Can Shohei Ohtani continue his lofty, Angelic Box-Toppers rankings with Dodgers?

Shohei Ohtani, who signed a record free-agent deal with the Dodgers, has consistently been among Box-Toppers' highest-ranking players over the past three seasons.

However, his second surgery to repair his pitching elbow's ulnar collateral ligament, raises concerns about his future effectiveness. A Box-Toppers look at Ohtani’s career and the mixed outcomes of pitchers with a second elbow surgery.

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Guardians’ Bibee tops players for Saturday, July 22; Orioles’ Bautista rises to 7th

Guardians pitcher Tanner Bibee is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Orioles closing pitcher Felix Bautista rises to seventh in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

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Red Sox’ Sale tops players for Sunday, April 30; Twins’ Gray rises to 5th place

Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Twins pitcher Sonny Gray rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

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Rays’ Rasmussen tops players for Sunday, April 9, rising to 1st in player rankings

Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to first place in season player rankings.

Also Sunday, Giants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.

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Cardinals’ Wainwright tops players for Tuesday, May 31; Rangers’ Perez rises to 5th

Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Tuesday, Rangers pitcher Martin Perez rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.

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How 2022 Hall of Fame candidates fared in Box-Toppers

Though Box-Toppers would not have voted David Ortiz as a first-ballot Hall of Famer, it’s hard to argue that his performance on the field was not worthy.

Yet, several other candidates with Hall-of-Fame worthy careers were not voted for induction Tuesday because of their ties to the steroid era. In fact, it can be argued that righteous baseball writers did a noble thing Tuesday by blocking three such candidates—Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa—for their 10th and final time on the ballot.

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Internet writers vote David Ortiz for Hall of Fame; none of Box-Toppers’ 9 choices made the cut

David Ortiz is the only player inducted into internet baseball writers’ Hall of Fame for 2022.

None of the nine candidates Box-Toppers voted for Hall induction received the necessary 75 percent support. And Box-Toppers also did not vote for Ortiz.

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Box-Toppers selects 9 players for 2022 Hall of Fame induction in internet writers’ ballot

Box-Toppers is voting for nine players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the 2022 Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) ballot.

Of the nine players, three are in their first year on the ballot—Tim Lincecum, Jake Peavy and Mark Teixeira. The other six all return after not receiving the necessary votes to make the hall last year, including Curt Schilling, who is on the ballot for his 10th and final year.

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Athletics’ Montas tops players for Saturday, Aug. 8, Judge rises in player rankings, Cabrera extends long streak

Athletics pitcher Frankie Montas is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to third place in season player rankings.

Also Saturday, Aaron Judge of the Yankees rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly rises to 10th after both earned Player of the Game honors.

Plus, Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers has now earned Box-Toppers points for 18 straight seasons—tied for the fifth-longest streak since 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

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

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).

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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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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.

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).

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Blue Jays’ J.A. Happ tops players for Tuesday, April 24; Yankees’ Sabathia earns Box-Toppers points for 18th straight season

Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Tuesday, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia earned Box-Toppers points in his 18th straight season after earning Player of the Game honors, setting the record for longest such streak among pitchers (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began) and taking sole possession of the longest active streak.


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Box-Toppers top first basemen by time frame (after 2017 season)

Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers has the most Box-Toppers points of any first basemen since tracking began in 1995, passing previous leader Jim Thome.

Cabrera has 146.9 career Box-Toppers points and in 2017 passed former player and newly elected Hall of Famer Thome, who has 146.7 points. Other leaders at first base include Anthony Rizzo, Edwin Encarnacion and Paul Goldschmidt.

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How 2018 Hall of Fame candidates fared in Box-Toppers

Four players—Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome and Trevor Hoffman—were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Wednesday. Key players overlooked: Curt Schilling, Jeff Kent, Johan Santana and the PED-clouded five of Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield and Sammy Sosa.

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Box-Toppers All-time All-Star teams, 1995-2017

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw leads the list of Box-Toppers Active Career All-Stars and is one of three active players to be 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 12 players who have retired and three who are still active—Kershaw, along with Albert Pujols of the Angels and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers.

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

In 2017, Carlos Beltran tied Jason Giambi for the longest streak of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points at 19. With Beltran's retirement, CC Sabathia and Albert Pujols now have the longest active streaks of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points at 17.

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A look at Box-Toppers' ‘all-time' top 10 lists—top overall players, top pitchers, top batters—since tracking began in 1995

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to third place in Box-Toppers’ overall “all-time” list in 2017, becoming the active leader in career points. Also in 2017, Albert Pujols became the “all-time” leader in career Box-Toppers points among batters and Zack Greinke rose into the overall top 10 in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.

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Tigers' Justin Verlander tops players for Sunday, Aug. 20, rises to 25th on Box-Toppers ‘all-time’ career list

Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Verlander struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 6-1 win over the Dodgers. Verlander retired the first 13 batters he faced.

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