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

Alex Rodriguez has the most Box-Toppers points of any third baseman since tracking began in 1995.

Other leaders at third base include Jose Ramirez, Nolan Arenado, Manny Machado and Adrian Beltre.

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Kelvin Herrera tops players as Royals defeat Mets in World Series in 5 games

Kelvin Herrera pitched three scoreless innings—the seventh, eighth and ninth—to earn Player of the Game honors as the Kansas City Royals won the 2015 World Series Sunday.

The Royals again came from behind in Game 5, scoring two runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game 2-2 and scoring five in the top of the 12th inning to defeat the Mets, 7-2 in the 12-inning game and 4-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Herrera kept the Mets off the board for three innings, giving up one hit and striking out three. He had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0, highest among Royals players. While he did not earn the win or the save, picking up a no-decision, he did pitch the requisite three innings required to be eligible to earn Player of the Game honors. He is the only pitcher this postseason to earn Player of the Game honors without earning a win or a save.

Had Herrera not pitched three innings, Player of the Game honors would have gone to Royals top batter, pinch hitter Christian Colon, who hit the go-ahead 12th-inning single (1-1 R BI). Colon had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0.

Closing pitcher Wade Davis had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 (1IP H 0R 3K), but was not eligible to earn Player of the Game honors because he pitched fewer than three innings and did not pick up the win or the save. Davis was not eligible to earn the save because the Royals led by more than three runs when he entered.

Herrera, during the regular season, had no Box-Toppers points. In both 2013 and 2014, Herrera had 2.0 points each season. It is the third straight World Series game in which the Player of the Game had zero regular season Box-Toppers points:

Royals starting pitcher Edinson Volquez had a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0 (6IP 2H 2R 5K ND). Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey had a Box-Toppers game score of +6.0 (8IP 5H 2R 2BB 9K ND), highest among all players Sunday.

Mets pitcher Jeurys Familia, who had a blown save pitching in the ninth and 10th innings, had the Mets second-highest Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 (2IP 0H 0R 2K). Curtis Granderson had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Mets batters of 0.0 (HR 1-4 2R BI). Addison Reed, who picked up the loss for the Mets, had the lowest Box-Toppers game score of all players of −5.9 (0.1IP 3H 5R BB 0K).

Royals catcher Salvador Perez was named World Series Most Valuable Player. He did not earn Player of the Game honors in any World Series game and had a positive Box-Toppers game score in only one game the Royals won—in Game 4, he had a score of +1.0, highest among Royals batters.

Game 5 narrative via Box-Toppers Twitter feed

Mets pitcher Matt Harvey had complete control of World Series Game 5—until he didn't. Here are real-time tweets from @BoxToppers as the game progressed, complete with real-time statistical errors:

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.

Top Royals in World Series Game 5

Here are the Box-Toppers game scores of all Royals who played in World Series Game 5 listed from highest-to-lowest Box-Toppers game score (pitchers are listed twice—once for batting and once for pitching). Kelvin Herrera is Player of the Game (POG).

11/1 Score Team Players AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
POG 5.0 `Royals Kelvin Herrera - - - - - - 3.0 1 0 0 0 3
3.0 Royals Wade Davis - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
2.0 Royals Christian Colon, PH 1 1 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Royals Lorenzo Cain, CF 5 1 2 3 1 2 - - - - - -
1.0 Royals Jarrod Dyson, PR 0 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Royals Edinson Volquez - - - - - - 6.0 2 2 1 5 5
1.0 Royals Luke Hochevar (W,2-0) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 1 0
0.0 Royals Drew Butera, C 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Royals Kelvin Herrera, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Royals Luke Hochevar, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Royals Wade Davis, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
-1.0 Royals Edinson Volquez, P 2 0 1 0 0 1 - - - - - -
-1.0 Royals Kendrys Morales, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 - - - - - -
-2.0 Royals Eric Hosmer, 1B 6 1 2 1 0 2 - - - - - -
-2.0 Royals Paulo Orlando, RF 3 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
-3.0 Royals Alcides Escobar, SS 6 1 1 1 0 2 - - - - - -
-3.0 Royals Salvador Perez, C 5 0 1 1 0 1 - - - - - -
-3.0 Royals Ben Zobrist, 2B 5 1 1 0 1 0 - - - - - -
-3.0 Royals Alex Rios, RF 3 0 0 0 0 1 - - - - - -
-4.0 Royals Alex Gordon, LF 4 0 0 0 1 0 - - - - - -
-5.0 Royals Mike Moustakas, 3B 6 0 1 0 0 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Though the baseball season is now over, in coming days, Box-Toppers will feature season-end features, including Box-Toppers 2015 All-Star teams, top 100 player rankings and analysis of the Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Awards, among many other things. Stay current on Twitter, Facebook or subscribe to Box-Toppers’ RSS feed.

Mets' David Wright (HR 2-5 4BI) tops players in World Series Game 3, Friday, Oct. 30

David Wright hit a two-run homer and drove in four total runs as the New York Mets won Game 3 of the World Series Friday, beating the Kansas City Royals, 9-3.

Wright, who also had two hits, is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Game as the Royals now lead the Mets 2-1 in the best-of-seven games series.

Wright had a Box-Toppers game score Friday of +2.0, tied for the highest among Mets players with two other batters, Curtis Granderson (HR 2-3 3R 2BI) and Juan Uribe (1-1 R BI). But Wright beat both his teammates on tiebreakers—Wright beat Granderson because he had more runs batted in (4 vs. 2) and he beat Uribe because he had more at bats (5 vs. 1).

Pitcher Jeurys Familia also had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0. But in cases of Box-Toppers game score ties, batters hold the tiebreaker over pitchers under Box-Toppers rules. Also, Familia did not qualify to earn Player of the Game because he did not have at least three innings pitched and did not earn the win or save.

Wright, during the regular season had 0.0 Box-Toppers points, playing in only 38 games due to injury. It is the first time this postseason he has earned Player of the Game honors. In fact, it is the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors since July 11, 2014. That was the only time during the 2014 season that Wright earned Player of the Game honors, giving him 1.5 Box-Toppers points for 2014. Wright does have 74.1 career Box-Toppers points, second among active National League third basemen, and had regular season Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons from 2004 to 2014.

Mets starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard picked up the win but had the second-lowest Box-Toppers game score Friday of all Mets players of −3.0 (6IP 7H 3R 2BB 6K). However, Syndergaard had a higher Box-Toppers game score for batting of 0.0 (1-2 R).

Royals starting pitcher Yordano Ventura picked up the loss and had the lowest Box-Toppers game score among all players Friday of −12.9 (3.1IP 7H 5R BB 2K). Alex Rios had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Royals players eligible to earn Player of the Game honors of 0.0 (1-3 R BI).

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.

Top Mets in World Series Game 3

Here are the Box-Toppers game score of all Mets who played in World Series Game 3 listed from highest-to-lowest Box-Toppers game score (pitchers are listed twice—once for batting and once for pitching). David Wright is Player of the Game (POG).

10/30 Score Team Players AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
POG 2.0 Mets David Wright, 3B 5 1 2 4 0 2 - - - - - -
2.0 Mets Curtis Granderson, RF 5 3 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Mets Juan Uribe, PH 1 1 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Mets Jeurys Familia - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Mets Addison Reed - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
1.0 Mets Tyler Clippard - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
0.0 Mets Michael Conforto, LF 2 0 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Mets Juan Lagares, PH-CF 2 1 1 0 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Mets Noah Syndergaard, P 2 1 1 0 0 1 - - - - - -
0.0 Mets Addison Reed, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Mets Tyler Clippard, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Mets Jeurys Familia, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - - 0
-1.0 Mets Yoenis Cespedes, CF-LF 3 0 1 1 0 1 - - - - - -
-1.0 Mets Kirk Nieuwenhuis, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 - - - - - -
-2.0 Mets Travis d'Arnaud, C 4 0 2 0 0 0 - - - - - -
-2.0 Mets Lucas Duda, 1B 4 1 1 0 0 2 - - - - - -
-2.0 Mets Wilmer Flores, SS 3 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
-3.0 Mets Noah Syndergaard (W,2-1) - - - - - - 6.0 7 3 3 2 6
-4.0 Mets Daniel Murphy, 2B 4 0 0 0 1 1 - - - - - -

Coming Saturday in New York:

World Series Game 4, Royals lead Mets, 2-1

The pitching match-up Saturday:

Royals—Chris Young, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 78th among all players, 29th among AL pitchers. Young was Player of the Game in World Series Game 1.

Mets—Steven Matz, 3.5 Box-Toppers points, 298th among all players, 76th among NL pitchers.

World Series preview (Corrected 10/31: Previously, David Wright’s 2015 Box-Toppers point total was listed as 1.5, which was his total during 2014. Wright actually had 0.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015)

Box-Toppers season-end player rankings report

Box-Toppers point totals of all Royals players active at season's end

Box-Toppers point totals of all Mets players active at season's end

Angels' Richards, Giants' Lincecum top players for Friday, July 11; Mariners' Hernandez rises to 5th in Box-Toppers rankings

Angels pitcher Garrett Richards, Friday’s Player of the Day, rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings. Meanwhile, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rises to fifth place in rankings.

Richards pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 3-0 win over the Rangers. Richards earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.7 for the season, rising to sixth place among all players. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) He is in fourth place among American League pitchers.

Hernandez rises from eighth to fifth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) Hernandez struck out nine over eight innings, allowing two runs, in the 3-2 win over the Athletics. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.8 for the season and is in third place among AL pitchers.

Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum is National League Player of the Day. Lincecum pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out six in the 5-0 win over the Diamondbacks. Lincecum earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season, moving into 12th place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He is the 15th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points.

Richards and Lincecum had identical Box-Toppers game scores of 8.0, but Richards earned overall Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker—he had more strikeouts, eight vs. six.

David Wright of the Mets is NL Batter of the Day. Wright homered, went 4-for-4, scored twice and drove in two runs, in the 7-1 win over the Marlins.

Christian Vazquez of the Red Sox is AL Batter of the Day. Vazquez went 3-for-4, scored twice and drove in three runs, in the 8-3 win over the Astros. This was Vazquez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He is the 3,380th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. He made his Major League debut July 9 and was playing in his second game.

Richards receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Lincecum receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Wright and Vazquez each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed Friday, click here.

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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

711 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 Angels Garrett Richards (W, 11-2) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 2 8
NL 8.0 Giants Tim Lincecum (W, 9-5) - - - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 2 6
5.0 Mariners Felix Hernandez (W, 11-2) - - - - - - 8.0 6 2 2 2 9
4.1 Blue Jays Aaron Loup (W, 3-2) - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 4.0 Mets David Wright 3B 4 2 4 2 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 Red Sox Christian Vazquez C 4 2 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Indians Cody Allen (S, 11) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
4.0 Reds Aroldis Chapman (S, 20) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.0 Cardinals Matt Holliday LF 4 3 3 1 1 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Phillies Jimmy Rollins SS 4 2 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Padres Jesse Hahn (W, 5-2) - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 4 6
3.0 `Orioles Miguel Gonzalez - - - - - - 8.0 6 2 2 0 5
2.0 Rockies Brandon Barnes PH 1 1 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Cubs Chris Coghlan LF 3 1 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Tigers Austin Jackson CF 4 1 3 0 0 1 - - - - - -

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

 

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw takes over Box-Toppers player rankings lead after topping players for Saturday, Sept. 21

Box-Toppers Daily Scorecard graphic.png

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw takes the lead in Box-Toppers player rankings Saturday after earning Player of the Day honors.

Kershaw pitched seven shutout innings and struck out 10 in the 4-0 win over the Padres. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points, giving him 20.7 for the season, rising from third to first place in player rankings (see the top 10 list on the home page). Kershaw passes Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (19.2 Box-Toppers points), who had led since Wednesday.

Kershaw is the first player this season to 20.0 Box-Toppers points (last year, three players broke 20.0). This is the third straight season Kershaw has earned 20.0 or more points (2011: 26.1, 2012: 20.8). Kershaw also broke 100.0 Box-Toppers points for his career. Since his debut in 2008, Kershaw has earned 101.1 Box-Toppers points and ranks 56th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). 

This is the third time Kershaw has led in Box-Toppers player rankings this season. He led briefly in April and again from Aug. 17 to Sept. 6. 

Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score of 12.0 Saturday, the same as Indians pitcher Scott Kazmir. Both Kershaw and Kazmir won their games, pitched seven innings and struck out 10. But Kershaw was given the nod as overall Player of the Day Saturday because he gave up fewer hits than Kazmir (three vs. four).

Kazmir is American League Player of the Day for his effort in the 4-1 win over the Astros. Kazmir earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for AL Player of the Day, giving him 11.1 for the season, putting him in 40th place overall.

Alerto Callaspo of the Athletics is AL Batter of the Day. Callaspo homered, drove in three runs and went 4-for-5 in the 9-1 win over the Twins.

David Wright of the Mets is National League Batter of the Day. Wright homered and went 2-for-3 in the 5-4 win over the Phillies. 

Notables: Two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday are among the top 50 in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season: 

  • Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn rises to 15th place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game (6.1IP 1R 7K W in the 7-2 win vs. Brewers), giving him 15.1 for the season.
  • Blue Jays pitcher Mark Buehrle rises to 48th place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game (6IP 1R W in 4-2 win vs. Red Sox), giving him 10.4 for the season.

Coming Sunday: Two pitchers in Box-Toppers player rankings top 10 are scheduled to start Sunday:

  • Zack Greinke of Dodgers is scheduled to start against the Padres. Greinke is ranked fourth in player rankings with 18.4 Box-Toppers points. 
  • Patrick Corbin of the Diamondbacks is scheduled to start against the Rockies. Corbin is ranked fifth in player rankings with 17.4 Box-Toppers points.

However, neither Greinke nor Corbin can catch the new leader Clayton Kershaw (20.7) Sunday, since the most they can earn is 2.0 Box-Toppers points. But both could put themselves in position to pass Kershaw if they have another start in the final week of the season.

Kershaw receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Kazmir receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Callaspo and Wright each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Saturday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

921ScoreTeamBATTERSABRHRBIBBSO--PITCHERSIPHRERBBSO
MLB12.0Dodgers 0000000  Clayton Kershaw (W, 15-9)7.0300210
AL12.0Indians 0000000  Scott Kazmir (W, 9-9)7.0400110
 11.1Rays 0000000  Alex Cobb (W, 10-3)8.1511212
 9.0Yankees 0000000  Ivan Nova (W, 9-5)9.060017
 8.0Pirates 0000000  A.J. Burnett (W, 9-11)7.0422312
 5.2`Tigers 0000000  Rick Porcello 6.262209
 5.0Rangers 0000000  Matt Garza (W, 4-5)8.051115
BAT4.0Athletics Alberto Callaspo 2B524300  00.000000
 4.0Angels Collin Cowgill LF232110  00.000000
 4.0Blue Jays 0000000  Mark Buehrle (W, 12-9)6.051105
 4.0Cubs 0000000  Pedro Strop (S, 1)1.000003
 3.1Cardinals 0000000  Lance Lynn (W, 14-10)6.141147
BAT2.0Mets David Wright 3B322110  00.000000
 1.0Diamondbacks Matt Davidson 3B411300  00.000000

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.