The Los Angeles Angels have dethroned the Oakland Athletics from the top of Box-Toppers team rankings, a spot they held since July 13.
In this week’s report, the Angels have 107.7 Box-Toppers points, passing the Athletics, with 107.4 points.
Top 10 teams
Here are Box-Toppers' Top 10 teams, through the games of Thursday, Sept. 4. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team have accumulated so far this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams have accumulated in the past week.| 904 | Teams | BTP | BTP /wk |
Last wk rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Angels | 107.7 | 4.0 | 2 |
| 2 | Athletics | 107.4 | 2.2 | 1 |
| 3 | Dodgers | 104.1 | 3.0 | 3 |
| 4 | Cardinals | 101.1 | 7.0 | 4 |
| 5 | Tigers | 99.4 | 6.0 | 5 |
| 6 | Giants | 97.1 | 6.7 | 6 |
| 7 | Orioles | 95.4 | 10.4 | 8 |
| 8 | Nationals | 94.0 | 4.7 | 7 |
| 9 | Blue Jays | 92.0 | 10.0 | 13 |
| 10 | Mariners | 88.4 | 5.0 | 11 |
The Angels have the best winning percentage in baseball (.604). And they’ve had the best winning percentage the past two weeks, but until now, were never able to overtake the Athletics in Box-Toppers points. The Athletics were able to boost their Box-Toppers points total through July trades, especially an early July trade with the Cubs, bringing them pitchers Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija.
But the Angels swept the Athletics in a four-game series last weekend, helping them move to the top in Box-Toppers rankings. The Athletics, now in second place in Box-Toppers rankings, have a winning percentage of .568, third-best in the American League and fourth best among all teams.
The Angels leading player, pitcher Garrett Richards, who has 15.7 Box-Toppers points, is out for the season with a torn knee tendon. Richards still ranks ninth among all players and sixth among AL pitchers. The next-highest rated Angels player is pitcher Matt Shoemaker, with 10.7 Box-Toppers points. He ranks 17th among AL pitchers.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are still the top National League team in Box-Toppers points. Dodgers players have accumulated 104.1 Box-Toppers points and remain in third place among all teams. They’ve been the top NL team since the July 3 team rankings report.
The Dodgers are led by overall Box-Toppers points leader, pitcher Clayton Kershaw (27.8) and pitcher Zack Greinke (13.8 Box-Toppers points, who ranks fifth among NL pitchers).
The Dodgers have the second-best winning percentage in the NL (.557), behind the Washington Nationals (.572). The Nationals have 94.0 Box-Toppers points and rank eighth among all teams, fourth among NL teams..
The Baltimore Orioles had the best week of any team, scoring 10.4 Box-Toppers points, rising from eighth to seventh place with 95.4.
The Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners both rose into the top 10 list this week. The Blue Jays picked up 10.0 Box-Toppers points to rise from 13th to ninth place with 92.0 Box-Toppers points. And the Mariners picked up 5.0 Box-Toppers points to rise from 11th to 10th place, with 88.4.
The Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers both fell out of the top 10. The Royals fell from ninth to 11th place, with 86.6 Box-Toppers points, picking up only 2.0 points during the week. The Brewers fell from 10th to 13th place, with 84.0 Box-Toppers points, after they picked up 0.0 points during the week.
The Boston Red Sox remain the lowest-ranked team with 56.7 Box-Toppers points.
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. 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.