All-time leaders (1995-2015)

Pitcher Randy Johnson is the all-time Box-Toppers points leader with 278.8 at the end of the 2015 season.

Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees, fourth place overall, is the all-time leader among batters with 187.0 Box-Toppers points.

Box-Toppers record keeping, tracking the top player in each and every regular season game played, began at the start of the 1995 and after 21 seasons, there’s not a lot of movement among the overall top 10 or the top 10 among pitchers and batters from season to season.

However, two new players joined the all-time top 10 among pitchers in Box-Toppers points during 2015:

  • Felix Hernandez of the Mariners rose to eighth place among pitchers since 1995 with 162.7 Box-Toppers points. Hernandez earned 19.4 Box-Toppers points during 2015 and rose from 13th place among pitchers at the end of the 2014 season. He ranks just outside the overall top 10, in 11th place behind retired pitcher Roger Clemens (164.8 Box-Toppers points).
  • Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers rose to 10th place among pitchers since 1995 with 159.3 Box-Toppers points. Kershaw earned 25.7 Box-Toppers points during 2015 and rose from 15th place among pitchers at the end of the 2014 season. Kershaw ranks 13th among all players on the all-time list.

Two players moved off the all-time top 10 pitchers list from the end of 2014—retired pitcher Mike Mussina (155.6 Box-Toppers points) and Giants pitcher Tim Hudson (who closed 2014 with 153.0, but had 157.0 at the end of 2015). Hudson announced his retirement at the end of 2015.

At the end of the 2014 season, eight of the 20 players on the all-time lists were on active rosters (and that excludes Alex Rodriguez who was suspended at the time). At the end of the 2015 season, there are seven active players. Twelve of the remaining players are retired and one other, Johan Santana, was released during the season as he continues his attempt to comeback from repeated injury. Santana last earned Box-Toppers points in 2012.

Other than the two players joining the all-time pitching top 10, there was very little movement on the chart from the end of last season: 

  • Albert Pujols of the Angels moved from seventh to six place among all players on the all-time list with 174.3 points, passing retired pitcher Roy Halladay (170.7). At the end of 2014, Pujols had 167.3 points—he earned 7.0 points during 2015.
  • Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers moved from 10th to ninth place among batters on the all-time list with 132.9 points, passing Vladimir Guerrero (128.3). At the end of 2014, Cabrera had 128.2 points—he earned 4.7 points during the season.

While there was little movement on the charts, active players did earn Box-Toppers points during 2015:

  • Rodriguez earned 7.7 points after earning no points during 2014, a season in which he was suspended. He ranks fourth overall and first among batters
  • Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, the leader among active pitchers with 179.0 Box-Toppers points, earned 5.7 points. He ranks fifth overall and fourth among pitchers
  • Pujols earned 7.0 Box-Toppers points. He ranks sixth overall and second among batters.
  • Hernandez earned 19.4 Box-Toppers points, third among American League pitchers in 2015. He ranks eighth among all-time pitchers.
  • Kershaw earned 25.7 Box-Toppers points, second among National League pitchers in 2015. He ranks 10th among all-time pitchers.
  • David Ortiz of the Red Sox earned 4.5 Box-Toppers points in 2015. He ranks seventh among all-time batters.
  • Cabrera earned 4.7 points in 2015. He ranks ninth among all-time batters.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers points are a measure of how much a player provides key contributions to his team’s wins. Specifically, 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.

Related: Top 100 players for 1995-2015

 

More leaders:

 

Box-Toppers points leaders for 1995-2015

OVERALL LEADERS POS TEAM BTP
1 Johnson, randy pi sp Retired 278.8
2 Martinez, Pedro J. pi sp Retired 244.8
3 schilling, curt pi sp Retired 194.1
4 Rodriguez, Alex dh nyy al 187.0
5 Sabathia, C.C. 1492 pi sp nyy al 179.0
6 Pujols, Albert 1438 dh 1b ana al 174.3
7 Halladay, Roy 1178 pi sp Retired 170.7
8 Ramirez, manny lf dh Retired 167.2
9 Santana, Johan 1448 pi sp Released 166.6
10 clemens, roger pi sp Retired 164.8
PITCHERS POS TEAM BTP
1 Johnson, randy pi sp Retired 278.8
2 Martinez, Pedro J. pi sp Retired 244.8
3 schilling, curt pi sp Retired 194.1
4 Sabathia, C.C. 1492 pi sp nyy al 179.0
5 Halladay, Roy 1178 pi sp Retired 170.7
6 Santana, Johan 1448 pi sp Released 166.6
7 clemens, roger pi sp Retired 164.8
8 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 162.7
9 smoltz, john pi sp Retired 160.9
10 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 159.3
BATTERS POS TEAM BTP
1 Rodriguez, Alex dh nyy al 187.0
2 Pujols, Albert 1438 dh 1b ana al 174.3
3 Ramirez, manny lf dh Retired 167.2
4 bonds, barry lf Retired 153.2
5 jones, chipper 3b Retired 149.0
6 thome, jim 1b dh Retired 146.7
7 Ortiz, David dh bos al 137.9
8 giambi, jason dh ph retired 133.4
9 Cabrera, Miguel 1776 1b det al 132.9
10 Guerrero, Vladimir rf dh Retired 128.3
BTP: Box-Toppers points
What are those numbers after players' names?