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.

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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:

Blue Jays' Dickey tops players for Friday, May 13; White Sox' Sale rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers rankings

Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey 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 May 12:  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 9.0
2 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 6.7
3 Machado, Manny 3087 3b ss bal al 6.7
4 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 6.0
5 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 6.0
6 Quintana, Jose 3040 pi sp chi al 5.7
7 De La Rosa, Rubby 3342 pi sp ari nl 5.7
8 Davis, Chris 2478 1b bal al 5.5
9 Hill, Rich 2215 pi sp oak al 5.4
10 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 5.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Friday, White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors, passing Manny Machado of the Orioles for the lead among all American League players.

Player of the Day—Dickey pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out six, in the 5-0 win over the Rangers.

National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Jeremy Hellickson struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs (both unearned), in the 3-2 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—George Springer of the Astros hit a two-run homer and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 7-6 win over the Red Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—David Ross of the Cubs hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring twice, in the 9-4 win over the Pirates. This was Ross’ first Player of the Game honor in more than three years. He last earned Box-Toppers points on April 26, 2013, when he was AL Batter of the Day while playing for the Red Sox.

Rankings—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Sale (CG 6H R 6K W in the 7-1 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.7 for the season. Sale also passes Manny Machado of the Orioles (6.7 points) to lead all AL players in Box-Toppers points. Though both Sale and Machado have 6.7 points, Sale wins the tiebreaker because he had more 2015 Box-Toppers points—18.8 vs. 7.5.

Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Brewers pitcher Junior Guerra (6IP 2H 0R 4K W in the 1-0 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut June 12, 2015, and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,633rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Rockies pitcher Jon Gray (7IP 5H 2R 8K W in the 5-2 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut Aug. 4, 2015, and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,634th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Dickey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hellickson earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Springer and Ross 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/13 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 10.0 Blue Jays R.A. Dickey (W,2-4) - - - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 1 6
NL 9.0 Phillies Jeremy Hellickson (W,3-2) - - - - - - 7.0 4 2 0 1 9
7.0 White Sox Chris Sale (W,8-0) - - - - - - 9.0 6 1 1 0 6
7.0 Orioles Chris Tillman (W,5-1) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 2 7
6.0 Brewers Junior Guerra (W,2-0) - - - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 2 4
5.0 Rockies Jon Gray (W,1-1) - - - - - - 7.0 5 2 2 1 8
BAT 4.0 Astros George Springer, RF 5 2 3 4 0 1 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 Cubs David Ross, C 4 2 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Giants Joe Panik, 2B 3 1 2 3 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Nationals Bryce Harper, RF 2 1 2 2 2 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Angels Fernando Salas (S,1) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.2 Indians Zach McAllister (W,2-1) - - - - - - 0.2 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Dodgers Yasiel Puig, RF 5 2 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Athletics Danny Valencia, 3B 4 2 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Royals Eric Hosmer, 1B 1 1 1 0 3 0 - - - - - -

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 +/-
Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 6.7 25.5 77.7 79.7 -12.1
Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 pi sp phi nl 4.4 9.4 33.1 36.1 -0.6
Tillman, Chris 2754 pi sp bal al 4.0 8.7 37.8 39.8 -0.7
Springer, George 3337 rf hou al 2.5 3.5 6.5 6.5 1.5
Dickey, R.A. 1734 pi sp tor al 2.0 7.0 51.2 72.9 -3.0
Panik, Joe 3401 2b sf nl 2.0 6.0 7.0 7.0 -2.0
Ross, David 1729 ca chi nl 1.5 1.5 10.0 26.1 1.5
Hosmer, Eric 2886 1b kc al 1.0 10.0 23.5 23.5 -8.0
Harper, Bryce 3011 rf dc nl 1.0 10.0 25.4 25.4 -8.0
Puig, Yasiel 3193 rf lad nl 1.0 4.5 7.0 7.0 -2.5
Valencia, Danny 2772 3b oak al 1.0 4.5 6.5 9.5 -2.5
McAllister, Zach 3088 pi mr sp cle al 1.0 2.0 12.7 12.7 0.0
Salas, Fernando 2853 pi cp ana al 1.0 2.0 9.0 9.0 0.0
Gray, Jon 3634 pi sp col nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Guerra, Junior 3633 pi sp mil nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Sanchez, Zimmermann top players for Friday, April 26

Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez, who struck out 17 Braves, is Friday's Player of the Day. Sanchez also gave up no runs, one walk and five hits in eight innings in the 10-0 win.

Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, who threw a one-hit, complete game shutout against the Reds, is National League Player of the Day. Zimmermann struck out four and gave up only one walk in the 1-0 win.​

David Ross of the Red Sox is American League Batter of the Day. Ross hit two home runs and went 4-for-4 in the 7-3 win over the Astros.​

Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs is National League Batter of the Day. Rizzo hit two home runs and went 3-for-4 and drove in all the Cubs' runs in the 4-2 win over the Marlins.​

Sanchez receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Day. Zimmermann receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Ross and Rizzo receive 1.5 each for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Friday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point:

​

426ScoreTeamBATTERSABRHRBIBBSO--PITCHERSIPHRERBBSO
MLB19.0Tigers 0000000  Anibal Sanchez (W, 3-1)8.0500117
NL11.0Nationals 0000000  Jordan Zimmermann (W, 4-1)9.010014
 10.0Phillies 0000000  Kyle Kendrick (W, 2-1)9.030015
 9.0Orioles 0000000  Wei-Yin Chen (W, 2-2)8.020025
 9.0Cardinals 0000000  Lance Lynn (W, 4-0)7.021139
 7.0Yankees 0000000  David Phelps (W, 1-1)4.021129
 6.0Rangers 0000000  Justin Grimm (W, 2-0)7.050004
BAT5.0Red Sox David Ross C434200  00.000000
BAT5.0Cubs Anthony Rizzo 1B423400  00.000000
 4.2Dodgers 0000000  Ronald Belisario (W, 2-2)1.200003
 3.0Padres 0000000  Andrew Cashner (W, 1-1)6.051115
 1.0Rockies Jordan Pacheco 1B423000  00.000000
 1.0White Sox Tyler Greene 2B412201  00.000000
 0.0Angels Hank Conger C411201  00.000000