Box-Toppers selects 4 players for 2025 Hall of Fame induction in internet writers' ballot

Box-Toppers is voting for four players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the 2025 Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) ballot.

Box-Toppers is voting for these players: Felix Hernandez, Torii Hunter, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.

Notably, Box-Toppers is not voting for Ichiro Suzuki, who is on the Hall ballot for the first time for 2025. While Suzuki is expected to be a shoo-in for the Hall and to possibly be only the second player inducted on a unanimous vote, I devoted a previous post to why Box-Toppers doesn’t view him as a Hall of Famer. In addition, this post which will show how unfavorably he compares in Box-Toppers rankings to even this year’s Hall candidates, may even make a more stark case why I don’t see Suzuki as a Hall of Famer.

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Braves’ Sale tops players Monday, Aug. 12, rising to 6th; Kershaw extends record streak

Braves pitcher Chris Sale is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to sixth place in season player rankings.

Also Monday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extended his streak of earning Box-Toppers points to 17 straight seasons—tied for the longest active streak—after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2024.

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Phillies’ Nola tops players for Thursday, May 26; Yankees’ Cortes rises to 2nd in player rankings

Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Thursday, Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors. Plus, Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers earns Box-Toppers points in his 20th consecutive season—the second-longest such streak since 1995—after earning his first Player of the Game honors Thursday.

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White Sox’ Kopech tops players for Sunday, May 22; Pujols extends record streak to 22 seasons

White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Albert Pujols of the Cardinals extends his record streak of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points to 22 after earning Player of the Game honors.

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Braves’ Swanson tops players for Saturday, July 31; Marquez rises, Pujols extends record streak

Dansby Swanson of the Braves is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Rockies pitcher German Marquez rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Albert Pujols of the Dodgers extends his record streak of earning Box-Toppers points in consecutive seasons to 21 after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2021 Saturday.

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A look at Clayton Kershaw’s rise to 2nd place on Box-Toppers ‘all-time’ career points list

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw now has the second-most career Box-Toppers points since player tracking began in 1995.

Kershaw rose into second place on the “all-time” career points list Sunday with 246.6 points, passing Pedro Martinez (244.8), who held the second-place spot for more than 22 years.

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Yankees’ Montgomery tops players for Friday, May 21; Dodgers’ Bauer rises to 4th in player rankings

Yankees pitcher Jordan Montgomery is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.

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Marlins’ Rogers tops players for Wednesday, April 21, Scherzer rises to 6th in ‘all-time’ career points

Marlins pitcher Trevor Rogers is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fifth place in season player rankings, first among National League pitchers.

Also Wednesday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rises to sixth place on the “all-time” career Box-Toppers points list (204.2) after earning Player of the Game honors, passing CC Sabathia (203.4).

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Nationals’ Scherzer tops players for Friday, April 16, rising to 7th in ‘all-time’ career points

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh place in Box-Toppers’ “all-time” rankings.

Scherzer struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 1-0 win over the Diamondbacks. Scherzer did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.

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A look at Box-Toppers top 100 players of ‘all-time’ after the 2020 season

Randy Johnson leads all players in career Box-Toppers points and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Johnson earned 282.5 Box-Toppers points from the time Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995 until he retired in 2009. The most likely rival to Johnson’s throne at the moment is Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw who has 235.2 career Box-Toppers points, third among all players since 1995 and most among active players.

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A look at Box-Toppers’ top 100 players for 2019-20 and 2015-20

Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Box-Toppers’ top-ranked player over the past two seasons while Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer ranks first in points over the past six seasons.

Cole earned 39.6 Box-Toppers points combined in 2019 and 2020 to lead all players in that span, while Scherzer earned 116.2 from 2015-2020, most in that span.

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Reds’ Suarez tops players for Saturday, Sept. 5; Pujols breaks record for most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points (20)

Eugenio Suarez of the Reds is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Albert Pujols of the Angels breaks the record for most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points, earning Player of the Game honors in his 20th consecutive season.

Plus, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earned Player of the Game honors Saturday: White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito rises to third place and Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda rises to sixth place.

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

Miguel Tejada has the most Box-Toppers points of any shortstop since tracking began in 1995.

Tejada, who played from 1997 to 2013 primarily for the Athletics and Orioles, but also for the Astros, Giants, Padres and Royals, earned 102.3 career Box-Toppers points. That is 25.9 Box-Toppers points ahead of the second-place shortstop in career Box-Toppers points, Derek Jeter (76.4), who played for the Yankees from 1995 to 2014.

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Box-Toppers All-time All-Star teams, 1995-2019

Dodgers 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.

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Albert Pujols could break record for most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points in 2020

Albert Pujols has the chance in 2020 to break the record for most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points.

If Pujols of the Angels earns Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors once in 2020, he will have earned Box-Toppers points for 20 straight seasons (2001-2020). Pujols is currently tied for the longest streak at 19 seasons with three other players—CC Sabathia, Jason Giambi and Carlos Beltran.

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