Box-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 MoreTigers' Sanchez, Phillies' Harang top players for Thursday, May 14
Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez is Thursday’s Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Phillies pitcher Aaron Harang rises to fourth in Box-Toppers player rankings and Shane Victorino of the Red Sox scores a Box-Toppers point for the 10th season in a row.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 14.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 8.7 |
| 2 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 6.0 |
| 3 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 4 | Harang, Aaron 1599 | pi sp | phi nl | 5.1 |
| 5 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | atl nl | 5.0 |
| 6 | Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 5.0 |
| 7 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf rf | dc nl | 5.0 |
| 8 | Heston, Chris 3437 | pi sp | sf nl | 5.0 |
| 9 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
Player of the Day—Sanchez struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run, in the 13-1 win over the Twins.
National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Aaron Harang pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out six, in the 4-2 win over the Pirates.
Harang rises to fourth in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season. He earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 5.1 for the season. He ranks second among NL pitchers, behind Gerrit Cole of the Pirates (6.0).
National League Batter of the Day—Derek Norris of the Padres hit a three-run homer and a two-run triple in the 8-3 win over the Nationals.
American League Batter of the Day—Alcides Escobar of the Royals went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-3 win over the Rangers.
Streak—Shane Victorino of the Red Sox has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons.
Victorino was Player of the Game in Thursday’s 2-1 win over the Mariners (HR 2-3) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
Victorino earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Phillies. His best season was 2009 with the Phillies, when he had 9.5 Box-Toppers points, 10th among NL batters. In 2014, he had 2.5 Box-Toppers points with the Red Sox.
Victorino has 48.2 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks 24th among active batters currently in the AL.
Scoring—Sanchez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Harang earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Norris and Escobar each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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
| 5/14 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | Tigers | Anibal Sanchez (W, 3-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| NL | 8.0 | Phillies | Aaron Harang (W, 4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| 6.0 | Rays | Erasmo Ramirez (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Padres | Derek Norris C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Reds | Marlon Byrd LF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.1 | Cardinals | Trevor Rosenthal (S, 12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.1 | Cubs | Pedro Strop (W, 1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Royals | Alcides Escobar SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Rockies | Carlos Gonzalez RF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Astros | Chad Qualls (S, 4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Red Sox | Shane Victorino RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Braves' Ervin Santana (7IP 7K) tops players for Saturday, May 10, rises to 5th place in Box-Toppers player rankings
Braves pitcher Ervin Santana, Saturday’s Player of the Day, rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Santana pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out seven in the 2-0 win over the Cubs. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, moving him up to fifth place in season rankings. (See the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points for the season on the home page.)
Mariners pitcher Chris Young is American League Player of the Day. Young gave up one run over eight innings in the 3-1 win over the Royals.
Corey Dickerson of the Rockies is National League Batter of the Day. Dickerson homered twice, doubled twice and drove in four runs in the 11-2 win over the Reds.
Shane Victorino of the Red Sox is AL Batter of the Day. Victorino went 3-for-4 and drove in four runs in the 8-3 win over the Rangers.
Santana receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Young receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Dickerson and Victorino each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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. 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
Shane Victorino helps Red Sox win World Series, tops players in Game 6, Wednesday, Oct. 30
Shane Victorino helped the Red Sox wrap up a World Series title Wednesday, earning Player of the Day honors in the deciding Game 6.
Victorino, with two hits, including a three-run double, led the Red Sox to a 6-1 win over the Cardinals in Game 6 and sealing a 4-2 game victory in the series.
Victorino went 2-for-3 in the game and drove in four runs. He had 4.5 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranking 224th overall.
Victorino was also Player of the Day in the deciding Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, in which the Red Sox beat the Tigers 5-2.
Related story: Box-Toppers previews 2013 World Series in this post from Oct. 21.
Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. In regular season games, 2.0 Box-Toppers points are awarded for Player of the Day, 1.7 for top player in the opposite league, 1.5 for top batter in each league and 1.0 for the top players in each of the other games.
Thanks for following Box-Toppers this season. Stay tuned via RSS, Twitter or Facebook for offseason posts to follow postseason player awards, season wrap-ups and other odd bits of essential knowledge and/or trivia.
Top 6 players in World Series Game 6
Here are the top six Red Sox players in Wednesday's World Series Game 6, ranked from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (how game score is calculated). Shane Victorino, who had a Box-Toppers game score of 3.0, is Box-Toppers Player of the Game (POG).
| 1030 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POG | 3.0 | Red Sox | Shane Victorino RF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2.0 | Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Koji Uehara | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 1.0 | Red Sox | David Ortiz DH | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1.0 | Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Brandon Workman | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0.1 | Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Junichi Tazawa (H, 2) | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0.0 | Red Sox | Stephen Drew SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Shane Victorino slam lifts Red Sox into World Series, tops players Saturday, Oct. 19
Shane Victorino's grand slam put the Red Sox into the World Series and made him Saturday's Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Victorino's seventh-inning slam led the Boston Red Sox to a 5-2 win over the Detroit Tigers in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series. The Red Sox win the best-of-seven series four games to two and will face the National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series beginning Wednesday in Boston.
Victorino had 4.5 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranking 224th among all players.
As in Game 2 of the series, Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer seemed on track to be Player of the Game when a Tigers reliever allowed a grand slam. In Game 2 on Sunday, David Ortiz hit a game-tying grand slam. And in Game 6, Victorino hit a go-ahead slam after Scherzer was pulled. Before Scherzer was pulled in the seventh inning, he struck out eight.
The Tigers, now eliminated, were Box-Toppers top-ranked team at the end of the season, with 123.4 Box-Toppers points. The Red Sox were the fourth-ranked team with 121.7 Box-Toppers points. They now face the third-ranked team, the Cardinals, in the World Series. The Cardinals had 122.4 points.
There are no games Sunday, Monday or Tuesday.
Coming soon: Box-Toppers previews the World Series between the Cardinals and the Red Sox.
In regular season games, 2.0 Box-Toppers points are awarded for Player of the Day, 1.7 for top player in the opposite league, 1.5 for top batter in each league and 1.0 for the top player in each of the other games. However, no Box-Toppers points are awarded during the postseason.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 1019 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 3.0 | Red Sox | Shane Victorino RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Top 6 players in ALCS Game 6
Here are the top six Red Sox players in Saturday's American League Championship Series Game 6, ranked from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (how game score is calculated). Shane Victorino, who had a Box-Toppers game score of 3.0 was Player of the Game (POG).
| 1019 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POG | 3.0 | Red Sox | Shane Victorino RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2.0 | Red Sox | Xander Bogaerts 3B | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Koji Uehara (S, 5) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 2.0 | Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Craig Breslow (H, 4) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 0.2 | Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Brandon Workman | 1.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 0.1 | Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Junichi Tazawa (W, 1-0) | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Red Sox' Shane Victorino (2HR 7RBI) tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 27
Shane Victorino of the Phillies is Tuesday's Player of the Day. Victorino hit two home runs, drove in seven runs, scored four runs and went 3-for-3 in the 13-2 win over the Orioles.
Mets pitcher Jon Niese is National League Player of the Day. Niese pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout in the 5-0 win over the Phillies.
Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers is NL Batter of the Day. Ramirez homered, drove in four runs and went 4-for-5 in the 7-6 win over the Pirates.
Notable: Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees rises to 23rd in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season after he earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday. Soriano (2HR 4RBI in 7-1 win vs. Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.9 for the season.
Victorino receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Niese receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Ramirez receives 1.5 for being NL Batter of the Day.
All of Tuesday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 827 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 11.0 | Red Sox | Shane Victorino RF | 3 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| NL | 10.0 | Mets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jon Niese (W, 6-6) | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 6.1 | `Diamondbacks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Josh Collmenter | 3.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 5.0 | Cubs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Travis Wood (W, 8-10) | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |||
| 4.1 | Royals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | James Shields (W, 9-8) | 7.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | |||
| 4.1 | `Braves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Scott Downs (H, 3) | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| BAT | 4.0 | Brewers | Aramis Ramirez 3B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 3.0 | Yankees | Alfonso Soriano LF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 3.0 | Athletics | Brandon Moss RF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 3.0 | Rangers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tanner Scheppers (W, 6-2) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 2.0 | Angels | Erick Aybar SS | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Nationals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ross Ohlendorf (W, 3-0) | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||
| 2.0 | Giants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Sergio Romo (S, 32) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 1.1 | White Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Donnie Veal (W, 2-3) | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 1.0 | Cardinals | Shane Robinson PR, LF | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Nats' Stephen Strasburg, White Sox' Hector Santiago top players for Friday, June 21
Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Friday's Player of the Day. Strasburg struck out nine and gave up only one run over seven innings in the 2-1 win over the Rockies.
White Sox pitcher Hector Santiago is American League Player of the Day. Santiago gave up one run over eight innings in the 9-1 win over the Royals.
Shane Victorino of the Red Sox is AL Batter of the Day. Victorino homered, drove in five runs and went 4-for-5 in the 10-6 win over the Tigers.
Chris Denorfia of the Padres is National League Batter of the Day. Denorfia homered and went 2-for-2 in the 5-2 win over the Dodgers.
Strasburg receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Santiago receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Victorino and Denorfia each receive 1.5 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:
| 621 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 9.0 | Nationals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stephen Strasburg (W, 4-6) | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 8.0 | Cubs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Matt Garza (W, 2-1) | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |||
| AL | 7.0 | White Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hector Santiago (W, 3-5) | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 7.0 | Indians | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Scott Kazmir (W, 4-4) | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | |||
| BAT | 5.0 | Red Sox | Shane Victorino RF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 5.0 | Brewers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Wily Peralta (W, 5-8) | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | |||
| 4.0 | Athletics | Yoenis Cespedes LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| BAT | 4.0 | Padres | Chris Denorfia RF, LF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 3.0 | Diamondbacks | Jason Kubel LF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 3.0 | Pirates | Jordy Mercer SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Munenori Kawasaki SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Mets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bobby Parnell (S, 12) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 1.0 | Marlins | Logan Morrison 1B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.0 | Yankees | Zoilo Almonte LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.0 | Rangers | Elvis Andrus SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |