Sabathia, Pujols join Giambi, Beltran earning Box-Toppers points in a record 19 straight seasons

In 2019, CC Sabathia and Albert Pujols have tied Box-Toppers’ record for the longest streak of consecutive seasons earning at least one Player of the Game honor.

Box-Toppers season streaks

Here are the players who have earned Box-Toppers points in the most consecutive seasons. In 2019, Albert Pujols and CC Sabathia have tied Carlos Beltran and Jason Giambi for the longest streak—19 straight seasons. Players are listed by length of their streak. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.)
 
Streak
Player
Pos
Duration		 Career
BTP
1 19 Jason Giambi 1b 1995‑2013 133.4
1 19 Carlos Beltran rf 1999‑2017 108.6
1 19 CC Sabathia* pi sp 2001‑2019 201.4
1 19 Albert Pujols* 1b dh 2001‑2019 194.8
5 18 Jim Thome 1b dh 1995‑2012 146.7
5 18 Chipper Jones 3b 1995‑2012 149.0
5 18 Johnny Damon lf 1995‑2012 63.0
5 18 Alex Rodriguez 3b 1996‑2013 187.0
9 17 Mariano Rivera pi cp 1995‑2011 126.4
9 17 Derek Jeter ss 1996‑2012 76.4
9 17 Paul Konerko 1b 1998‑2014 100.7
9 17 Tim Hudson pi sp 1999‑2015 157.0
9 17 Torii Hunter cf 1999‑2015 115.9
9 17 David Ortiz dh 2000‑2016 145.9
9 17 Miguel Cabrera* dh 1b 2003‑2019 148.9
16 16 Manny Ramirez lf 1995‑2010 167.2
16 16 Andy Pettitte pi sp 1995‑2010 138.5
16 16 Jamie Moyer pi sp 1995‑2010 104.0
16 16 Scott Rolen 3b 1996‑2011 97.6
16 16 Kevin Millwood pi sp 1997‑2012 108.3
16 16 Derek Lowe pi sp 1998‑2013 91.5
16 16 Aramis Ramirez 3b 2000‑2015 105.8
16 16 Mark Buehrle pi sp 2000‑2015 116.7
16 16 Ichiro Suzuki rf 2001‑2016 53.7
25 15 Randy Johnson pi sp 1995‑2009 278.8
25 15 Garret Anderson lf 1995‑2009 86.5
25 15 Ivan Rodriguez ca 1995‑2009 79.0
25 15 Tony Clark 1b 1995‑2009 63.8
25 15 Gary Sheffield lf 1995‑2009 124.1
25 15 Jason Kendall ca 1996‑2010 40.9
25 15 Vladimir Guerrero rf 1997‑2011 128.3
25 15 Bobby Abreu rf 1997‑2011 95.5
25 15 Mike Cameron cf 1997‑2011 70.3
25 15 Miguel Tejada ss 1997‑2011 102.3
25 15 Jorge Posada ca 1997‑2011 79.5
25 15 Livan Hernandez pi sp 1997‑2011 76.7
25 15 Kyle Lohse pi sp 2001‑2015 89.0
25 15 Jake Peavy pi sp 2002‑2016 141.8
25 15 Joe Mauer 1b 2004‑2018 82.6
25 15 Edwin Encarnacion* dh 2005‑2019 87.2
BTP: Box-Toppers points
* Active streak of a player active in 2019.

Both Sabathia and Pujols this season have earned Box-Toppers points for their 19th straight season (from 2001 to 2019). That ties the record held by Jason Giambi (1995 to 2013) and Carlos Beltran (1999 to 2017). (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, the same year Giambi began his Major League career.)

Sabathia of the Yankees reached the 19-season milestone on April 13, earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2019. His streak will likely end at 19 because Sabathia, 38, has announced that 2019 will be his final season. Sabathia’s streak is the longest among all pitchers, ahead of Mariano Rivera’s 17 straight seasons.

Pujols of the Angels reached the 19-season milestone on May 11, earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2019. Pujols, 39, has made no retirement announcement and so could set the new record at 20 straight seasons in 2020. He is signed with the Angels through the 2021 season, when he will be 41.

Giambi, Beltran, Sabathia and Pujols are atop the chart of 40 players (elsewhere on this page, “Box-Toppers season streaks”) who have had streaks of 15 or more consecutive seasons earning Player of the Game honors. Sabathia and Pujols lead active players and are only two of four active players who have current streaks of 15 or more seasons.

The other two are:

  • Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, who has earned points in 17 straight seasons from 2003 to 2019. He extended his streak when he earned his first Player of the Game honor of 2019 on June 4.

  • Edwin Encarnacion of the Mariners, who has earned points in 15 straight seasons from 2005 to 2019. Encarnacion reached the 15-season milestone on May 19 with his first Player of the Game honor of the season.

The chart showing 40 players with streaks of 15 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points is an indication of baseball’s most durable, consistent and injury-free players over the past 25 seasons.

The second chart on the page “Active season streaks,” shows the 11 players with currently active streaks of 14 consecutive seasons or more earning Box-Toppers points. Of those 11, nine have already extended their streak in 2019; the other two have yet to earn Player of the Game honors but could extend their streak in 2019 to further climb in the rankings.

And the third chart on this page, “Streaks ended after 2018,” shows the 10 players whose streaks of 12 consecutive seasons or more earning Box-Toppers points came to end at the end of 2018, either because they retired at the end of the season or because they failed to earn points during the season, thus ending their streak as of 2017.

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.

Streak leaders

Of the four players now tied with the most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points, Sabathia has the most career points (201.4), followed by Pujols (193.3), Giambi (133.4) and Beltran (108.6).

Sabathia ranks fourth among all players in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He ranks second among active players.

Pujols ranks sixth among all players in career points since 1995, leading all batters, and ranks fourth among active players.

Giambi ranks 32nd among all players in career points since 1995, ninth among all batters over that span.

Beltran ranks 63rd among all players in career points since 1995, 18th among all batters over that span.

Sabathia has the longest consecutive season streak earning Box-Toppers points among all pitchers since 1995. His 19-season streak is now two seasons longer than the second-longest by a pitcher—17 seasons by closer Mariano Rivera from 1995-2011.

Sabathia barely kept his streak alive in 2014 when he had just 1.0 Box-Toppers point. The fewest points Pujols had in any season in his streak was 3.0 in 2018. Giambi had two seasons in which he had 1.5 or fewer points (2011 with 1.5 and 2012 with 1.0). And Beltran had two seasons in which he extended his streak earning just 1.0 point (2010 and 2014).

Sabathia and Pujols have both earned Box-Toppers points in each of the 19 seasons in which they’ve played (both from 2001 to 2019). Beltran earned Box-Toppers points in all but his first season in his Major League career. However, in 1998, he played in just 14 games and in 1999, his first full season with the Royals, was named AL Rookie of the Year. Giambi earned Box-Toppers points in all but his final season in his Major League career. In 2014, with the Indians, Giambi played in just 26 games.

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.

Active season streaks

CC Sabathia and Albert Pujols have the longest currently active streaks of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points—both reached 19 seasons in 2019. Here are the 11 players with the longest currently active such streaks as of May 2019. Each player here has earned points in at least 14 straight seasons. Players are listed by the length of their streak and with their current team status. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.

Streak Player Pos Team Duration BTP*
1 19 CC Sabathia pi sp Yankees 2001‑2019 201.4
1 19 Albert Pujols 1b dh Angels 2001‑2019 194.8
3 17 Miguel Cabrera dh 1b Tigers 2003‑2019 148.9
4 15 Edwin Encarnacion dh Mariners 2005‑2019 87.2
5 14 Felix Hernandez pi sp Mariners 2005‑2018 174.1
5 14 Robinson Cano 2b Mets 2005‑2018 83.4
5 14 Justin Verlander pi sp Astros 2006‑2019 191.9
5 14 Cole Hamels pi sp Cubs 2006‑2019 170.2
5 14 Jon Lester pi sp Cubs 2006‑2019 168.6
5 14 Ian Kinsler 2b Padres 2006‑2019 71.6
5 14 Nelson Cruz dh Twins 2006‑2019 64.2
BTP*: Career Box-Toppers points

Active streaks

Sabathia and Pujols lead active players with 19-season streaks.

Sabathia leads all active pitchers, five seasons ahead of a group with the second-longest active streak among pitchers. These four pitchers have active streaks of 14 straight seasons earning Box-Toppers points:

Verlander, Hamels and Cole have each extended their season streaks in 2019.

Pujols leads all active batters, two seasons ahead of Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, whose 17-season streak runs from 2003-2019.

Notable streaks ended after 2018

Streaks ended after 2018

Here is a list of the longest streaks of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points that came to an end after 2018. Two players who earned points in 2018 retired at the end of the season—Joe Mauer, who had a 15-year streak earning points (the longest streak listed here) and Jason Hammel, who had a 13-year streak. The remaining eight players here did not earn any points in 2018 and so saw their streaks end with 2017 being the final season of their streak. Brian McCann and Howie Kendrick (both with 12-season streaks) did not extend their streaks in 2018, but have since earned points in 2019.
Players are listed by the length of their streak and with their current team status. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.

Streak Player Pos Team Duration BTP*
15 Joe Mauer 1b Retired 2004‑2018 82.6
14 Matt Holliday dh 1b lf Free agent 2004‑2017 100.8
13 Ervin Santana pi sp White Sox 2005‑2017 113.4
13 Jason Hammel pi sp Retired 2006‑2018 63.2
12 Edinson Volquez pi sp Rangers 2006‑2017 68.2
12 Brian McCann ca Braves 2006‑2017 64.9
12 Adam Lind 1b ph Free agent 2006‑2017 61.5
12 Mike Napoli dh 1b Retired 2006‑2017 60.7
12 Russell Martin ca Dodgers 2006‑2017 55.0
12 Howie Kendrick 2b lf 1b Nationals 2006‑2017 38.5
BTP*: Career Box-Toppers points

Several notable long streaks came to an end after the 2018 season, either because a player retired after the season or failed to earn points during 2018 (see the chart “Streaks ended after 2018”).

Joe Mauer retired from the Twins after 2018 after earning Box-Toppers points for 15 straight seasons from 2004-2018. It was the longest streak that came to an end after 2018.

Matt Holliday saw his 14-season streak end after 2017 when he did not earn any points during the 2018 season (he played just 25 games with the Rockies). Holliday earned points from 2004-2017 and is currently listed as a free agent.

The longest streak among pitchers that came to an end after 2018 was 14 seasons. Both Ervin Santana and Jason Hammel saw their streaks come to an end after 2018. Santana’s streak from 2005-2017 ended because he earned no points in 2018; he’s currently with the White Sox. Hammel’s streak from 2006-2018 ended after he retired at the end of 2018 as a member of the Royals.

Other notable facts about consecutive streaks

Other notable facts about players with lengthy consecutive seasons streaks earning Box-Toppers points:

  • Jason Kendall has the fewest career Box-Toppers points among the 40 players with the longest streaks since 1995. Kendall earned Box-Toppers points in 15 straight seasons from 1996 to 2010 (tied for the 25th-longest streak) 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.

  • Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers leads all active players in career Box-Toppers points with 219.5, third among all players since 1995. However, Kershaw does not appear on these consecutive streak lists because he has only played in 12 seasons, making his debut in 2008. Kershaw, 31, has earned Box-Toppers points in each of his 12 seasons, including nine straight seasons with at least 10.0 Box-Toppers points (2009-2017), eight straight seasons with at least 15.0 points (2010-2017) and seven straight seasons with at least 20.0 points (2011-2017). Kershaw has led all players in Box-Toppers points three times—in 2011 (26.1), 2013 (21.7) and 2014 (31.5).

Batters vs. Pitchers

Interestingly, the list of players with the most consecutive years earning Box-Toppers points is made up largely of batters (70 percent). Of the 40 players listed, 28 are batters and 12 are pitchers. Of the 11 longest active streaks, 54.5 percent are batters—six, while there are five 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. (For example, among the top 40 players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, 30 are pitchers while just 10 are batters.) 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.

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.

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From last year—Carlos Beltran ties Jason Giambi in 2017 for most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points (19)