Blog
Analyzing 29 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching and batting in both leagues.
In 2023, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, American League Most Valuable Player, was the only player who won a major postseason award and also led his Box-Toppers category (leading AL batters with 19.4). Also, Pete Alonso of the Mets became the ninth batter since 1995 to lead his league’s batters in Box-Toppers points more than once, leading NL batters for the second straight season.
Read MoreIn 2022, Justin Verlander led American League pitchers in season Box-Toppers points for the third time in his career, tied for the seventh-most times a player has led a season points category.
Also in 2022, the New York Mets and Miami Marlins each had their first Box-Toppers points category leader—Pete Alonso and Sandy Alcantara— leaving the Pittsburgh Pirates as the only team to never have a player lead a category since tracking began in 1995.
Read MoreAnalyzing 27 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.
Read MoreAnalyzing 26 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw leads the list of Box-Toppers Active Career All-Stars and is one of four active players included on Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team.
The Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team consists of the best players by position since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and includes 10 players who have retired and four who are still active—Kershaw, along with Albert Pujols of the Angels, Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers and Astros pitcher Zack Greinke, who joined the All-Time All-Star team in 2019.
Read MoreAnalyzing 25 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.
Read MoreClayton Kershaw and Albert Pujols lead Box-Toppers All-Decade All-Star team for the 2010s.
Kershaw earned the most Box-Toppers points of any player from 2010-2019 (210.1) and Pujols earned the most of any batter over that span (79.9), which is 25th among all players. The All-Decade All-Star team is made up of players who led their position in Box-Toppers points over the span of 2010-2019.
Read MoreBox-Toppers is casting a vote for the American League Cy Young Award to Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole.
We are also casting our vote for AL Most Valuable Player to … Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw led the list of Box-Toppers Active Career All-Stars at the end of the 2018 season.
Kershaw was one of four active players to be included on Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team at the end of 2018.
Read MoreAnalyzing 24 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching & batting in both leagues
Read MoreNo batters are deserving of the Most Valuable Player Award this year.
Collectively, batters are faring worse, with their statistics trending downward in recent years. This year has been an even lower point.
Box-Toppers is voting pitcher Max Scherzer as NL MVP and Blake Snell as AL MVP.
Read More
One reason that league-leading batters have had low Box-Toppers point totals in recent seasons is that batters’ overall share of Box-Toppers points earned is declining. Prior to 2010, batters earned about half or more of all Box-Toppers points awarded. Since 2010, batters’ share of points has been below 50 percent each season—and as low as 39.14 percent. (More detailed data used for this graph can be found in the chart at the bottom of his page.)
It seems increasingly likely that Box-Toppers’ league-leading batters will set dubious records in 2018.
Both the American League and National League leaders among batters in Box-Toppers points currently have point totals that would be the lowest to lead their league’s batters for a season since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.
Read More
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has been mentioned on Box-Toppers.com more than any other player.
His team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, is also Box-Toppers’ most-mentioned team.
Read MoreMiguel Tejada has the most Box-Toppers points of any shortstop since tracking began in 1995. Derek Jeter ranks a distant second.
Other leaders at shorstop include Troy Tulowitzki, Elvis Andrus, Corey Seager and Stephen Drew.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw leads the list of Box-Toppers Active Career All-Stars and is one of three active players to be included on Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team.
The Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team consists of the best players by position since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and includes 12 players who have retired and three who are still active—Kershaw, along with Albert Pujols of the Angels and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers.
Read MoreThe Box-Toppers All-Star teams for 2012-17 consist of the best players over the past six seasons, which includes 12 of the 27 players who are also on Box-Toppers 2016-17 All-Star teams.
Also, among the 27 players on the teams, there are 11 players who are on Box-Toppers 2017 All-Star teams and 10 who are on All-Star teams over all three time spans—for 2017, for 2016-17 and for 2012-17.Leading the 2012-17 All-Stars is Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who ranks first in Box-Toppers points over the past six seasons with 147.2.
Read MoreAn analysis of 23 years of Box-Toppers points leaders in pitching & batting in both leagues.
Read More
Red Sox pitcher Doug Fister is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Albert Pujols of the Angels passes Alex Rodriguez to take the lead in career Box-Toppers points among all batters (since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began). Plus, Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs extends his season Box-Toppers points lead among National League batters after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read More
Kershaw, Scherzer, Cabrera are the most frequently mentioned players on Box-Toppers.com since its debut in 2013. The Chicago Cubs hold narrow lead among the most-tagged teams on the website.
Read MoreMiguel Tejada leads shortstops in career Box-Toppers points, though 2nd-place Derek Jeter seen as superior shortstop.
Read MoreBox-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.