Braves pitcher Shelby Miller is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day on the season’s final day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Oct. 4 (Final standings).| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 29.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 25.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 22.4 |
| 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 |
Also Sunday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw passed 25 Box-Toppers points in a single season for the third time, only the third player to do that since 1995.
Plus, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom maintained his spot in third place in player rankings, behind Kershaw. In addition, eight players who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday had more than 10 Box-Toppers points on the season.
Player of the Day—Miller pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out seven, in the 6-0 win over the Cardinals.
Miller earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the 46th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points and ranks 44th among all players, 17th among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels pitched a complete game three-hitter, allowing two runs and striking out eight, in the 9-2 win over the Angels.
Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 15.4 for the season. He ranks 15th among all players, eighth among AL pitchers.
Hamels rises to 33rd place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Sunday, he has 126.2 career points and passes Justin Verlander (124.6) on the “all-time” list. He trails 32nd-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4).
American League Batter of the Day—Joey Butler of the Rays hit two home runs—a grand slam and a two-run homer—and went 3-for-4, in the 12-3 win over the Blue Jays.
This was Butler’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Butler made his Major League debut Aug. 7, 2013, and was playing in his 102nd career game. He is the 3,607th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. He is the 172nd and final player to debut in Box-Toppers during the 2015 season.
National League Batter of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-3 win over the Astros.
Goldschmidt earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.2 for the season. He becomes the 47th and final player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points, 10th among batters. He ranks 42nd among all players and fourth among NL batters.
Best seasons
Here are all players who have earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, ranked by their single-season Box-Toppers point total. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw picked up his third 25+ point season of his career Sunday—his 25.7 Box-Toppers points in 2015 are tied for the 20th-most points in a single season since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began.| Rank | Player | Team | Pos | Year | BTP |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2000 | 33.7 |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2002 | 33.7 |
| 3 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 2000 | 33.5 |
| 4 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 1999 | 31.5 |
| 4 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2014 | 31.5 |
| 6 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 1999 | 31.4 |
| 7 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2001 | 29.4 |
| 8 | *Jake Arrieta | Cubs | pi sp | 2015 | 29.1 |
| 9 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 2002 | 28.8 |
| 10 | Curt Schilling | Dbacks | pi sp | 2002 | 28.4 |
| 11 | Roger Clemens | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1997 | 27.4 |
| 12 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2004 | 26.8 |
| 13 | Pedro Martinez | Expos | pi sp | 1997 | 26.7 |
| 13 | CC Sabathia | Indians/Brewers | pi sp | 2008 | 26.7 |
| 15 | Randy Johnson | Mariners/Astros | pi sp | 1998 | 26.4 |
| 16 | John Smoltz | Braves | pi sp | 1996 | 26.1 |
| 16 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2011 | 26.1 |
| 18 | Roger Clemens | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1998 | 25.8 |
| 18 | Corey Kluber | Indians | pi sp | 2014 | 25.8 |
| 20 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2006 | 25.7 |
| 20 | *Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2015 | 25.7 |
| 22 | Cliff Lee | Phillies | pi sp | 2011 | 25.4 |
| * Current season | |||||
Kershaw—Clayton Kershaw (3.2IP 2H 0R 7K ND in the 6-3 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 25.7 for the season. He maintains his rank of second among all players and among NL pitchers, behind overall leader Jake Arrieta of the Cubs (29.1).
But Kershaw has now earned more than 25 Box-Toppers points for the third time in his career, a feat only done by two other players in the 21-season history of Box-Toppers:
Randy Johnson did it five times—1998 (26.4), 1999 (31.5), 2000 (33.7), 2001 (29.4) and 2002 (33.7).
Pedro Martinez did it four times—1997 (26.7), 1999 (31.4), 2000 (33.5) and 2002 (28.8).
Roger Clemens and Johan Santana are the only other players who have earned 25 points in a single season more than once. (See Best seasons chart.)
Kershaw earned 26.1 points in 2011 and 31.5 points in 2014. Despite earning 25.7 points this season, Kershaw’s streak of four straight seasons leading NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points comes to an end this year as he was topped by Arrieta. Kershaw also led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2011, 2013 and 2014.
Kershaw now has 159.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his spot in 13th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Kershaw trails 12th-place player John Smoltz (160.9).
Other notables who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday—
- Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (4IP 0H 0R 7K ND in the 1-0 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 22.4 for the season, maintaining his rank of third among all players and among NL pitchers, behind Arrieta and Kershaw.
- Indians pitcher Danny Salazar (5.1IP 4H R 6K W in the 3-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.4 for the season. He ranks 22nd among all players and 11th among AL pitchers.
- Pirates pitcher J.A. Happ (6IP 3H 0R 7K W in the 4-0 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.1 for the season. He ranks 24th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.
- Chris Davis of the Orioles (2HR 2B 3-4 3R 4BI in the 9-4 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. He ranks 42nd among all players and fourth among AL batters.
- Cubs pitcher Dan Haren rose to 47th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Haren (6IP 3H R 3K W in the 3-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 113.2 for his career. With his point Sunday, he passes Sammy Sosa (113.2) on the “all-time” list. (It should be noted that Sosa began his career in 1989, before the advent of Box-Toppers. Were his entire career tracked, he would have about 135 career Box-Toppers points, according to rough estimates.) Haren trails 46th-ranked player Chris Carpenter (113.3).
Scoring—Miller earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Butler and Goldschmidt each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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
| 10/4 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | Braves | Shelby Miller (W,6-17) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | |
| 9.0 | `Mets | Jacob deGrom | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 8.2 | `Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| AL | 8.0 | Rangers | Cole Hamels (W,13-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | Rays | Joey Butler, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | Pirates | J.A. Happ (W,11-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 6.2 | Braves | Matt Wisler (W,8-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 6.0 | Orioles | Chris Davis, 1B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 6.0 | Tigers | Daniel Norris (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 4.1 | Indians | Danny Salazar (W,14-10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | Mariners | Tom Wilhelmsen (S,13) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.2 | `Phillies | David Buchanan | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | Royals | Salvador Perez, C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Dbacks | Paul Goldschmidt, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Rockies | Justin Morneau, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Cubs | Dan Haren (W,11-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||