Mariners' Robinson Cano is Box-Toppers Player of the Game as AL wins 2017 All-Star Game

Robinson Cano of the Mariners is Box-Toppers 2017 All-Star Player of the Game.

Cano hit a 10th-inning, go-ahead homer in the American League’s 2-1 win over the National League. Cano went 1-for-2, striking out while entering the game in the seventh inning as a pinch hitter.

Cano was also named All-Star Game Most Valuable Player.

Cano had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +1.0. One other player, Astros pitcher Chris Devenski, had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K ND), but did not qualify to earn Player of the Game honors because he did not earn the win or save and did not pitch at least three innings. 

Seven AL players had Box-Toppers game scores Tuesday of +1.0, but Cano beat them on tiebreakers. He automatically beat the four pitchers with game scores of +1.0 (Chris Sale of the Red Sox, Craig Kimbrel of the Red Sox, Andrew Miller of the Indians and Brandon Kintzler of the Twins), since batters always best pitchers in game score ties. He beat two batters with game scores of +1.0 (Miguel Sano of the Twins and Jonathan Schoop of the Orioles) because he had more at bats—Cano had two at bats, while both Sano and Schoop had one.

While Devenski had the highest Box-Toppers game score among AL pitchers, Kimbrel (1IP 0H 0R 2BB 2K W) was the highest-ranking pitcher qualified to earn Player of the Game honors because he earned the win. 

Cano has 4.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 20th among AL batters and second among AL second basemen, behind Jonathan Schoop of the Orioles (4.5). In 2016, Cano had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, second among AL batters, behind Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5). Cano has 79.4 career Box-Toppers points, ranking sixth among active AL batters. He made his Box-Toppers debut in 2005 with the Yankees and has earned Box-Toppers points in 13 straight seasons.

Overall Box-Toppers points leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (21.1), was selected to the NL All-Star team but did not pitch in the game since he pitched in his regular start only two days earlier.

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who started for the NL team and ranks second in overall 2017 Box-Toppers points (17.0), had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +2.0 (1IP 1H 0R 0BB 2K ND).

Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale, who started for the AL team and leads AL players in 2017 Box-Toppers points (13.1), ranking third overall, had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +1.0 (2IP 3H 0R 0BB 2K ND).

Aaron Judge of the Yankees, who has the most Box-Toppers points among AL batters in the All-Star Game (8.2), went 0-for-3 in the All-Star Game and had a Box-Toppers game score of -3.0, tied for the lowest among AL players. A night earlier, Judge won the All-Star Home Run Derby.

Ryon Healy of the Athletics has the most Box-Toppers points among AL batters (8.7), but was not selected for the All-Star Game.

Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers, who leads NL batters in Box-Toppers points (7.7), went 0-for-3 in the All-Star Game and had a Box-Toppers game score of -3.0.

Top player for the NL team was Yadier Molina of the Cardinals, who hit a sixth-inning, game-tying, solo homer and had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0.

Scoring—Just as All-Star Game statistics don’t count in a player’s regular season statistics, no Box-Toppers points are awarded for the All-Star Game.

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 game scores of AL All-Star players

Here are all the players who played for the the winning American League team in Tuesday's All-Star Game, listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score. Robinson Cano is Box-Toppers Player of the Game (POG) with a game score of +1.0. Astros pitcher Chris Devenski had a higher Box-Toppers game score (+2.0) but did not qualify to earn Player of the Game because he did not earn the win or save and did not pitch at least three innings. Seven AL players had Box-Toppers game scores of +1.0, but Cano beat them on tiebreakers.  

7/11	Score	AL All-Stars	Team	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
	2.0	Chris Devenski	Astros	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
POG	1.0	Robinson Cano (PH-2B)	Mariners	2	1	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Miguel Sano (3B)	Twins	1	0	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Jonathan Schoop (2B)	Orioles	1	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Chris Sale	Red Sox	-	-	-	-		2.0	3	0	0	0	2
	1.0	Craig Kimbrel (W, 0-0)	Red Sox	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	2	2
	1.0	Andrew Miller (S, 0)	Indians	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	1	1
	1.0	Brandon Kintzler (H, 0)	Twins	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	0
	0.0	Jose Ramirez (3B)	Indians	2	0	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	Yonder Alonso (1B)	Athletics	2	0	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	Justin Smoak (1B)	Blue Jays	1	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	Dellin Betances	Yankees	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	2	2
	0.0	Jason Vargas	Royals	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	0
	0.0	Roberto Osuna	Blue Jays	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	0
	-1.0	Justin Upton (RF)	Tigers	2	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	Michael Brantley (LF)	Indians	2	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-1.0	Ervin Santana (B, 0)	Twins	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	1	1	0	1
	-2.0	Jose Altuve (2B)	Astros	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	Mike Moustakas (3B)	Royals	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	Carlos Correa (SS)	Astros	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	Francisco Lindor (SS)	Indians	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	Corey Dickerson (DH)	Rays	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	Nelson Cruz (PH)	Mariners	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	Salvador Perez (C)	Royals	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	Gary Sanchez (C)	Yankees	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	Mookie Betts (CF)	Red Sox	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-2.0	Avisail Garcia (CF)	White Sox	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-3.0	Aaron Judge (RF)	Yankees	3	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	-3.0	George Springer (LF)	Astros	3	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

POG—2017 All-Star Game Player of the Game.
No Box-Toppers points are awarded for the All-Star Game.

Phillies' Aaron Nola tops players for Monday, July 3; Nationals' Strasburg rises to 5th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of July 3:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.1
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	13.1
4	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	12.4
5	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	10.4
6	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	10.4
7	Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	10.0
8	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	10.0
9	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
10	McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	9.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Monday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Nola struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hit and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the Pirates.

American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and one walk, in the 6-3 win over the Blue Jays.

American League Batter of the Day—Max Kepler of the Twins homered, doubled and went 4-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 9-5 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Yadier Molina of the Cardinals hit two doubles and went 3-for-3, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 14-6 win over the Marlins.

Molina earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season, tied for his highest single-season Box-Toppers point total just barely halfway into the season. He previously had 4.5 Box-Toppers points in both 2010 and 2012 with the Cardinals. Molina has been earning Box-Toppers points since 2004. He currently ranks 12th among among NL batters this season and second among NL catchers, behind Buster Posey of the Giants (5.5).

Rankings—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises from ninth to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Strasburg (7IP 2H 0R 3BB 6K ND in the 3-2 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season. He becomes the eighth player this season to reach 10 or more Box-Toppers points and has now reached 10 points in five seasons, including four in a row currently. Strasburg ranks third among NL pitchers in season Box-Toppers points, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (18.1) and Max Scherzer of the Nationals (16.0).

Debut—Brewers pitcher Brent Suter made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Suter (6IP 4H R 0ER BB 8K W in the 8-1 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut Aug. 19, 2016, and was playing in his 23rd career game. He is the 3,843rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Nola earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Kepler and Molina each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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 

7/3	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.0	PHI 4, PIT 0	Aaron Nola (W, 6-5)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	1	8
	8.0	MIL 8, BAL 1	Brent Suter (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	1	0	1	8
	8.0	`WSH 3, NYM 2	Stephen Strasburg	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	3	6
AL	7.0	NYY 6, TOR 3	Masahiro Tanaka (W, 7-7)	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	1	8
	5.2	KC 3, SEA 1	Ian Kennedy (W, 3-6)	-	-	-	-		6.2	4	1	1	2	7
	5.1	CHW 7, OAK 2	Carlos Rodon (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-		6.1	4	2	2	3	10
	5.0	BOS 7, TEX 5 (F/11)	Heath Hembree (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	4.0	MIN 9, LAA 5	Max Kepler (RF)	4	1	4	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	STL 14, MIA 6	Yadier Molina (C)	3	1	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	COL 5, CIN 3	Greg Holland (S, 27)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` 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 (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	10.4	25.5	84.6	93.3	-4.7
Holland, Greg 2906	pi cp	col nl	8.0	8.0	38.0	41.0	8.0
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	pi sp	nyy al	6.4	20.5	41.2	41.2	-7.7
Nola, Aaron 3569	pi sp	phi nl	5.7	12.4	14.4	14.4	-1.0
Molina, Yadier 1967	ca	stl nl	4.5	8.5	18.0	39.2	0.5
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	4.0	14.0	45.1	70.5	-6.0
Kepler, Max 3664	rf	min al	1.5	8.0	8.0	8.0	-5.0
Rodon, Carlos 3494	pi sp	chi al	1.0	9.0	17.1	17.1	-7.0
Hembree, Heath 3620	pi cp	bos al	1.0	2.7	2.7	2.7	-0.7
Suter, Brent 3843	pi sp	mil nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Rangers' Darvish tops players for Saturday, Sept. 24; Kershaw edges closer to '16 Box-Toppers leader Scherzer, rises to 6th in career points, passing Pujols

Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish is Saturday’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. 24:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	24.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.4
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	22.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	21.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8
7	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
8	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym al	15.7
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw edged to within 0.3 points of season Box-Toppers points leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, after earning National League Player of the Day. Kershaw also rises to sixth place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, passing Albert Pujols of the Angels.

Player of the Day—Darvish struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Athletics.

National League Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out six and walking none in the 14-1 win over the Rockies.

Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 24.4 for the season. He maintains his rank of second among all players, behind Scherzer (24.7). Kershaw had the chance to regain the points lead if he had earned overall Player of the Day honors, worth 2.0 Box-Toppers points. While he would have tied Scherzer at 24.7 points, Kershaw held the tiebreaker—he had more 2015 Box-Toppers points (25.7 vs. 21.0).

Kershaw led in Box-Toppers points much of the season (from May 7 to Aug. 24) despite being on the disabled list nearly two months from late June to late August. Kershaw had 20.0 Box-Toppers points when he went on the disabled list in late June. Scherzer passed him on Aug. 25 with 20.7 points.

All-time leaders

Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp	retired	278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp	retired	244.8
3	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
4	Alex Rodriguez	dh	released	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	184.0
6	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	183.7
7	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	182.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	168.7
10	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
11	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
12	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	156.1
16	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
17	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
18	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
19	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

List of top 100 players since 1995 (as of July 15, 2016's All-Star break)

Kershaw also now has 183.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to sixth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3) on the “all-time” list and now trails fifth-ranked player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (184.0), by just 0.3 points. Sabathia is the active leader in points and Kershaw now rises to second among active players.

Kershaw had passed Pujols earlier this season to rise to sixth place in career points but after Kershaw went on the disabled list, Pujols regained the sixth-place spot. On June 11, Kershaw passed Pujols with 176.3 points, but on July 25, Pujols regained sixth place with 180.3 points. Kershaw, now with 183.7 points, reclaims sixth place.

National League Batter of the Day—Yadier Molina of the Cardinals doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 10-4 win over the Cubs.

American League Batter of the Day—Mike Trout of the Angels doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 10-4 win over the Astros.

Trout earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 12.5 for the season. He rises to 25th among all players and second among AL batters, behind Manny Machado of the Orioles (12.7).

Notable—Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello earned his league-leading 22nd win of the season Saturday but did not earn Player of the Game honors. While he leads in wins, he has just 8.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 82nd among all players and 29th among AL pitchers. (From Sept. 17: Why does wins leader Rick Porcello have so few Box-Toppers points?)

Porcello (6.1IP 8H 3R BB 9K W in the 6-4 win over the Rays) had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +0.1. Player of the Game was Dustin Pedroia (HR 2-4 R 4BI) who had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0. Pedroia has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season—4.0 of them have been earned in a game in which Porcello has earned the win.

Scoring—Darvish earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kershaw earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Molina and Trout each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. 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.

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

9/24	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	TEX 5, OAK 0	Yu Darvish (W,6-5)	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	1	9
	10.2	BAL 6, ARI 1	Wade Miley (W,9-13)	-	-	-	-		8.2	7	1	1	0	11
NL	10.0	LAD 14, COL 1	Clayton Kershaw (W,12-3)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	0	6
	8.0	`TOR 3, NYY 0	Marcus Stroman	-	-	-	-		7.0	1	0	0	3	5
	6.1	WSH 6, PIT 1	Reynaldo Lopez (W,4-3)	-	-	-	-		5.1	3	0	0	2	6
BAT	4.0	STL 10, CHC 4	Yadier Molina, C	4	1	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	LAA 10, HOU 4	Mike Trout, CF	3	3	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	PHI 10, NYM 8	Darin Ruf, LF	5	2	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	BOS 6, TB 4	Dustin Pedroia, 2B	4	1	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	MIN 3, SEA 2	Tyler Duffey (W,9-11)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	2	2	0	4
	3.0	MIA 6, ATL 4	A.J. Ramos (S,39)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.2	CIN 6, MIL 1	Dan Straily (W,14-8)	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	1	1	2	5
	1.0	CHW 8, CLE 1	Carlos Sanchez, 2B	4	1	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	KC 7, DET 4	Kendrys Morales, 1B	4	2	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	SF 9, SD 6 (10)	Kelby Tomlinson, 2B	1	1	1	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 of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.4	50.1	150.2	183.7	-1.3
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	12.5	24.5	49.0	49.0	0.5
Morales, Kendrys 2142	dh	kc al	8.5	13.2	23.2	39.2	3.8
Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	8.4	8.4	53.6	53.6	8.4
Duffey, Tyler 3558	pi sp	min al	7.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	3.0
Straily, Dan 3080	pi sp	cin nl	7.0	7.0	17.7	17.7	7.0
Stroman, Marcus 3327	pi sp	tor al	6.7	9.4	23.1	23.1	4.0
Miley, Wade 3006	pi sp	bal al	6.0	13.0	36.4	36.4	-1.0
Molina, Yadier 1967	ca ph	stl nl	4.0	5.0	17.7	34.7	3.0
Pedroia, Dustin 2320	2b	bos al	4.0	4.0	24.4	36.5	4.0
Tomlinson, Kelby 3619	2b ph	sf nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Ramos, A.J. 3210	pi cp	fla nl	2.0	7.0	12.0	12.0	-3.0
Lopez, Reynaldo 3712	pi sp mr	dc nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Sanchez, Carlos 3589	2b	chi al	1.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	-2.0
Ruf, Darin 3575	lf	phi nl	1.0	2.5	2.5	2.5	-0.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Giants' Jeff Samardzija tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 6; Orioles' Machado rises to lead AL batters in Box-Toppers points

Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija 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 Sept. 6:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	22.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	18.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	17.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Manny Machado of the Orioles rises to lead American League batters in season Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Samardzija struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs, four hits and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Rockies. Samardzija did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because the Giants trailed when he exited.

American League Batter of the Day—White Sox pitcher Miguel Gonzalez pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing six hits, no walks and striking out four, in the 2-0 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Yadier Molina of the Cardinals hit a grand slam and two doubles in the 9-7 win over the Pirates. Molina went 4-for-5, scoring twice.

American League Batter of the Day—Kendrys Morales of the Royals hit two home runs, including a three-run homer, in the 10-3 win over the Twins. Morales went 2-for-5, driving in five runs.

Rankings—Manny Machado of the Orioles rises to lead AL batters in Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Machado (GS 3-6 R 5BI in the 11-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.7 for the season. He passes Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5) for the lead among AL batters in season Box-Toppers points. Machado ranks 14th among all players.

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

• Astros pitcher James Hoyt (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 4-3 win over the Indians) made his Major League debut Aug. 3 and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,731st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Tyler Austin of the Yankees (HR 1-2 R 2BI in the 7-6 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut Aug. 13 and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,732nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Samardzija earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gonzalez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Molina and Morales 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

9/6	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	`SF 3, COL 2	Jeff Samardzija	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	2	2	1	9
BAT	5.0	STL 9, PIT 7	Yadier Molina, C	5	2	4	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	4.1	CHW 2, DET 0	Miguel Gonzalez (W,3-6)	-	-	-	-		6.1	6	0	0	0	4
BAT	4.0	KC 10, MIN 3	Kendrys Morales, DH	5	2	2	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	MIL 12, CHC 5	Ryan Braun, LF	5	3	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	PHI 4, MIA 3	Adam Morgan (W,2-9)	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	1	1	0	5
	3.1	HOU 4, CLE 3	James Hoyt (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	TEX 10, SEA 7	Elvis Andrus, SS	6	3	4	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	BAL 11, TB 2	Manny Machado, 3B	6	1	3	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	WSH 9, ATL 7	Anthony Rendon, 3B	4	2	1	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	LAD 5, ARI 2	Ross Stripling (W,4-6)	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	2	2	0	5
	3.0	NYM 5, CIN 3	Jeurys Familia (S,46)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	OAK 3, LAA 2	Ryan Madson (S,28)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.2	BOS 5, SD 1	Clay Buchholz (W,6-10)	-	-	-	-		6.2	8	1	1	0	6
	2.0	NYY 7, TOR 6	Tyler Austin, 1B	2	1	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`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 of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	12.7	20.2	23.7	23.7	5.2
Braun, Ryan J. 2300	lf	mil nl	9.0	14.0	45.0	86.7	4.0
Samardzija, Jeff 2495	pi sp	sf nl	8.7	18.1	46.8	47.8	-0.7
Andrus, Elvis 2582	ss	tex al	7.7	7.7	15.2	18.2	7.7
Gonzalez, Miguel 3062	pi sp	chi al	7.4	14.1	36.2	36.2	0.7
Familia, Jeurys 3446	pi cp	nym nl	7.0	15.0	15.0	15.0	-1.0
Morales, Kendrys 2142	dh	kc al	5.5	10.2	20.2	36.2	0.8
Rendon, Anthony 3258	3b	dc nl	4.5	5.5	11.0	11.0	3.5
Buchholz, Clay 2363	pi sp	bos al	4.0	10.0	38.2	57.9	-2.0
Stripling, Ross 3629	pi sp	lad nl	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7
Madson, Ryan 1841	pi cp	oak al	3.0	3.0	6.0	23.7	3.0
Molina, Yadier 1967	ca ph	stl nl	2.5	3.5	16.2	33.2	1.5
Morgan, Adam 3572	pi sp	phi nl	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	1.0
Austin, Tyler 3732	1b	nyy al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Hoyt, James 3731	pi mr	hou al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Travis Wood (7IP 0R 7K) tops players for Wednesday, April 15

Cubs pitcher Travis Wood is Wednesday’s Player of the Day.

Wood pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out seven in the 5-0 win over the Reds.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Collin McHugh struck out 11 over 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run, in the 6-1 win over the Athletics.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 15.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
2	Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	3.0
3	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	2.7
4	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	2.5
5	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	2.0
6	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	2.0
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	2.0
8	Odorizzi, Jake 3291	pi sp	tb al	2.0
9	Gonzalez, Miguel 3062	pi sp	bal al	2.0
10	Wood, Travis 2777	pi sp	chi nl	2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Batter of the Day—Adeiny Hechavarria of the Marlins went 3-for-3 with a homer, two runs and three RBIs in the 6-2 win over the Braves. This was Hechavarria’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time he earned Player of the Game honors. Hechavarria made his Major League debut Aug. 4, 2012, and was playing in his 344th career game. He is the 3,445th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays went 3-for-5, drove in three and scored twice, in the 12-7 win over the Rays.

Rankings—Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday. Bauer (6IP 4H 2R 8K W in the 4-2 win over the White Sox) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.

Streak—Andre Ethier of the Dodgers has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. Ethier (2-3 2R BI) was Player of the Game in the 5-2 win over the Mariners to earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He began his 10-season streak in 2006, when he earned his first Box-Toppers point with the Dodgers. His best year was 2009 when he earned 8.2 Box-Toppers points, ranking eighth among NL outfielders. In 2014, he had 1.0 point. Ethier has 46.3 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks him ninth among active outfielders currently in the NL.

Notable—Yadier Molina of the Cardinals on Wednesday earned his first Box-Toppers point since Sept. 15, 2013. Molina (3-4 BI) was Player of the Game in the 4-2 win over the Brewers and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He earned no Box-Toppers points in the 2014 season. Molina has 30.7 career Box-Toppers points, ranking second among active catchers currently in the NL (behind A.J. Pierzynski of the Braves, who has 45.7 points).

Scoring—Wood earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McHugh earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Hechavarria and Donaldson each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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

4/15	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	Cubs	Travis Wood (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	2	7
AL	8.2	Astros	Collin McHugh (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.2	6	1	1	0	11
	8.0	Tigers	Alfredo Simon (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	0	0	0	2
BAT	5.0	Marlins	Adeiny Hechavarria SS	3	2	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Angels	Hector Santiago (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	2	5
BAT	3.0	Blue Jays	Josh Donaldson 3B	5	2	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Orioles	Brad Brach (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	1	2
	3.0	Rockies	Adam Ottavino (S, 2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Nationals	Wilson Ramos C	5	2	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Padres	Justin Upton LF	4	2	3	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Dodgers	Andre Ethier RF	3	2	2	1	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Indians	Trevor Bauer (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	2	2	4	8
	2.0	Twins	Glen Perkins (S, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Mets	Travis d`Arnaud C	4	2	2	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	Cardinals	Yadier Molina C	4	0	3	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

Box-Toppers' batting leader Miguel Cabrera wins AL MVP; NL leader Goldschmidt finishes behind McCutchen for NL MVP

Box-Toppers' top-ranked batter Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers was named American League Most Valuable Player Thursday.

But the National League leading batter in Box-Toppers points, Paul Goldschmidt, finished in second place in NL MVP voting by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates, who finished 71st among NL players and 22nd among NL batters in Box-Toppers points, was voted NL MVP.

Cabrera had 16.9 Box-Toppers points for the season, first among all batters, third among all AL players and eighth among all players. He was consistently the only batter in the overall player top 10 list during the season. He led all players in Box-Toppers points four different times during the season, most recently from June 28 to June 30.

Cabrera was voted first on 28 of the 30 writers’ ballots, winning his second straight MVP award. However, in 2012, Cabrera ranked third among AL batters in Box-Toppers points with 11.7, behind Adrian Beltre (13.5) and Chris Davis (12.0). Cabrera ranked third in 2012 despite his Triple Crown season.

McCutchen, voted NL MVP, had 6.0 Box-Toppers points for the season. He was voted first on 28 of the 30 writers’ ballots and was voted on all 30 ballots no lower than third place. However, as the 22nd-ranked NL batter in Box-Toppers points, he wouldn’t have even appeared on Box-Toppers’ 10-spot ballot.

Box-Toppers’ top NL batter Goldschmidt had 13.7 Box-Toppers points and received 15 of the writers’ second place votes, enough to secure the NL MVP runner-up spot.

So what went wrong here? Why do the writers so unanimously see McCutchen as the MVP and Box-Toppers so ... does not? (In fact, McCutchen is not even the highest-ranked batter in Box-Toppers points on his team—that honor goes to Pedro Alvarez, with 7.7 points.)

McCutchen’s batting average is .317. He hit 21 homers and 84 RBIs, scored 97 runs and stole 27 bases. Goldschmidt’s numbers were just as good, often better—.302 average, 36 homers, 125 RBIs. But McCutchen’s team made the postseason. Goldschmidt’s didn’t. Plus, words being used to describe McCutchen are “all-around player,” a “heart-and-soul” guy—intangibles. By their very nature, it’s hard to measure intangibles.

But Box-Toppers measures tangibles. The player who most helps his team win the most games earns the most Box-Toppers points. And to be fair, Box-Toppers doesn’t measure defensive play—for batters, it relies on what they produce at the plate. So it is possible that a lot of McCutchen’s valuableness gets missed that way.

Though in the previous two seasons, McCutchen has fared better in Box-Toppers points than he did in 2013. In 2011, he had 9.7 Box-Toppers points, in eighth place among NL batters. And in 2012, he had 8.5, finishing just out of the top 10 among NL batters.

So, by Box-Toppers standards, Goldschmidt very simply more often helped his team win more games than did McCutchen.

A couple of other players were voted by writers to higher spots than would be recommended by their Box-Toppers point total:

• Mike Trout of the Angels was voted in second place in AL MVP voting with five first place votes. He had 3.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, in 144th place among all AL players and 62nd among all AL batters. (In 2012, he also finished second in AL MVP voting, but in 2012, he finished fifth among AL batters with 11.0 Box-Toppers points.)
• Yadier Molina of the Cardinals was voted in third place in NL MVP voting with two first place votes. He had 4.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, in 126th place among all NL players and 52nd among all NL batters. However, Molina is rightly given credit for his defensive skills as a catcher and his role in shaping a pitching staff with four or five Cy Young-worthy starters. Box-Toppers doesn’t measure that.

There were several players who had high Box-Toppers point totals who did not receive MVP votes. Three of the Box-Toppers top 10 AL batters received no votes and seven of the Box-Toppers top 10 NL batters were shut out:

• Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees had 12.9 Box-Toppers points, 12th among all AL players and second among all AL batters. However, Soriano played in the National League for the Cubs at the start of the season and switched to the American League in July.
• Billy Butler of the Royals had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, 33rd among all AL players and eighth among AL batters.
• Prince Fielder of the Tigers had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, 39th among all AL players and 10th among AL batters.
• Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies had 11.0 Box-Toppers points, 22nd among all NL players and fourth among NL batters.
• Bryce Harper of the Nationals had 9.4 Box-Toppers points, 34th among all NL players and fifth among NL batters.
• Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals had 9.2 Box-Toppers points, 35th among all NL players and sixth among NL batters.
• Will Venable of the Padres had 9.0 Box-Toppers points, 36th among all NL players and seventh among NL batters.
• Daniel Murphy of the Mets had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, 40th among all NL players and eighth among NL batters.
• Pedro Alvarez of the Pirates had 7.7 Box-Toppers points, 45th among all NL players and ninth among NL batters.
• Brandon Phillips of the Reds had 7.5 Box-Toppers points, 48th among all NL players and 10th among NL batters.

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. The player on the winning team with the highest Box-Toppers game score is Player of the Game and receives 1.0 Box-Toppers point. The Player of the Game with the highest overall Box-Toppers game score for all the games played that day is Player of the Day and earns a total of 2.0 Box-Toppers points. The top player in the opposite league receives a total of 1.7 Box-Toppers points. If both the day’s top overall player and top player in the opposite league are pitchers, then the top American League and top National League batter of the day receive a total of 1.5 Box-Toppers points each.

Here are the final Box-Toppers Player Rankings for 2013, showing the top 10 overall players, plus the top 10 in AL and NL pitching and AL and NL batting. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers season point totals.

Box-Toppers rankings of MVP Award candidates 

Here are the results of Most Valuable Player Award voting in both leagues. Players are listed in order of their vote total. The far right columns show how many Box-Toppers points (BTP) they earned during the 2013 season and how each player ranked in Box-Toppers points among all players in their league.

MVP vote
AL
Player	Pos	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Points	BTP	Rank*
Miguel Cabrera	3b	Tigers	23	7									385	16.9	3
Mike Trout	cf lf	Angels	5	19	3	1	1		1				282	3.5	144
Chris Davis	1b	Orioles	1	4	11	12	1		1				232	12.7	14
Josh Donaldson	3b	Athletics	1		14	9	3	3					222	9.5	31
Robinson Cano	2b	Yankees			1	5	9	2	6	5	2		150	12.5	17
Evan Longoria	3b	Rays					4	6	6	4	5	3	103	5.5	82
Dustin Pedroia	2b	Red Sox				1	5	5	5	4	2	1	99	3.5	145
Adrian Beltre	3b	Rangers					2	8	7	3	4	2	99	8.4	41
Manny Machado	3b	Orioles					2	1	2	5	5	7	57	1.0	316
David Ortiz	dh	Red Sox				2	1	2	2	1	2	2	47	12.4	18
Jason Kipnis	2b	Indians					1	1		3	3	5	31	8.0	44
Max Scherzer	pi sp	Tigers			1			2		1	1	2	25	18.1	1
Adam Jones	cf	Orioles					1			1			9	8.0	43
Edwin Encarnacion	1b dh	Blue Jays								1	2		7	8.7	38
Greg Holland	pi cp	Royals								1			3	11.0	22
Carlos Santana	ca	Indians								1			3	1.0	287
Coco Crisp	cf	Athletics									1	1	3	4.0	129
Jacoby Ellsbury	cf	Red Sox									1	1	3	5.5	83
Torii Hunter	rf	Tigers									1		2	4.0	125
Hisashi Iwakuma	pi sp	Mariners									1		2	16.1	7
Koji Uehara	pi cp	Red Sox										2	2	6.0	76
Yu Darvish	pi sp	Rangers										1	1	16.0	8
Felix Hernandez	pi sp	Mariners										1	1	14.8	9
Salvador Perez	ca 1b	Royals										1	1	2.5	195
Shane Victorino	rf	Red Sox										1	1	4.5	112
Notable AL snubs
Alfonso Soriano	lf	Yankees											0	12.9	12
Billy Butler	dh	Royals											0	9.0	33
Prince Fielder	1b	Tigers											0	8.5	39
NL
Player, Club	Pos	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Points	BTP	Rank*
Andrew McCutchen	cf	Pirates	28	1	1								409	6.0	71
Paul Goldschmidt	1b	D-Backs		15	9	1	3	2					242	13.7	12
Yadier Molina	ca	Cardinals	2	8	4	6	6		1		2	1	219	4.0	126
Matt Carpenter	2b	Cardinals		6	5	4	3	9	1	1	1		194	7.5	49
Freddie Freeman	1b	Braves				5	7	8	8	1	1		154	11.5	19
Joey Votto	1b	Reds			2	8	7	3	4		1	2	149	4.5	109
Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	Dodgers			8	4		4	5	4	1		146	21.7	1
Hanley Ramirez	ss	Dodgers			1	1	2	1	2	3	3	3	58	5.0	87
Carlos Gomez	cf	Brewers					1		3	6	2	3	43	3.0	162
Jay Bruce	rf	Reds					1	1	3		2	3	30	4.5	112
Craig Kimbrel	pi cp	Braves				1		1		3	3		27	12.7	18
Shin Soo Choo	cf	Reds						1	1	1	4	3	23	7.0	55
Jayson Werth	rf	Nationals							1	2	2	6	20	6.5	66
Andrelton Simmons	ss	Braves								2	4		14	1.5	261
Yasiel Puig	rf	Dodgers							1	2			10	1.5	259
Hunter Pence	rf	Giants								1	1	2	7	6.5	63
Troy Tulowitzki	ss	Rockies									2	1	5	4.0	124
Allen Craig	lf 1b	Cardinals								1		1	4	5.0	84
Adrian Gonzalez	1b	Dodgers								1		1	4	5.0	86
Buster Posey	ca	Giants								1			3	7.0	54
Adam Wainwright	pi sp	Cardinals								1			3	20.2	2
Michael Cuddyer	rf	Rockies										3	3	11.5	20
Matt Holliday	lf	Cardinals									1		2	6.5	62
Russell Martin	ca	Pirates										1	1	2.0	212
Notable NL snubs
Carlos Gonzalez	lf	Rockies											0	11.0	22
Bryce Harper	lf	Nationals											0	9.4	34
Ryan Zimmerman	3b	Nationals											0	9.2	35
Will Venable	rf cf	Padres											0	9.0	36
Daniel Murphy	2b	Mets											0	8.5	40
Pedro Alvarez	3b	Pirates											0	7.7	45
Brandon Phillips	2b	Reds											0	7.5	48

* Rank among players (batters and pitchers) in the league (AL or NL) in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season.

Source: Baseball Writers Association of America

Box-Toppers recalls 2004's postseason, when Cards-Red Sox also met in World Series

With the Red Sox and the Cardinals matched up against each other for the fourth time in World Series history, let's take a Box-Toppers look back to the last time they faced off, in the 2004 Fall Classic. 

With nine years of separation, there aren't a lot of returning players from the previous Cards-Sox title bout—in fact, only two: 

• Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz.
• Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.

Ortiz had 10.7 Box-Toppers points during the 2004 regular season, his best at the time and was Player of the Game in two postseason contests—once in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees and once in Game 1 of the World Series against the Cardinals. This season, Ortiz had 12.4 Box-Toppers points and has already been Player of the Game in Game 2 of the ALCS vs. the Tigers.

Molina was in his first year with the Cardinals in 2004 and had only 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He was playing behind then-starting catcher (now Cardinals manager) Mike Matheny. This season, Molina has 4.0 Box-Toppers points. 

One other current Cardinal player did play a prominent role in 2004's postseason. Carlos Beltran, then of the Astros, was twice Player of the Game during the National League Division series, as the Astros defeated the Braves, three games to two. The Astros lost to the Cardinals in the NLCS, four games to three. 

The 2004 postseason was also notable because it was the first and only time a team with a 3-0 game deficit in a best-of-seven series came back to win it 4-3. That was the Red Sox, beating the Yankees in the ALCS, sparked by Ortiz' Game 4 performance. Ortiz hit a walk-off, 12th-inning, two-run home run to beat the Yankees 6-4. The Sox then trailed that series three games to one.

The 2004 postseason was also notable because it was the first time the Red Sox had won the World Series since 1918—a span of 86 years. The Red Sox went on to sweep the Cardinals in the Fall Classic. Then-Cards stars like Albert Pujols, who contributed to St. Louis wins in the first two rounds of the postseason, were shut out from even once earning Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors during the World Series. However, Ortiz was joined by three other arguably legendary Red Sox as Player of the Game in the other three World Series victories: 

• Game 1: Ortiz, who has 126.4 Box-Toppers points for his career, ranked 24th all-time (since 1995 when Box-Toppers record-keeping began).
• Game 2: Pitcher Curt Schilling, who had 21.0 Box-Toppers points in 2004 and has 194.1 since 1995, ranked third on the all-time (since 1995) list.  
• Game 3: Pitcher Pedro Martinez, who had 17.1 Box-Toppers points in 2004 and has 244.8 since 1995, ranked second on the all-time (since 1995) list, behind only Randy Johnson (278.8). 
• Game 4: Pitcher Derek Lowe, who had a career-low 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2004, but has 91.5 for his career, ranked 82nd on the all-time list. 

2004 League Division Series Box-Toppers results 

Here are Box-Toppers Players of the Games for each of the league division series games played in 2004. Games are listed by day. The Red Sox beat the Angels 3-0. The Yankees beat the Twins 3-1. The Cardinals beat the Dodgers 3-1. The Astros beat the Braves 3-2.

2004	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Oct 5
MLB	2.0	Red Sox	Manny Ramirez lf	5	2	2	3	0	1				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
NL	2.0	Cardinals	Larry Walker rf	4	2	2	2	0	2				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Twins		0	0	0	0	0	0			Johan Santana (W, 1-0)	7.0	9	0	0	1	5
Oct 6
MLB	5.0	Astros	Carlos Beltran cf	3	3	3	2	0	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
AL	3.1	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Keith Foulke (S, 1)	1.1	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	3.0	Yankees	Alex Rodriguez 3b	6	2	4	3	0	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 7
MLB	4.0	`Braves		0	0	0	0	0	0			John Smoltz	3.0	0	0	0	2	3
BAT	3.0	Cardinals	Edgar Renteria ss	4	3	3	1	0	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 8
MLB	4.0	`Red Sox		0	0	0	0	0	0			Bronson Arroyo	6.0	3	2	2	2	7
BAT	1.0	Yankees	Derek Jeter ss	5	0	3	3	0	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 9
MLB	7.0	Dodgers		0	0	0	0	0	0			Jose Lima (W, 1-0)	9.0	5	0	0	1	4
NL	3.0	Astros		0	0	0	0	0	0			Brad Lidge (S, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	2.0	Yankees	Ruben Sierra dh	4	1	2	3	1	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 10
MLB	3.0	Cardinals	Albert Pujols 1b	4	1	2	4	1	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Braves	Adam LaRoche 1b	3	1	1	3	1	1				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 11
MLB	7.0	Astros	Carlos Beltran cf	5	3	4	5	0	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0

2004 League Championship Series Box-Toppers results 

Here are Box-Toppers Players of the Games for each of the league championship series games played in 2004. The Red Sox beat the Yankees 4-3. The Cardinals beat the Astros 4-3.

2004	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Oct 12
MLB	5.0	Yankees	Hideki Matsui lf	5	2	3	5	0	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 13
MLB	4.0	Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jon Lieber (W, 1-0)	7.0	3	1	1	1	3
NL	3.0	Cardinals	Albert Pujols 1b	3	2	2	2	2	1				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 14
MLB	3.0	Cardinals	Scott Rolen 3b	4	2	2	3	0	1				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 16
MLB	9.0	Yankees	Hideki Matsui lf	6	5	5	5	0	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
NL	5.0	Astros	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Brad Lidge (S, 2)	2.0	1	0	0	1	5
Oct 17
MLB	4.0	Astros	Lance Berkman, RF	2	1	2	3	2	0
AL	2.0	Red Sox	David Ortiz, DH	5	1	2	4	1	1
Oct 18
MLB	9.0	`Astros										Brandon Backe	8.0	1	0	0	2	4
AL	5.0	Red Sox										Tim Wakefield (W,1-0)	3.0	1	0	0	1	4
Oct 19
MLB	5.0	Red Sox										Curt Schilling (W,2-1)	7.0	4	1	1	0	4
Oct 20
MLB	5.0	Red Sox	Johnny Damon cf	6	2	3	6	0	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
NL	4.0	Cardinals		0	0	0	0	0	0			Julian Tavarez (W, 2-1)	2.0	0	0	0	0	2
Oct 21
MLB	4.0	Cardinals		0	0	0	0	0	0			Jeff Suppan (W, 2-1)	6.0	3	2	1	2	6

2004 World Series Box-Toppers results 

Here are Box-Toppers Players of the Games for each of the World Series games played in 2004. The Red Sox beat the Cardinals 4-0.

2004	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Oct 23
MLB	4.0	Red Sox	David Ortiz, DH	3	1	2	4	2	0				0.0	0	0	0	0	0
Oct 24
MLB	4.0	Red Sox		0	0	0	0	0	0			Curt Schilling (W, 1-0)	6.0	4	1	0	1	4
Oct 26
MLB	8.0	Red Sox		0	0	0	0	0	0			Pedro Martinez (W, 1-0)	7.0	3	0	0	2	6
Oct 27
MLB	7.0	Red Sox		0	0	0	0	0	0			Derek Lowe (W, 1-0)	7.0	3	0	0	1	4

In the first column of each chart, the designation MLB indicates Player of the Day, AL or NL indicates Player of the Day in the opposite league and BAT indicates the player was the top batter of the day in his league. Usually, top players of the game receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point, top batters in the league receive 1.5, top players in the league receive 1.7 and top overall players receive 2.0. However, postseason Box-Toppers points are not counted in regular season Box-Toppers totals.

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Rays' Chris Archer (CG shutout, 8K) is top player for Sunday, July 14

Rays pitcher Chris Archer is Sunday's Player of the Day. Archer pitched a complete game shutout and struck out eight in the 5-0 win over the Astros.

Yadier Molina of the Cardinals is National League Player of the Day. Molina hit a three-run homer and went 4-for-6 in the 10-6 win over the Cubs.

Chris Davis of the Orioles is American League Batter of the Day. Davis homered (for the 37th time this season), drove in four runs and went 2-for-4 in the 7-4 win over the Blue Jays. Davis earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.2 for the season. He is the 16th player this season to 10.0 Box-Toppers points and is currently in 15th place among players.

Archer receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Molina receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Davis receives 1.5 for being AL Batter of the Day.

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

714	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	13.0	Rays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Chris Archer (W, 4-3)	9.0	4	0	0	0	8
	6.0	Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Justin Verlander (W, 10-6)	7.0	1	0	0	3	3
NL	5.0	Cardinals	Yadier Molina C	6	3	4	4	0	0			0	0	0	0	0	0	0
BAT	4.0	Orioles	Chris Davis 1B	4	2	2	4	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	4.0	Brewers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Wily Peralta (W, 7-9)	7.0	7	1	1	2	8
	4.0	`Nationals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Tyler Clippard	1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.0	Padres	Carlos Quentin LF	4	2	2	3	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Reds	Shin-Soo Choo CF	3	3	2	1	2	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Indians	Jason Kipnis 2B	2	1	2	2	2	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	`Phillies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Cole Hamels	8.0	8	2	2	0	7
	1.2	Mets	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Dillon Gee (W, 7-7)	6.2	5	1	0	1	2
	1.0	Athletics	Josh Donaldson 3B	5	1	2	3	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Rockies	Michael Cuddyer RF	5	1	2	3	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Twins	Aaron Hicks CF	4	1	1	3	1	2			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Mariners	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Tom Wilhelmsen (S, 19)	1.0	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.

Pair of shutout pitchers, Jeff Samardzija and Aaron Harang, top players for Monday, May 27

Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija is Monday's Player of the Day. Samardzija pitched a complete game shutout, giving up only two hits and striking out eight in the 7-0 win over the White Sox.

Mariners pitcher Aaron Harang is American League Player of the Day. Harang also pitched a complete game shutout, giving up only four hits and striking out eight in the 9-0 win over the Padres.

Kelly Johnson of the Rays is AL Batter of the Day. Johnson hit two three-run home runs and went 4-for-5 in the 10-6 win over the Marlins.​

Yadier Molina of the Cardinals is National League Batter of the Day. Molina homered, drove in four runs and went 2-for-2 in the 6-3 win over the Royals.​

Samardzija receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Day. Harang receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Johnson and Molina each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

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

527	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	13.0	Cubs	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jeff Samardzija (W, 3-6)	9.0	2	0	0	2	8
AL	11.0	Mariners	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Aaron Harang (W, 2-5)	9.0	4	0	0	2	8
	9.0	Diamondbacks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Tyler Skaggs (W, 1-0)	6.0	3	0	0	3	9
BAT	7.0	Rays	Kelly Johnson LF	5	2	4	6	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	6.1	`Reds	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Mike Leake	7.1	5	2	1	0	7
BAT	6.0	Cardinals	Yadier Molina C	2	2	2	4	2	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	5.0	Dodgers	Adrian Gonzalez 1B	4	4	4	1	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	5.0	Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Justin Verlander (W, 6-4)	7.0	7	3	3	2	13
	4.0	Orioles	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jason Hammel (W, 7-2)	8.0	8	2	2	0	8
	4.0	`Athletics	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Sean Doolittle (H, 9)	2.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	Blue Jays	Edwin Encarnacion DH	5	1	2	5	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Diamondbacks	Didi Gregorius SS	4	2	2	3	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Red Sox	Stephen Drew SS	3	2	2	2	2	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Twins	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Glen Perkins (S, 10)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Astros	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Paul Clemens (W, 2-2)	1.0	1	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Mets	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Bobby Parnell (S, 8)	1.0	0	0	0	1	2

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.