In baseball’s major 2014 postseason awards, the winners chosen by baseball writers were very consistent with the leaders in Box-Toppers points.
The Baseball Writers’ Association of America, which votes on the awards, and Box-Toppers picked the same winners in five of the six major awards this week—two each for Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player.
The only exception was American League Most Valuable Player. Writers unanimously chose Mike Trout of the Angels, while Box-Toppers points leader among AL batters was Jose Abreu of the White Sox. Trout finished seventh among AL batters in Box-Toppers points. Abreu finished fourth in writers’ voting.
Also, while the leading National League batter in Box-Toppers points was not selected as NL MVP, Box-Toppers, like writers, made a judgment call (including here on August 15) to favor a pitcher, Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers, for the award. Kershaw had a dominant season with 31.5 Box-Toppers points, the most by any player in a single season since 2002 and the fourth-highest single-season point total since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995.
Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies led NL batters in Box-Toppers points with 11.6, but missed nearly half the season due to injury. He received one single 10th-place vote for NL MVP.
See the chart below for the winners as voted by baseball writers and the winners according to Box-Toppers player rankings.
Last year, Box-Toppers and baseball writers coincided on only four of the six postseason awards, missing on 2013 NL MVP (Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates beat Box-Toppers points leader among NL batters, Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks) and 2013 AL Rookie of the Year (Wil Myers of the Rays beat Box-Toppers points leader among AL rookies, Chris Archer, also of the Rays). Box-Toppers and writers agreed on 2013’s Cy Young Award winners.
While Box-Toppers and writers agreed on five of the six major postseason awards this year, most Box-Toppers leaders for their position did not win a 2014 Silver Slugger Award, voted on by coaches and managers. In fact, only four out of 18 Box-Toppers points leaders were voted as Silver Slugger Award winners.
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' postseason awards summary
Box-Toppers points leaders won five of the six major postseason awards as voted by baseball writers. Here are the winners of the six major awards (left) and the Box-Toppers points leader in each category (right). The only award not won by a Box-Toppers points leader was the American League Most Valuable Player award, won by Mike Trout of the Angels—that is highlighted in red below:
| Rookie of the Year | ||||||||||
| AL winner | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | AL BTP leader | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Jose Abreu | White Sox | 1b | 15.5 | 14 | Jose Abreu | White Sox | 1b | 15.5 | 14 | |
| NL winner | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | NL BTP leader | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Jacob deGrom | Mets | pi sp | 13.0 | 26 | Jacob deGrom | Mets | pi sp | 13.0 | 26 | |
| Cy Young Award | ||||||||||
| AL winner | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | AL BTP leader | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Corey Kluber | Indians | pi sp | 25.8 | 2 | Corey Kluber | Indians | pi sp | 25.8 | 2 | |
| NL winner | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | NL BTP leader | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 31.5 | 1 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 31.5 | 1 | |
| Most Valuable Player Award | ||||||||||
| AL winner | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | AL BTP leader | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Mike Trout | Angels | cf | 8.5 | 78 | Jose Abreu | White Sox | 1b | 15.5 | 14 | |
| NL winner | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | NL BTP leader | Team | Pos | BTP | Rank | |
| Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 31.5 | 1 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 31.5 | 1 | |
| *Troy Tulowitzki | Rockies | ss | 11.6 | 39 | ||||||
* Troy Tulowitzki led NL batters in Box-Toppers points. The NL MVP is generally awarded to batters, but this year, given Clayton Kershaw's dominance, the award was won by a pitcher for only the fourth time in the past 30 years.
Box-Toppers complete postseason awards coverage
Here are links to more details on each of baseball’s 2014 postseason awards, including Box-Toppers points leaders in each category and the full voting results and analysis:
Silver Slugger Awards
Box-Toppers points leaders win only four of the 18 awards in each position, voted on by baseball coaches and managers.
Rookie of the Year Awards
Box-Toppers points leaders win both the AL award (Jose Abreu of the White Sox) and NL award (Jacob deGrom of the Mets) as voted by baseball writers.
Cy Young Awards
Box-Toppers points leaders win both the AL award (Corey Kluber of the Indians) and NL award (Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers) as voted by baseball writers.
Most Valuable Player Awards
Box-Toppers overall points leader Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers, a pitcher, wins the NL MVP, as voted by baseball writers. However, the leader in Box-Toppers points among AL batters, Jose Abreu of the White Sox, finishes behind the AL MVP as voted by baseball writers, Mike Trout of the Angels.