that distinction since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995.

Date Player Team Pos
7/15/98 Albert Belle White Sox lf
8/13/99 Rondell White Expos lf
8/30/99 Edgar Martinez Mariners dh
4/13/00 Shawn Green Dodgers rf
6/24/02 Alex Rodriguez Rangers ss
5/28/04 Rob Mackowiak Pirates cf 3b
9/2/05 Chad Cordero Nationals pi cp
5/25/08 Jorge Cantu Marlins 3b
7/21/09 Erick Aybar Angels ss
4/28/11 Ben Zobrist Rays 2b
10/3/15 Christian Yelich Marlins cf lf

National League Batter of the Day—Christian Yelich of the Marlins doubled and went 5-for-5, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 7-6 win over the Phillies in the first game of a doubleheader.

Yelich was also Player of the Game in the second game of the doubleheader (3-4 2R BI in the 5-2 win over the Phillies. He is only the 11th player in 21 seasons of Box-Toppers record keeping to earn Player of the Game in both games of a doubleheader. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day and 1.0 point for being Player of the Game, giving him 2.5 points for the day, which were also his first points of the season. (Yelich had 7.5 Box-Toppers points in 2014, ninth among NL batters.)

It is the first time a player has earned Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader since April 28, 2011, when it was done by Ben Zobrist of the Rays.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke became the seventh player of the season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Greinke (8IP 4H R 8K W in the 2-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.7 for the season. He actually slips from sixth to seventh in Box-Toppers player rankings as he was passed by Scherzer. Greinke ranks fifth among NL pitchers.

This is the second season Greinke has earned 20 or more Box-Toppers points in a season. In 2009, he had 21.5 Box-Toppers points with the Royals, his best season.

Greinke ranks 21st among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. He has 146.4 career Box-Toppers points and trails 20th-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7).

Notable—Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura (7IP 4H R 11K W in the 5-1 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. He ranks 30th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.

Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kluber earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Parra and Yelich each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day (Yelich earns an extra 1.0 point for being Player of the Game in the second game of the doubleheader). All of Saturday’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

10/3 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 26.0 Nationals Max Scherzer (W,14-12) - - - - - - 9.0 0 0 0 0 17
13.0 Cubs Kyle Hendricks (W,8-7) - - - - - - 6.0 1 0 0 0 8
AL 12.0 Indians Corey Kluber (W,9-16) - - - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 2 9
9.0 Dodgers Zack Greinke (W,19-3) - - - - - - 8.0 4 1 1 1 8
9.0 Royals Yordano Ventura (W,13-8) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 3 11
7.0 `Nationals Gio Gonzalez - - - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 3 7
6.0 Athletics Pat Venditte (MR) (W,2-2) - - - - - - 3.0 0 0 0 0 3
5.0 Reds Brandon Finnegan (W,5-2) - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 2 6
4.0 Astros Collin McHugh (W,19-7) - - - - - - 7.0 6 1 1 1 6
BAT 3.0 Orioles Gerardo Parra, RF 5 1 4 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Orioles T.J. McFarland (MR) (W,2-2) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 1
2.1 `Giants Sergio Romo (MR) (H,33) - - - - - - 1.1 1 0 0 0 2
BAT 2.0 Marlins Christian Yelich, CF 5 1 5 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Angels Johnny Giavotella, 2B 5 1 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Marlins Christian Yelich, LF 4 2 3 1 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 White Sox J.B. Shuck, PH 1 1 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Rays Alex Colome (W,8-5) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.