Carlos Beltran could tie Jason Giambi in 2017 for most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points (19)

Jason Giambi earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 19 consecutive seasons, the longest streak by any player in Box-Toppers tracking history.

Box-Toppers season streaks

Here are the players who have earned Box-Toppers points in the most consecutive seasons. Jason Giambi earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 19 straight seasons from 1995 to 2013, more than any other player. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.) Players are listed by length of their streak. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.

	Streak	Player	Pos	Duration	Career BTP
1	19	Jason Giambi	1b	1995-2013	133.4
2	18	Jim Thome	1b dh	1995-2012	146.7
2	18	Chipper Jones	3b	1995-2012	149.0
2	18	Johnny Damon	lf	1995-2012	63.0
2	18	Alex Rodriguez	3b	1996-2013	187.0
2	18	Carlos Beltran*	rf	1999-2016	104.9
7	17	Mariano Rivera	pi cp	1995-2011	126.4
7	17	Derek Jeter	ss	1996-2012	76.4
7	17	Paul Konerko	1b	1998-2014	100.7
7	17	Tim Hudson	pi sp	1999-2015	157.0
7	17	Torii Hunter	cf	1999-2015	115.9
7	17	David Ortiz**	dh	2000-2016	145.9
13	16	Manny Ramirez	lf	1995-2010	167.2
13	16	Andy Pettitte	pi sp	1995-2010	138.5
13	16	Jamie Moyer	pi sp	1995-2010	104.0
13	16	Scott Rolen	3b	1996-2011	97.6
13	16	Kevin Millwood	pi sp	1997-2012	108.3
13	16	Derek Lowe	pi sp	1998-2013	91.5
13	16	Aramis Ramirez	3b	2000-2015	105.8
13	16	Mark Buehrle	pi sp	2000-2015	116.7
13	16	Albert Pujols*	dh 1b	2001-2016	182.3
13	16	CC Sabathia*	pi sp	2001-2016	185.0
13	16	Ichiro Suzuki*	rf	2001-2016	53.7
24	15	Randy Johnson	pi sp	1995-2009	278.8
24	15	Garret Anderson	lf	1995-2009	86.5
24	15	Ivan Rodriguez	ca	1995-2009	79.0
24	15	Tony Clark	1b	1995-2009	63.8
24	15	Gary Sheffield	lf	1995-2009	124.1
24	15	Jason Kendall	ca	1996-2010	40.9
24	15	Vladimir Guerrero	rf	1997-2011	128.3
24	15	Bobby Abreu	rf	1997-2011	95.5
24	15	Mike Cameron	cf	1997-2011	70.3
24	15	Miguel Tejada	ss	1997-2011	102.3
24	15	Jorge Posada	ca	1997-2011	79.5
24	15	Livan Hernandez	pi sp	1997-2011	76.7
24	15	Kyle Lohse	pi sp	2001-2015	89.0
24	15	Jake Peavy*	pi sp	2002-2016	141.8

BTP: Box-Toppers points
* Active streak of a player who plans to be active in 2017
** Active streak of a player who announced his retirement at the end of 2016.

Carlos Beltran has the longest active streak after he earned Box-Toppers points in his 18th consecutive season in 2016. Beltran started 2016 with the Yankees before being traded to the Rangers in midseason and earned 6.0 Box-Toppers points during the year. In the offseason, he signed with the Astros and will have a chance to tie Giambi’s record of 19 straight seasons if he earns Box-Toppers points in 2017. He turns 40 on April 24.

The chart shows the 37 players who have streaks of 15 or more seasons earning Box-Toppers points. The list is an indication of baseball’s most durable, consistent and injury-free players over the past 22 seasons (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995).

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.

Giambi, who tops the list with 19 straight seasons, earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in each season from 1995 to 2013. Giambi began his career in 1995, the same year Box-Toppers tracking began, and missed earning Box-Toppers points in only one season—his final year before retiring—in 2014. 

Giambi ranks ninth among all batters in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 with 133.4. He twice earned 17.0 Box-Toppers points in a single season—in 2000 with the Athletics and in 2002 with the Yankees, when he led American League batters in Box-Toppers points. And while he had seven seasons with 7.5 or more Box-Toppers points, he also had seasons in which he barely kept the streak alive. He earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors only once in each of the 2011 and 2012 seasons—he had 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2011 and 1.0 point in 2012.

Many players on the list began their consecutive seasons streak in 1995. Several of those players could likely have had longer streaks if Box-Toppers tracking extended earlier than 1995. For example, Jim Thome ranks second with a streak of 18 straight seasons, but he began his career in 1991. Jamie Moyer (16 straight seasons) and Randy Johnson (15 straight seasons) both began their careers in the late 1980s and would also likely have longer streaks.

Beltran, who could tie Giambi’s 19-year streak record in 2017, has earned Box-Toppers points in 18 straight seasons from 1999 to 2016. He has five seasons with 7.5 or more Box-Toppers points (including his best year, 2003 with the Royals, when he had 13.9 Box-Toppers points, second among AL batters), but has had two seasons with only 1.0 Box-Toppers point—2010 with the Mets and 2014 with the Yankees. His 2016 season with 6.0 Box-Toppers points was his best year since 2011, when he had 8.7 points with the Mets and the Giants. Beltran has 104.9 career Box-Toppers points, 21st among all batters since 1995 and fourth among currently active batters.

David Ortiz of the Red Sox extended his streak of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points to 17 in 2016. But the streak, tied for the seventh-longest in Box-Toppers tracking history, will end at 17 after Ortiz retired at the end of 2016. The streak, which had been the second-longest among active players, began in 2000 when Ortiz was with the Twins. Ortiz earned his first Box-Toppers points in 1997 with the Twins, but failed to earn points in 1999—had he earned points that season, the streak would be 20 seasons, from 1997 to 2016.

Ortiz’s weakest season of the 17-year streak was the first, 2000, when he had just 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He has had at least 4.0 Box-Toppers points each season since then. He led AL batters in Box-Toppers points in both 2005 (14.7) and 2006 (16.7, his best season), both with the Red Sox. In 2016, he earned 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 18th among AL batters. Ortiz has 145.9 career Box-Toppers points, seventh among all batters since 1995 and was second in career points among active batters before he retired.

Three active players extended their consecutive season streak to 16 in 2016 (tied for 13th-longest) and have a chance to increase the streak to 17 seasons in 2017:

• Albert Pujols of the Angels has earned Box-Toppers points each season from 2001 to 2016. Pujols, who turns 37 on Jan. 16, earned 8.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016, his best season since 2011 with the Cardinals, when he had 12.5. Pujols has never had fewer than 4.0 points in any season (he had 4.0 in 2013 with the Angels). He’s led his league’s batters in Box-Toppers points five times, most of any batter; he led National League batters in 2003 (16.5 Box-Toppers points), 2004 (15.9), 2008 (15.2), 2009 (16.7) and 2010 (15.4), all five times with the Cardinals. Pujols has 182.3 career Box-Toppers points, second among all batters since 1995 and third among active players.
• CC Sabathia of the Yankees has earned Box-Toppers points each season from 2001 to 2016. Sabathia, who turns 37 on July 21, earned 6.0points in 2016, his best season since 2012, when he had 15.1 points. Sabathia barely kept the streak alive in 2014 when he earned only 1.0 Box-Toppers point. But Sabathia has earned more than 10.0 Box-Toppers points in nine seasons and led NL pitchers in 2008 with the Brewers when he had 26.7 Box-Toppers points. Sabathia’s 16-year streak earning Box-Toppers points is the longest active streak among pitchers. Sabathia has 185.0 career Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players since 1995, fourth among all pitchers and first among all active players.
• Ichiro Suzuki of the Marlins has earned Box-Toppers points each season from 2001 to 2016. Suzuki, 43, earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016. His best season was 2007 when he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points. As a consistent singles hitter who doesn’t hit for much power, Suzuki has never racked up big Box-Toppers numbers. He has just 53.7 career Box-Toppers points over the 16 seasons, an average of just 3.36 per season. He will enter 2017 as the 33rd-ranked active batter in career points. Also, Suzuki has barely kept the streak alive—he’s had three seasons with only 1.0 Box-Toppers point—2010 with the Mariners, 2014 with the Yankees and 2015 with the Marlins. He’s had 2.5 or fewer points per season each year since 2010.

Jake Peavy, who played for the Giants in 2016, is the only player to debut on this list of players with streaks of 15 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points. Peavy earned Box-Toppers points for the 15th straight season in 2016 (2002-2016). Peavy has the fifth-longest active streak of players slated to play in 2017. He earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016 with the Giants. His best season was 2007 with the Padres, when he had 23.4 Box-Toppers points, leading all players. He has 141.8 career Box-Toppers points, 27th among all players since 1995 and eighth among active pitchers. Peavy is currently listed as a free agent.

Active season streaks

Here are players active at the start of the 2017 season who have earned Box-Toppers points in the most consecutive seasons. Carlos Beltran has earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 18 straight seasons from 1999 to 2016, more than any other currently active player. Players are listed by the length of their streak. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.

	Streak	Player	Pos	Duration	Career BTP
1	18	Carlos Beltran*	rf	1999-2016	104.9
2	16	Albert Pujols*	dh 1b	2001-2016	182.3
2	16	CC Sabathia*	pi sp	2001-2016	185.0
2	16	Ichiro Suzuki*	rf	2001-2016	53.7
5	15	Jake Peavy*	pi sp	2002-2016	141.8
6	14	Miguel Cabrera*	1b	2003-2016	144.9
6	14	Francisco Rodriguez*	pi cp	2003-2016	63.4
8	13	Matt Holliday*	lf	2004-2016	97.8
8	13	Justin Morneau*	1b	2004-2016	74.3
8	13	Joe Mauer*	1b ca	2004-2016	70.6

BTP: Box-Toppers points
* Player active at the end of 2016 and who is planning to be active in 2017.

The second chart is limited to the top 10 players with active streaks who have either not announced retirement or have already made plans to play in 2017 (Ortiz is not included on this list). The list includes active players already mentioned: Beltran, Pujols, Sabathia, Suzuki and Peavy, plus five others—two who have streaks of14 seasons and three who have streaks of 13 seasons.

Miguel Cabrera and Francisco Rodriguez, both of the Tigers, have earned Box-Toppers points for 14 straight seasons and enter 2017 tied for the sixth-longest active streak.

Three players enter 2017 with streaks of 13 straight seasons earning Box-Toppers points, tied for the eighth-longest active streak: Matt Holliday, Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer. Holliday played for the Cardinals in 2016 and signed with the Yankees for 2017. Morneau played for the White Sox in 2016 (and barely kept the streak alive, earning just 1.0 Box-Toppers point) and is currently listed as a free agent for 2017. Mauer of the Twins also barely kept his streak alive in 2016, earning just 1.5 Box-Toppers points.

Mark Teixeira of the Yankees earned Box-Toppers points in 14 straight seasons from 2003 to 2016, but since he retired at the end of 2016, he is not on the list of players with a chance to extend streaks in 2017. If he were, he would be tied for sixth. Teixeira earned 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016 and has 101.3 for his career, 24th among all batters since 1995.

Three players who carried long streaks into the 2016 season did not extend them, causing them to end after 2015:

• Pitcher Mark Buehrle earned Box-Toppers points for 16 straight seasons from 2000 to 2015, but in 2016 remained unsigned and did not play. Buehrle, 37, is still listed as a free agent.
• Pitcher Kyle Lohse earned Box-Toppers points for 15 straight seasons from 2001 to 2015. In 2016, he played briefly for the Rangers before being released and earned no Box-Toppers points, ending his streak. Lohse, 38, is listed as a free agent.
• Catcher A.J. Pierzynski earned Box-Toppers points for 13 straight seasons from 2003 to 2015. But in 2016, he earned no Box-Toppers points, playing in 81 games for the Braves. Going into 2016, Pierzynski was tied for the ninth-longest active streak. Pierzynski, 40, is currently listed as a free agent.

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Beltran, by earning Box-Toppers points in 2016 for the 18th straight year, joined four other players tied for second-place for the longest consecutive season streak earning Box-Toppers points (since tracking began in 1995):

• Jim Thome had at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point each season from 1995 to 2012. His best season was 1996 with the Indians when he had 16.2 Box-Toppers points, ranking sixth among all players and third among AL batters. He barely kept the streak alive in 2005 with the Phillies when he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point. Thome had 11 seasons with 7.5 or more Box-Toppers points and has 146.7 career Box-Toppers points, sixth among all batters since 1995.
• Chipper Jones had at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point each season from 1995 to 2012. His best season was 2001 with the Braves when he had 16.7 Box-Toppers points, ranking second among National League batters. He barely kept the streak alive in 2011 with the Braves when he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point. Jones had 11 seasons with 7.5 or more Box-Toppers points and has 149.0 career Box-Toppers points, fifth among all batters since 1995.
• Johnny Damon had at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point each season from 1995 to 2012. His best season was 2000 with the Royals when he had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, ranking 23rd among AL batters. That was his only season with 7.5 or more Box-Toppers points. He had five seasons in which he barely kept the streak alive with 1.0 Box-Toppers point—1995 and 1996 with the Royals, 2005 with the Red Sox and 2007 and 2009 with the Yankees. Damon has 63.0 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 96th among all batters since 1995.
• Alex Rodriguez had at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point each season from 1996 to 2013. His best season was 2007 with the Yankees when he had 18.9 Box-Toppers points, first among all AL players. During his streak, he had 10 seasons with at least 7.5 Box-Toppers points (he has since earned another—in 2015, he had 7.7 points). His lowest year was the final year of the streak in 2013 with the Yankees when he had 3.0 Box-Toppers points. Rodriguez leads all batters in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 with 187.0. He ranks fourth among all players in that span.

Rodriguez’s consecutive season streak was cut short by his 2014 suspension under baseball’s performance enhancing drug policy. Had he been able to play in 2014 and earn Box-Toppers points, his streak after 2015 (in which he did play and earn points) would have been at 20 seasons, breaking Giambi’s record.

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While the lists generally include players who have piled up huge Box-Toppers point totals, it also includes players who have strung together consecutive seasons often barely keeping the streak alive, with very low Box-Toppers point totals. For example:

• Johnny Damon, mentioned earlier, has a streak of 18 straight seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point, but only has 63.0 career points.
• Jason Kendall had Box-Toppers points in 15 consecutive seasons from 1996 to 2010, but only has 40.9 career Box-Toppers points. His best year was 1998 with the Pirates when he had 10.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking 15th among NL batters. But Kendall had six seasons in which he had only 1.0 Box-Toppers point—2001 and 2002 with the Pirates, 2005 and 2006 with the Athletics, 2007 with the Athletics and Cubs and 2008 with the Brewers.

Pedro Martinez is the player with the most Box-Toppers points who doesn’t appear in the consecutive streak list. Martinez ranks second among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 with 244.8. Martinez had a streak of 11 straight seasons with Box-Toppers points from 1995 to 2006. He missed earning points in 2007 and 2008 before earning 3.7 in 2009. Martinez started his career in 1992, before Box-Toppers tracking, and would likely have had a streak of 13 straight seasons (from 1993 onward) if those seasons were tracked.

Interestingly, the list of players with the most consecutive years earning Box-Toppers points is made up largely of batters. Of the 37 players listed, 25 are batters and 12 are pitchers. In most Box-Toppers categories comparing pitchers to batters, pitchers dominate as they win Player of the Game and Player of the Day honors more frequently. But spread out over the longer period of time, batters tend to gain a few advantages. Batters’ careers tend to be longer than pitchers and with fewer interruptions because of injury. That allows them to be more likely to rank high in a list like this that prizes both longevity and consistency.