In 2017, Clayton Kershaw has become new leader among active players in career Box-Toppers points, rising to 3rd on the ‘all-time’ top 100 list

During the 2017 season, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has taken the lead among active players in career Box-Toppers points, rising to third place on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” top 100 players list.

Top 100 ‘All-Time’ Players

Here are the 100 players with the most career Box-Toppers points since record keeping began in 1995, as of July 30. Players are listed in order of their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total. Also shown is their Box-Toppers point total for 2017 (’17).

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP	’17
1	Johnson, randy	pi sp	Retired	278.8
2	Martinez, Pedro J.	pi sp	Retired	244.8
3	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	205.8	22.1
4	schilling, curt	pi sp	Retired	194.1
5	Sabathia, C.C. 1492	pi sp	nyy al	191.0	6.0
6	Rodriguez, Alex	3b	Released	187.0
7	Pujols, Albert 1438	dh 1b	ana al	185.3	3.0
8	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	171.4	2.7
9	Halladay, Roy 1178	pi sp	Retired	170.7
10	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	169.5	13.4
11	Ramirez, manny	lf	Retired	167.2
12	Santana, Johan 1448	pi sp	Free agent	166.6
13	clemens, roger	pi sp	Retired	164.8
14	smoltz, john	pi sp	Retired	160.9
15	Hudson, Tim 1231	pi sp	Retired	157.0
16	mussina, Mike	pi sp	Retired	155.6
17	bonds, barry	lf	Retired	153.2
18	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	151.9	8.7
19	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	151.7	20.0
20	maddux, greg	pi sp	Retired	151.7
21	Colon, Bartolo	pi sp	min al	151.2	2.7
22	jones, chipper	3b	Retired	149.0
23	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	148.7	4.7
24	Vazquez, Javier 1146	pi sp	Retired	148.3
25	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	146.9	2.0
26	thome, jim	1b dh	Retired	146.7
27	Ortiz, David	dh	Retired	145.9
28	Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	142.0	2.7
29	Peavy, Jake 1635	pi sp	Free agent	141.8
30	pettitte, andy	pi sp	Retired	138.5
31	giambi, jason	1b	Retired	133.4
32	hoffman, trevor	pi cp	Retired	129.4
33	Guerrero, Vladimir	rf	Retired	128.3
34	Weaver, Jered 2178	pi sp	sd nl	127.8
35	Burnett, A.J. 1300	pi sp	Retired	127.8
36	Oswalt, Roy 1469	pi sp	Retired	127.2
37	rivera, mariano	pi cp	Retired	126.4
38	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	125.2	4.0
39	sheffield, gary	lf	Retired	124.1
40	Lee, Cliff 1798	pi sp	Free agent	119.1
41	Delgado, Carlos	1b	Retired	117.7
42	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	117.5	5.5
43	Zito, Barry 1415	pi sp	Retired	117.4
44	Buehrle, Mark 1407	pi sp	retired	116.7
45	Helton, Todd 1060	1b	Retired	116.4
46	Hunter, Torii 1190	cf	Retired	115.9
47	Lincecum, Tim 2288	pi sp	Free agent	115.0
48	Beckett, Josh 1544	pi sp	Retired	114.9
49	Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	113.8	2.5
50	Carpenter, Chris	pi sp	Retired	113.3
51	Haren, Danny 1787	pi sp	Retired	113.2
52	sosa, sammy	rf	Retired	113.2
53	brown, kevin j.	pi sp	Retired	112.8
54	glavine, tom	pi sp	Retired	110.6
55	Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	109.9	3.7
56	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	109.7	12.4
57	kent, jeff	2b	Retired	109.7
58	Wagner, Billy	pi cp	Retired	108.7
59	Millwood, Kevin	pi sp	Retired	108.3
60	Berkman, Lance 1261	1b lf rf	Retired	108.1
61	Beltran, Carlos 1194	dh rf	hou al	107.6	2.7
62	thomas, frank	dh 1b	Retired	106.2
63	Ramirez, Aramis 1364	3b	Retired	105.8
64	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	105.7
65	Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	tor al	105.2	2.0
66	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	lad nl	105.1
67	moyer, jamie	pi sp	Retired	104.0
68	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	103.5	17.1
69	Tejada, Miguel	ss	Retired	102.3
70	griffey, ken jr.	cf	Retired	102.2
71	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	101.8	2.0
72	wakefield, tim	pi sp	Retired	101.4
73	Teixeira, Mark 1738	1b	Retired	101.3
74	schmidt, jason	pi sp	Retired	101.2
75	Holliday, Matt 1836	dh 1b lf	nyy al	100.8	3.0
76	Cain, Matt 2081	pi sp	sf nl	100.7	1.0
77	Konerko, Paul 1107	1b	Retired	100.7
78	bagwell, jeff	1b	Retired	100.4
79	walker, larry	rf	Retired	100.1
80	Shields, James 2157	pi sp	chi al	99.4
81	edmonds, jim	cf	Retired	98.8
82	Howard, Ryan 2040	1b	Released	98.7
83	Rolen, Scott	3b	Retired	97.6
84	Wolf, Randy 1235	pi sp	Retired	97.4
85	Jones, Andruw	cf	Retired	96.5
86	piazza, mike	ca	Retired	95.7
87	Abreu, Bobby	rf	Retired	95.5
88	nomo, hideo	pi sp	Retired	95.5
89	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	95.3	12.4
90	Dempster, Ryan 1109	pi sp	Retired	95.2
91	Ordonez, Magglio	rf	Retired	94.5
92	Dunn, Adam 1512	lf	Retired	94.3
93	williams, bernie	cf	Retired	93.8
94	Lilly, Ted 1452	pi sp	Retired	93.3
95	giles, brian	rf	Retired	92.5
96	Wood, Kerry	pi sp	Retired	92.4
97	Braun, Ryan J. 2300	lf	mil nl	91.7	3.5
98	Glaus, Troy 1132	3b	Retired	91.6
99	Lowe, Derek	pi sp	Retired	91.5
100	Nolasco, Ricky 2125	pi sp	ana al	91.2	4.0

BTP: Box-Toppers points
What are those numbers after players' names?

Kershaw has 205.8 career Box-Toppers points, third-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Kershaw leads all players with 22.1 points in 2017.

Kershaw was in sixth place on the “all-time” list when the season began with 183.7 career points and was second among active players, behind Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia. But since the start of the season, Kershaw passed Sabathia, who is now in fifth place on the all-time list with 191.0 career Box-Toppers points.

Kershaw trails two players on the “all-time” list, both of whom would likely have more Box-Toppers points if their entire careers were tracked:

• Randy Johnson leads all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when tracking began, with 278.8. If his entire career from 1988 were tracked, projections put his Box-Toppers point total at 380.
• Pedro Martinez ranks second in Box-Toppers points since 1995 with 244.8. If his entire career from 1992 were tracked, he would have 270 career points.

Here is Box-Toppers top 10 list with players’ projected career totals included. (Players with projected point totals are marked with an asterisk.) To make the list, a player needed to have at least 100 Box-Toppers points since 1995:

1. Randy Johnson 380*
2. Roger Clemens 320*
3. Pedro Martinez 270*
4. John Smoltz 255*
5. Greg Maddux 250*
6. Curt Schilling 232*
7. Barry Bonds 230*
8. Clayton Kershaw 205.8
9. Mike Mussina 193*
10. CC Sabathia 191.0

Only two players who started their careers in 1995 or later are on among this top 10 list and both are active—Kershaw (in eighth place) and Sabathia (in 10th). 

Alex Rodriguez has the most career Box-Toppers points among all batters since 1995, but Albert Pujols of the Angels is now within striking distance. Rodriguez, who was released last year by the Yankees, has 187.0 career points, ranked sixth on the list. Pujols is within 1.7 with 185.3, in seventh place. Pujols has 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2017.

Other notable players on the top 100 list:

• 4. Curt Schilling is the highest-ranked retired player on Box-Toppers career points list who is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He has 194.1 points.
• 8. Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez has risen from ninth place at the end of 2016 to eighth with 171.4 career points. However, he has only earned 2.7 points on the season, just enough to pass retired pitcher Roy Halladay (170.7), who played from 1998 to 2013.
• 10. Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke has risen from 15th at the end of 2016 to 10th with 169.5 career points. Greinke has earned 13.4 points in 2017, fourth in season player rankings.
• 18. Cubs pitcher Jon Lester has risen from 26th at the end of 2016 to 18th with 151.9 career points. Lester has 8.7 points in 2017, 11th among National League pitchers.
• 21. Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer has risen from 31st at the end of 2016 to 19th with 151.7 career points. Scherzer has earned 20.0 points in 2017, second among all players. He led all players in 2016 with 25.7 points and rose from 57th to 31st on the top 100 “all-time” list last season.

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There are nine players on the “all-time” top 100 list who are also among the top 100 in Box-Toppers points for the 2017 season:

• Kershaw—third “all-time” with 205.8, first in 2017 with 22.1.
• Sabathia—fifth “all-time” with 191.0, 54th in 2017 with 6.0.
• Greinke—10th “all-time” with 169.5, fourth in 2017 with 13.4.
• Lester—18th “all-time” with 151.9, 21st in 2017 with 8.7.
• Scherzer—19th “all-time” with 151.7, second in 2017 with 20.0.
• Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright—42nd “all-time” with 117.5, 74th in 2017 with 5.5.
• Twins pitcher Ervin Santana—56th “all-time” with 109.7, eighth in 2017 with 12.4.
• Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale—68th “all-time” with 103.5, third in 2017 with 17.1.
• Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg—89th “all-time” with 95.3, seventh in 2017 with 12.4.

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There are 26 players in the top 100 who have earned Box-Toppers points this season. There are four other active players who have yet to earn points this season:

• Jered Weaver, Padres (127.8 career Box-Toppers points, 34th place)
• Madison Bumgarner, Giants (105.7, 64th)
• Scott Kazmir, Dodgers (105.1, 66th)
• James Shields, White Sox (99.4, 80th)

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Nearly two-thirds of the career top 100 (65) are retired. Two other players (Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Howard) are listed as released, but not yet retired. Four other players (Johan Santana, Jake Peavy, Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum) are listed as free agents.

The San Francisco Giants have the most active players among the career top 100 with three. They are: 

• Pitcher Madison Bumgarner, 105.7 career points, ranked 64th. (No points in 2017.)
• Pitcher Johnny Cueto, 101.8 career points, ranked 71st. (2.0 points in 2017.)
• Pitcher Matt Cain, 100.7 career points, ranked 76th. (1.0 point in 2017.)

There are 29 active players among the top 100 representing 18 teams. Nine teams have two players on the list.

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.

Notes—It should be noted that Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and so many players who debuted before then (such as Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux), would likely have far more career Box-Toppers points if the years before 1995 were tracked. On the other hand, for a player like Chipper Jones (ranked 22nd), Box-Toppers covers virtually his entire career—he only played in eight games before 1995, so Box-Toppers covers 2,491 games of his 2,499-game career. 

If you note how the names are listed in the chart—some all lowercase, some properly capitalized, some with numbers after them—the inconsistencies might make your inner copy editor cringe. But there is an unintentional method to this madness. In early days of keeping the Box-Toppers database from 1995 to 1997, names were inputted into a slow-functioning computer as quickly as was then possible, often with no capitalization—Box-Toppers' e.e. cummings phase, if you will. In about 1997, names were pretty consistently properly capitalized. And in 1998, numbers were added at the ends of names to denote their order of first appearance in the Box-Toppers database (the first time they earned Player of the Game).

So today, when you see player names like "rivera, mariano," (now ranked 37th) you'll know that Rivera first appeared early in Box-Toppers history (in his case, the first year, 1995). "Ortiz, David," (properly capitalized) made his Box-Toppers debut in 1997 (now ranked 27th). And "Helton, Todd 1060," was one of the first players with the debut order number appended, when he first appeared in 1998 (now ranked 45th).

In the chart are references to teams “ana al” and “fla nl,” referring to the Angels and the Marlins. We realize those teams are now known as Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim) and the Miami Marlins, but we keep the old abbreviations around since those name changes were largely for marketing or political purposes and involved no substantial change in the actual geography of the team. Plus, change is hard.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.