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Four players—Mariano Rivera, Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez and Mike Mussina—were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Tuesday.
The three pitchers selected—Rivera, Halladay and Mussina—are among the top 40 players in career Box-Toppers points (tracking began in 1995). Martinez ranks ninth among designated hitters in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, but he started his career in 1987, before the advent of Box-Toppers tracking.
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Hanley Ramirez of the Dodgers is Sunday's Player of the Day in the two National League Division Series playoff games.
Ramirez scored three runs and went 3-for-4 in the 13-6 win over the Braves to take a 2-1 series lead for the Dodgers. Ramirez had 5.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranking 177th overall, second among all NL shortstops.
Marlon Byrd of the Pirates is Sunday's other Player of the Game. Byrd drove in two runs and went 2-for-3 in the 5-3 win over the Cardinals to take a 2-1 series lead for the Pirates. Byrd had 5.5 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranking 164th overall.
Coming Monday: All four League Division Series continue Monday. Three of the four series could be decided. Here are the pitching match-ups:
Athletics: Jarrod Parker, 6.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 138th overall
Tigers: Anibal Sanchez, 17.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked seventh overall (see the top 10 Player Rankings list on the home page)
Cardinals: Michael Wacha, 3.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 361st overall
Pirates: Charlie Morton, 3.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 344th overall
Red Sox: Clay Buchholz, 11.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked 41st overall
Rays: Alex Cobb, 9.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 58th overall
Braves: Freddy Garcia, 1.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 509th overall
Dodgers: Ricky Nolasco, 9.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 60th overall
In regular season games, 2.0 Box-Toppers points are awarded for Player of the Day, 1.7 for top player in the opposite league, 1.5 for top batter in each league and 1.0 for the top player in each of the other games. However, no Box-Toppers points are awarded during the postseason.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 1006 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 4.0 | Dodgers | Hanley Ramirez SS | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Pirates | Marlon Byrd RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Mets pitcher Dillon Gee is Thursday's Player of the Day. Gee struck out 12 over 7 1/3 innings in the 3-1 win over the Yankees.
Orioles pitcher Freddy Garcia is American League Player of the Day. Garcia gave up no runs over eight innings and struck out six in the 2-0 win over the Nationals.
Ramiro Pena of the Braves is National League Batter of the Day. Pena went 3-for-4 with four RBIs in the 11-3 win over the Blue Jays.
Chris Carter of the Astros is AL Batter of the Day. Carter homered and drove in three runs in the 7-5 win over the Rockies.
Note: Cubs pitcher Travis Wood is Player of the Game in the team's 8-3 win over the White Sox. However, Wood was given the honor for his batting performance. He went 2-for-4 and hit a grand slam. (He also pitched six innings, struck out six and gave up only two runs.)
Gee receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Garcia receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Pena and Carter each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Thursday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point:
| 530 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 13.1 | Mets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dillon Gee (W, 3-6) | 7.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | ||
| AL | 11.0 | Orioles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Freddy Garcia (W, 2-2) | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | Mariners | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Felix Hernandez (W, 6-4) | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |||
| 4.2 | Rays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Alex Colome (W, 1-0) | 5.2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |||
| BAT | 4.0 | Braves | Ramiro Pena 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 4.0 | Cubs | Travis Wood P | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| BAT | 2.0 | Astros | Chris Carter LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2.0 | Red Sox | David Ortiz 1B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Indians | Ryan Raburn RF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Royals | Jeff Francoeur RF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Angels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jason Vargas (W, 5-3) | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |||
| 2.0 | `Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mark Melancon | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 2.0 | Twins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jared Burton (S, 2) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 1.0 | Giants | Pablo Sandoval 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.0 | Rangers | Nelson Cruz RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
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.