Here are the top first basemen in Box-Toppers points (BTP) over the past season (2019), the past two seasons (2018-19), the past six seasons (2014-19) and “all-time”—the past 25 seasons (since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began). For the most recent seasons, the top five first basemen in each league are shown. For the “all-time” rankings, the top five overall first basemen (including retired players) are shown at left and the top five active first basemen in career Box-Toppers points are shown at right. Some players played more than one position, but even if their primary position was not first base, they are listed here.

	American League				National League
’19	Player	Pos	Team	BTP	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Pujols, Albert 1438	1b	ana al	11.0	Freeman, Freddie 2887	1b	atl nl	10.2
2	Abreu, Jose 3308	1b	chi al	7.5	Bell, Josh E. 3682	1b	pit nl	9.7
3	Santana, Danny 3350	cf 1b	tex al	6.5	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	stl nl	7.5
4	Voit, Luke 4053	1b	nyy al	5.5	Alonso, Pete 4118	1b	nym nl	7.0
5	Cron, C.J. 3338	1b	min al	5.0	Rizzo, Anthony 3063	1b	chi nl	5.5

	American League				National League
‘18-’19	Player	Pos	Team	BTP	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Pujols, Albert 1438	1b	ana al	14.0	Freeman, Freddie 2887	1b	atl nl	17.7
2	Abreu, Jose 3308	1b	chi al	12.5	Rizzo, Anthony 3063	1b	chi nl	15.5
3	Voit, Luke 4053	1b	nyy al	9.5	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	stl nl	15.0
4	Olson, Matt 3836	1b	oak al	9.2	Bell, Josh E. 3682	1b	pit nl	12.2
5	Bauers, Jake 3993	lf dh 1b ph	cle al	9.0	Muncy, Max 3969	1b 2b	lad nl	10.0

	American League				National League
14-’19	Player	Pos	Team	BTP	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Pujols, Albert 1438	1b	ana al	42.0	Rizzo, Anthony 3063	1b	chi nl	49.0
2	Abreu, Jose 3308	1b	chi al	33.5	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	stl nl	40.1
3	Davis, Chris 2478	1b	bal al	32.2	Freeman, Freddie 2887	1b	atl nl	38.9
4	LeMahieu, DJ 3091	2b 3b 1b	nyy al	29.5	Hosmer, Eric 2886	1b	sd nl	33.5
5	Smoak, Justin 2731	1b dh	tor al	25.0	Murphy, Daniel 2589	1b ph	col nl	29.5

	All players (including retired)				All active players
‘95-’19	Player	Pos	Team	BTP	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Pujols, Albert 1438	1b	ana al	201.8	Pujols, Albert 1438	1b	ana al	201.8
2	thome, jim	1b dh	Retired	146.7	Votto, Joey 2366	1b	cin nl	71.7
3	giambi, jason	1b	Retired	133.4	Zimmerman, Ryan 2180	1b	dc nl	67.2
4	Delgado, Carlos	1b	Retired	118.7	Davis, Chris 2478	1b	bal al	65.4
5	Helton, Todd 1060	1b	Retired	116.4	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	stl nl	62.3

What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
Active players are shown on the team with whom they finished the 2019 season.

Albert Pujols leads all first basemen in career Box-Toppers points

Albert Pujols of the Angels has the most Box-Toppers points of any first baseman since tracking began in 1995.

Pujols also has the distinction of leading all American League first basemen in Box-Toppers points over the past season (2019), the past two seasons (2018-19) and the past six seasons (2014-19).

Pujols has 201.8 career Box-Toppers points, which is not only most among all first basemen, but most among all batters since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He ranks seventh among all players, behind six starting pitchers. Pujols also has the most career Box-Toppers points among active first basemen.

The chart above shows the top five first basemen over several time frames. For the past season (2019), past two seasons (2018-19) and past six seasons (2014-19) the top five first basemen in each league are shown. The top five overall first basemen since 1995 (including those who have retired) are shown at the bottom left in the chart. The top five active first basemen in career Box-Toppers points are shown at the bottom right.

The last time Box-Toppers took a measure of the top first basemen in Box-Toppers points over several timespans was after the 2017 season, when Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers led most categories. But that was at a point in which Pujols was primarily serving as a designated hitter and was not listed among the top first basemen, even though that is the position he has played the majority of his career. Conversely, Cabrera has recently been serving more as a designated hitter than a first basemen, so he is currently not listed among first basemen in these rankings.

However, at the close of Pujols’s and Cabrera’s careers, both players will most certainly be listed as first basemen since that is where they spent the bulk of their careers.

Cabrera with 150.9 Box-Toppers points would rank second to Pujols if Box-Toppers classified him as a first basemen, 50.9 points behind Pujols. As it is, Pujols leads the listed second place player in career Box-Toppers points among first basemen, the retired Jim Thome with 146.7 career points.

Pujols is the only active player among the top five first basemen in career Box-Toppers points since 1995. The next highest active first basemen in career Box-Toppers points is Joey Votto of the Reds with 71.7, barely more than one-third of Pujols’s 201.8 points. Votto, 36, ranks 22nd in career points among all first basemen since 1995.

Pujols, 40, it should be noted, is a different sort of player who played the first half of his career in a very different era. From 2000 to 2009, batters consistently earned half or more of all Box-Toppers points awarded. But in the decade of the 2010s, the balance of power shifted suddenly, significantly and overwhelmingly toward pitchers. From 2000 to 2009, batters earned 51.7 percent of all Box-Toppers points awarded. But from 2010 to 2019, batters earned only 42.4 percent of all points. Pitchers earned between 56 and 60 percent of all points awarded each season of the 2010s.

Pujols led all batters in Box-Toppers points in both decades. He had 121.9 from 2000-2009, ahead of second-place player Alex Rodriguez (117.3). He had 79.9 from 2010-19, ahead of second-place player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (78.8). The 79.9 points Pujols earned in the 2010s would have ranked 16th among batters in the 2000s.

Pujols also leads AL first basemen over the past six seasons with 42.0 Box-Toppers points from 2014-19. That is ahead of second-place AL first basemen Jose Abreu of the White Sox, who has 33.5 points over that span. But it is second among all first basemen, behind Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs, who leads National League first basemen from 2014-19 with 49.0.

Pujols also leads AL first basemen over the past two seasons with 14.0 Box-Toppers points over 2018-19. That is ahead of second-place AL first baseman Abreu, who has 12.5 points over that span. But it trails three NL first basemen—Freddie Freeman of the Braves (17.7 over 2018-19), Rizzo (15.5) and Paul Goldschmidt of the Cardinals (15.0).

Pujols also led AL first basemen in 2019 with 11.0 Box-Toppers points, again ahead of Abreu (7.5). Pujols led all first basemen in 2019, ahead of top NL first baseman Freeman (10.2).

Pujols is on five of the eight top five first basemen lists, the most he could possibly be on, and in fact, leads each of the lists.

Goldschmidt is on four of the eighth top five first basemen lists—he ranks third among NL first baseman in 2019 (7.5), third among NL first basemen over 2018-19 (15.0), second among NL first basemen from 2014-19 (40.1) and fifth among active first basemen in career points (62.3).

Three players appear on three of the top five first basemen lists—Abreu, Freeman and Rizzo.

Of the first basemen on Box-Toppers “all-time” top five in career points, four of them are retired, including Thome, Jason Giambi (133.4 points), Carlos Delgado (118.7) and Todd Helton (116.4).

Of the five who lead active first basemen in career Box-Toppers points, all of them earned Box-Toppers points during the 2019 season. However, third-ranked Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals (67.2 career points) earned only 1.0 point in 2019.

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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Box-Toppers top first basemen by time frame (after 2019 season)

Albert Pujols leads all first basemen in career Box-Toppers points

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Albert Pujols leads all first basemen in career Box-Toppers points

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Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.