How 2018 Hall of Fame candidates fared in Box-Toppers

Here are the results of Baseball Hall of Fame voting, with players listed from highest to lowest vote totals. The far right columns show how many Box-Toppers points (BTP) they earned during their careers (since 1995), their overall rank in Box-Toppers points (BT rank) and their rank among players at their position (BT pos rank). Thirty-three players were eligible for the hall and 26 received at least one vote. Players are listed here by their vote totals received in 2018. Inductees, who received the necessary 75 percent of the vote, are indicated with an asterisk (*).  

 

	Name	Votes (Pct.)	Yrs on ballot	Pos	Yrs active	BTP	BT rank	BT pos rank
1	*Chipper Jones	410 (97.2)	1	3b	93‑12	149.0	24	2
2	*Vladimir Guerrero	392 (92.9)	2	rf	96‑11	128.3	33	3
3	*Jim Thome	379 (89.8)	1	1b dh	91‑12	146.7	27	2
4	*Trevor Hoffman	337 (79.9)	3	pi cp	93‑10	129.4	32	1
5	Edgar Martinez	297 (70.4)	9	dh	87‑04	77.5	139	10
6	Mike Mussina	268 (63.5)	5	pi sp	91‑08	155.6	23	14
7	Roger Clemens	242 (57.3)	6	pi sp	84‑07	164.8	13	10
8	Barry Bonds	238 (56.4)	6	lf	86‑07	153.2	22	2
9	Curt Schilling	216 (51.2)	6	pi sp	88‑07	194.1	4	4
10	Omar Vizquel	156 (37.0)	1	ss	89‑12	42.2	416	10
11	Larry Walker	144 (34.1)	8	rf	89‑05	100.1	81	10
12	Fred McGriff	98 (23.2)	9	1b	86‑04	57.7	257	41
13	Manny Ramirez	93 (22.0)	2	lf	93‑11	167.2	11	1
14	Jeff Kent	61 (14.5)	5	2b	92‑08	109.7	58	1
15	Gary Sheffield	47 (11.1)	4	lf	88‑09	124.1	39	4
15	Billy Wagner	47 (11.1)	3	pi cp	95‑10	108.7	59	3
17	Scott Rolen	43 (10.2)	1	3b	96‑12	97.6	84	5
18	Sammy Sosa	33 (7.8)	6	rf	89‑07	113.2	53	6
19	Andruw Jones	31 (7.3)	1	cf	96‑12	96.5	86	12
20	†Johan Santana	10 (2.4)	1	pi sp	00‑12	166.6	12	9
20	†Jamie Moyer	10 (2.4)	1	pi sp	86‑12	104.0	69	45
22	†Johnny Damon	8 (1.9)	1	lf	95‑12	63.0	210	43
23	†Hideki Matsui	4 (0.9)	1	lf	03‑12	54.8	278	56
24	†Chris Carpenter	2 (0.5)	1	pi sp	97‑12	113.3	51	34
24	†Kerry Wood	2 (0.5)	1	pi sp	98‑12	92.4	97	56
26	†Carlos Lee	1 (0.2)	1	lf	99‑12	85.5	113	23
26	†Livan Hernandez	1 (0.2)	1	pi sp	96‑12	76.7	145	77
28	†Kevin Millwood	0	1	pi sp	97‑12	108.3	61	40
28	†Carlos Zambrano	0	1	pi sp	01‑12	85.2	114	65
28	†Jason Isringhausen	0	1	pi cp	95‑12	62.4	219	12
28	†Aubrey Huff	0	1	dh	00‑12	61.6	225	20
28	†Brad Lidge	0	1	pi cp	02‑12	54.4	282	17
28	†Orlando Hudson	0	1	2b	02‑12	33.7	574	28

* 2018 Hall of Fame inductee. Received necessary 75 percent of the vote from baseball writers to be inducted.
† Player to be removed the Hall of Fame ballot in 2019 because he did not receive 5 percent of the vote to remain on subsequent year's ballots.
Note: Some Hall eligible candidates had careers that, in part, preceded the era of Box-Toppers player tracking, which began in 1995. However, 17 of the 33 players listed here began their career in 1995 or later, so their entire career was tracked by Box-Toppers.

Jones, Guerrero, Thome, Hoffman elected to Hall of Fame; Schilling, Kent, Santana among notable 2018 snubs

Four players—Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome and Trevor Hoffman—were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Wednesday.

The four received the necessary 75 percent of the vote from members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and will be inducted in the Hall in Cooperstown, N.Y., in July.

Top 100 ‘All-Time’ Players

Here are the 100 players with the most career Box-Toppers points since record keeping began in 1995. Players are listed in order of their career Box-Toppers point total. Also shown is their Box-Toppers point total for 2017 and their career ranking in Box-Toppers points at the end of the 2016 season.

 

	Player	Pos	Team	All BTP	‘17 BTP	‘16 rank
1	Johnson, randy	pi sp	retired	278.8		1
2	Martinez, Pedro J.	pi sp	retired	244.8		2
3	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	206.8	23.1	6
4	schilling, curt	pi sp	retired	194.1		3
5	Sabathia, C.C. 1492	pi sp	nyy al	192.7	7.7	5
6	Pujols, Albert 1438	dh	ana al	187.8	5.5	7
7	Rodriguez, Alex	3b	released	187.0		4
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	176.2	20.1	15
9	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	171.4	2.7	9
10	Halladay, Roy 1178	pi sp	retired	170.7		8
11	Ramirez, manny	lf	retired	167.2		10
12	Santana, Johan 1448	pi sp	free agent	166.6		11
13	clemens, roger	pi sp	retired	164.8		12
14	smoltz, john	pi sp	retired	160.9		13
15	Hudson, Tim 1231	pi sp	retired	157.0		14
16	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	156.7	25.0	31
17	mussina, Mike	pi sp	retired	155.6		16
18	Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	hou al	154.0	14.7	28
19	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	153.9	10.7	26
20	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	153.4	9.4	25
21	Colon, Bartolo	pi sp	min al	153.2	4.7	20
22	bonds, barry	lf	retired	153.2		17
23	maddux, greg	pi sp	retired	151.7		18
24	jones, chipper	3b	retired	149.0		19
25	Vazquez, Javier 1146	pi sp	retired	148.3		21
26	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	146.9	2.0	24
27	thome, jim	1b dh	retired	146.7		22
28	Ortiz, David	dh	retired	145.9		23
29	Peavy, Jake 1635	pi sp	free agent	141.8		27
30	pettitte, andy	pi sp	retired	138.5		29
31	giambi, jason	1b	retired	133.4		30
32	hoffman, trevor	pi cp	retired	129.4		32
33	Guerrero, Vladimir	rf	retired	128.3		33
34	Weaver, Jered 2178	pi sp	retired	127.8		34
35	Burnett, A.J. 1300	pi sp	retired	127.8		35
36	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	127.2	6.0	39
37	Oswalt, Roy 1469	pi sp	retired	127.2		36
38	rivera, mariano	pi cp	retired	126.4		37
39	sheffield, gary	lf	retired	124.1		38
40	Lee, Cliff 1798	pi sp	free agent	119.1		40
41	Delgado, Carlos	1b	retired	117.7		41
42	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	117.5	5.5	52
43	Zito, Barry 1415	pi sp	retired	117.4		42
44	Buehrle, Mark 1407	pi sp	retired	116.7		43
45	Helton, Todd 1060	1b	retired	116.4		44
46	Hunter, Torii 1190	cf	retired	115.9		45
47	Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	115.8	4.5	53
48	Lincecum, Tim 2288	pi sp	free agent	115.0		46
49	Beckett, Josh 1544	pi sp	retired	114.9		47
50	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	113.4	16.1	83
51	Carpenter, Chris	pi sp	retired	113.3		48
52	Haren, Danny 1787	pi sp	retired	113.2		49
53	sosa, sammy	rf	retired	113.2		50
54	brown, kevin j.	pi sp	retired	112.8		51
55	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	111.5	25.1	108
56	Price, David 2593	pi sp	bos al	110.9	4.7	59
57	glavine, tom	pi sp	retired	110.6		54
58	kent, jeff	2b	retired	109.7		53
59	Wagner, Billy	pi cp	retired	108.7		54
60	Beltran, Carlos 1194	dh	hou al	108.6	3.7	64
61	Millwood, Kevin	pi sp	retired	108.3		57
62	Berkman, Lance 1261	1b lf rf	retired	108.1		58
63	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	107.7	2.0	62
64	thomas, frank	dh 1b	retired	106.2		60
65	Ramirez, Aramis 1364	3b	retired	105.8		61
66	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	105.4	22.5	114
67	Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	hou al	105.2	2.0	66
68	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	lad nl	105.1		63
69	moyer, jamie	pi sp	retired	104.0		65
70	Tejada, Miguel	ss	retired	102.3		67
71	griffey, ken jr.	cf	retired	102.2		68
72	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	101.8	2.0	75
73	Shields, James 2157	pi sp	chi al	101.4	2.0	77
74	wakefield, tim	pi sp	retired	101.4		69
75	Teixeira, Mark 1738	1b	retired	101.3		70
76	schmidt, jason	pi sp	retired	101.2		71
77	Holliday, Matt 1836	dh 1b lf	nyy al	100.8	3.0	80
78	Cain, Matt 2081	pi sp	sf nl	100.7	1.0	76
79	Konerko, Paul 1107	1b	retired	100.7		72
80	bagwell, jeff	1b	retired	100.4		73
81	walker, larry	rf	retired	100.1		74
82	edmonds, jim	cf	retired	98.8		78
83	Howard, Ryan 2040	1b	col nl	98.7		79
84	Rolen, Scott	3b	retired	97.6		81
85	Wolf, Randy 1235	pi sp	retired	97.4		82
86	Jones, Andruw	cf	retired	96.5		84
87	Gonzalez, Gio 2626	pi sp	dc nl	96.2	9.7	106
88	piazza, mike	ca	retired	95.7		85
89	Abreu, Bobby	rf	retired	95.5		86
90	nomo, hideo	pi sp	retired	95.5		87
91	Dempster, Ryan 1109	pi sp	retired	95.2		88
92	Ordonez, Magglio	rf	retired	94.5		89
93	Dunn, Adam 1512	lf	retired	94.3		90
94	williams, bernie	cf	retired	93.8		91
95	Lilly, Ted 1452	pi sp	retired	93.3		92
96	giles, brian	rf	retired	92.5		93
97	Wood, Kerry	pi sp	retired	92.4		94
98	Braun, Ryan J. 2300	lf	mil nl	91.7	3.5	100
99	Glaus, Troy 1132	3b	retired	91.6		95
100	Lowe, Derek	pi sp	retired	91.5		96

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

All four players selected for induction are among the overall top 35 players in career Box-Toppers points (tracking began in 1995). The three batters—Jones, Guerrero and Thome—rank among the top 10 batters in career Box-Toppers points since tracking began in 1995 and among the top three at their positions. Hoffman, the lone pitcher among the four, ranks first among closing pitchers in career Box-Toppers points since tracking began in 1995.

But overlooked Wednesday in voting were players who are among career overall Box-Toppers points leaders or leaders at their position. Most conspicuously absent was pitcher Curt Schilling who earned 194.1 career Box-Toppers points from 1995 through 2007, the fourth-highest total since 1995. Also not voted in was Jeff Kent, who leads all second basemen since 1995 with 109.7 Box-Toppers points.

Also not voted in were the usual suspects who have been ostracized for their association with performing enhancing drugs, including Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Gary Sheffield and Manny Ramirez.

In addition, pitcher Johan Santana, who dominated in Box-Toppers points in the mid-2000s and who ranks 12th among all players in career Box-Toppers points since tracking began, was not elected in his first year of eligibility and in fact, did not receive enough votes to return to the ballot in 2019. 

Here’s a look at the four players elected:

Chipper Jones

Jones, who played his entire career for the Atlanta Braves, received the most Hall of Fame votes (410, 97.2 percent of all writers) in his first year on the ballot. While Jones’ career pre-dates the advent of Box-Toppers tracking, he only played in eight Major League games prior to 1995 and examining those games, he would not have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in any of them. (Jones played in the eight games in 1993 and was injured and sat out the 1994 season.) In other words, the 149.0 Box-Toppers points he earned since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, actually fully constitutes his career total.

Jones’ career Box-Toppers point total ranks 24th among all players, fifth among all batters and second among third basemen since tracking started in 1995. (At third base, Jones ranks behind only Alex Rodriguez with 187.0). Jones is the highest-ranked batter who never led his league's batters in Box-Toppers points in a single season. In his best season—2001—he had 16.7 Box-Toppers points, finishing behind NL batting leader Todd Helton of the Rockies, who had 17.0. 

Jones had five seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. He finished in the overall top 10 in 2001 (in ninth place) and ranked among the top 10 NL batters four times.

Jones was voted NL Most Valuable Player in 1999, a year in which he had 9.7 Box-Toppers points, second among NL third basemen. He’s an eight-time All-Star, was a member the Braves’ 1995 World Series championship team, twice won the Silver Slugger Award and was the Majors’ batting champion in 2008.

Vladimir Guerrero

Guerrero, who played from 1996 to 2011 for the Expos, Angels, Rangers and Orioles, received the second-most Hall of Fame votes (392, 92.9 percent of the writers) in his second year on the ballot—last year he received 71.7 percent of the vote, falling just short of the needed 75 percent.

Guerrero is the first player voted into the Hall of Fame who played his entire career after the advent of Box-Toppers tracking. Guerrero began his career in 1996, the year after tracking began.

He earned 128.3 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks 33rd among all players, 10th among all batters and third among all outfielders since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. His ranking at third among all outfielders would qualify him for a starting spot on Box-Toppers “All-Time” All-Star team, as he trails only Manny Ramirez (167.2) and Barry Bonds (153.2) in career points since 1995. Both of those players finished lower on the 2018 Hall ballot than Guerrero, with neither receiving enough votes for election.

Guerrero’s best season was 2004 on the Angels when he had 14.4 Box-Toppers points, which ranked second among American League batters, behind Gary Sheffield of the Yankees (16.2), who also fell short of being elected to the Hall in 2018. Guerrero was also voted AL Most Valuable Player in 2004.

Guerrero ranked among the top 10 AL batters in Box-Toppers points in four seasons and among the top 10 NL batters (with the Expos) three seasons. He had six seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points.

Guerrero is a nine-time All-Star and an eight-tine winner of the Silver Slugger.

Jim Thome

Thome, who played from 1991 to 2012 for the Indians, Phillies, White Sox, Twins, Dodgers and Orioles, received the third-most Hall of Fame votes (379, 89.9 percent of the writers) in his first year on the ballot.

Thome has 146.7 career Box-Toppers points since 1995 when tracking began, which ranks 27th among all players in that span, seventh among all batters and second among first basemen, behind only Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, who just passed him in 2017 and now has 146.9 points.

However, Thome’s career pre-dates Box-Toppers. If Thome’s career from 1991 through 1994 were tracked, rough projections put his actual career Box-Toppers point total at 154, which would put him ahead of both Cabrera and Chipper Jones.

Box-Toppers lists Thome as both first basemen and designated hitter, since he spent a lot of time in the DH role late in his career. Thome also ranks second among designated hitters in career Box-Toppers points behind Albert Pujols of the Angels (187.8).

Thome’s best season tracked by Box-Toppers was 1996 with the Indians, when he had 16.2 Box-Toppers points, ranked sixth among all players and third among AL batters. He ranked among the top 10 in batters in Box-Toppers points five times—three times in the American League and twice in the National League with the Phillies. Thome had 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points in a season five times.

Thome was a five-time All-Star, won a Silver Slugger Award in 1996 and led the NL in home runs in 2003.

Trevor Hoffman

Hoffman, who played from 1993 to 2010 for the Padres, Brewers and Marlins, received the fourth-most votes (337, 79.9 percent of the voting writers) in his third year of eligibility. Hoffman narrowly missed induction in 2017, falling just five votes shy of the 75 percent needed for election.

Hoffman has 129.4 Box-Toppers points since 1995, ranking 32nd among all players and first among all closing pitchers (ahead of Mariano Rivera with 126.4). Hoffmann began his career in 1993, prior to the 1995 advent of Box-Toppers tracking. If his entire career were tracked, rough projections put his career total at about 135 Box-Toppers points (only increasing his lead on Rivera, who would still have 126.4).

While Hoffman leads all closing pitchers in Box-Toppers points, he ranks 23rd among all pitchers in Box-Toppers points since 1995, ranked between Andy Pettitte (138.5) and Jered Weaver (127.8). Of the top 100 pitchers in career points since 1995, seven are closing pitchers.

Hoffman’s best season tracked by Box-Toppers was 1996 when he had 14.7 Box-Toppers points, which ranked fifth among all NL pitchers (including starters). (Separate classifications for closing and middle relief pitchers were not kept by Box-Toppers until 1998.)

Hoffman is a seven-time All-Star and led the NL in saves in two seasons. His 601 career saves stood as a record until it was broken by Rivera, who still holds it with 652 saves; Hoffman still ranks second.

•

Here is a look at players who missed the cut:

Curt Schilling

In his sixth year of eligibility, Schilling received 51.2 percent of the vote, gaining from the 45.0 percent he received in 2017, but still below the 52.3 percent he received in 2016. Schilling played from 1988 to 2007 and had 194.1 Box-Toppers points since 1995, ranked fourth on the “all-time” list (also fourth among all pitchers).

He is the highest-ranked Hall-eligible player not to be elected to the Hall of Fame. Two players ahead of him in Box-Toppers rankings are Hall-of-Famers—pitchers Randy Johnson (278.8 Box-Toppers points) and Pedro Martinez (244.8). Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, still active, passed Schilling in career Box-Toppers points in 2017 and now ranks third “all-time” with 206.8.

Jeff Kent

In his fifth year of eligibility, Kent received  14.5 percent of the vote, down from the 16.7 percent he had last year. Kent has 109.7 Box-Toppers points since 1995, ranked 58th among all players and first among second basemen. Kent’s consistent low vote total could be explained because he was not known as a great defensive player. But Kent didn’t just lead all second basemen in Box-Toppers points during his career, he dominated them. And 10 years after his retirement, no other second baseman has come close—Robinson Cano of the Mariners currently ranks second among all second basemen in Box-Toppers points since 1995 with 79.4, 30.3 points behind Kent.

Edgar Martinez

In his ninth year of eligibility, Martinez had 70.4 percent of the vote, falling 20 votes short of the 75 percent needed for election to the Hall. However, his percentage is up from the 58.6 percent he received in 2017. Martinez has just one more year of eligibility remaining on the writers’ Hall ballot. 

Martinez had 77.5 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 139th among all players and 10th among designated hitters. (Martinez began his career in 1987 and so would likely have about 100 total career Box-Toppers points, based on rough projections.)

Mike Mussina

In his fifth year of eligibility, Mussina received 63.5 percent of the votes, up from the 51.8 percent he received in 2017 and the 43.0 percent he received in 2016. Mussina has 155.6 career Box-Toppers points since 1995, ranked 23rd among all players and 14th among all pitchers. If his entire career from 1991 were tracked, rough projections put Mussina’s actual career Box-Toppers point total at 193.

Steroid-associated players

Five players associated with steroids who otherwise might have been shoo-ins to the Hall of Fame were again denied induction:

• Roger Clemens, in his sixth year of eligibility, received 57.3 percent of the vote, up from the 54.1 percent he received in 2017 and the 45.2 percent he received in 2016. His career began in 1984 and he earned 164.8 Box-Toppers points from 1995 to 2007, 13th among all players and 10th among all pitchers. (If his entire career were tracked, projections put his Box-Toppers point total at about 320.)

• Barry Bonds, in his sixth year of eligibility, received 56.4 percent of the vote, up from the 53.8 percent he received in 2017 and the 44.3 percent he received in 2016. His career began in 1986 and he earned 153.2 Box-Toppers points from 1995 to 2007, 22nd among all players and second among all outfielders. (If his entire career were tracked, projections put his Box-Toppers point total at about 230.)

• Manny Ramirez, in his second year of eligibility, received 22.0 percent of the vote, down from the 23.8 percent he received in 2017. Ramirez had 167.2 career Box-Toppers points since 1995, ranked 11th among all players and first among outfielders. (Ramirez began his career in 1993, prior to Box-Toppers tracking. If his entire career were tracked, rough projections put his career total at about 173.)

• Gary Sheffield, in his fourth year of eligibility, received 11.1 percent of the vote, down from the 13.3 percent he received in 2017 and down from the 11.6 percent he received in 2016. Sheffield has 124.1 career Box-Toppers points since 1995, ranked 39th among all players and fourth among all outfielders. If his entire career from 1988 to 2009 were tracked, he would have roughly 155 career Box-Toppers points.

• Sammy Sosa, in his sixth year of eligibility, received 7.8 percent of the vote, down from the 8.6 percent he received in 2017 but up from the 7.0 percent he received in 2016. His career began in 1989 and he earned 113.2 Box-Toppers points from 1995 to 2007, 53rd among all players and sixth among all outfielders. If his entire career were tracked, projections put his Box-Toppers point total at about 135.

Johan Santana

The biggest Hall of Fame snub among players on the ballot for the first year in 2018, based on Box-Toppers statistics, belongs to pitcher Johan Santana.

Johan Santana

Here are Johan Santana's Box-Toppers statistics. The third column shows his Box-Toppers points (BTP) per season. The final column shows his All-Star Selections, his Box-Toppers key season rankings and his standing in Cy Young and Most Valuable Player Award voting.

 

Year	Team	BTP	Notes
2000	min al	0.0
2001	min al	1.7
2002	min al	10.0
2003	min al	10.7	CYA‑7
2004	min al	26.8	BTP‑1, CYA‑1, MVP‑6
2005	min al	24.1	AS, BTP‑1, CYA‑3
2006	min al	25.7	AS, BTP‑1, CYA‑1, MVP‑7
2007	min al	18.1	AS, CYA‑5, BTP‑4, BTP‑AL pi‑1
2008	nym nl	15.4	BTP‑9, BTP‑NL pi‑5, CYA‑3, MVP‑14
2009	nym nl	11.4
2010	nym nl	12.0
2011	nym nl	0.0
2012	nym nl	10.7
2013	nym nl	0.0
Total		166.6	BTP‑12, BTP‑pi-9

AS All-star selection
BTP Finish among all players in Box-Toppers points
BTP-AL pi Finish among all AL pitchers in BTP
BTP-NL pi Finish among all NL pitchers in BTP
CYA Finish in league Cy Young Award voting
MVP Finish in league Most Valuable Player Award voting

Source: Information for player awards comes from Baseball-Reference.com

Santana received just 10 Hall of Fame votes, only 2.4 percent of the writers, below the 5 percent threshold to remain eligible to return to the ballot next year.

But Santana ranks among the top 10 pitchers in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when tracking began, led all players in Box-Toppers points for three straight seasons and led all AL players for four straight seasons.

The case against Santana going into the Hall of Fame may be that his career was relatively short and he had injuries that kept him from playing. And though his success was overwhelming and dominant, it lasted just a few short years. And perhaps writers view his repeated comeback attempts in recent years as unseemly. 

At 38, he is still listed as a free agent and has consistently attempted to return to baseball. He last played a Major League game in 2012 with the Mets, a year in which he had 10.7 Box-Toppers points. But he has since been signed by the Orioles and Blue Jays but never appeared in a game. Santana has said recently he wants to continue his pitching career. 

In 2014, Box-Toppers profiled 14 players whose careers had ended or had appeared to end. Santana is the only one of them who is still trying to mount a comeback.

Santana has 166.6 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks 12th among all players and ninth among all pitchers since 1995, when tracking began. Because he’s listed as a free agent, he ranks fifth among all active pitchers in career points.

Santana played from 2000 to 2012 with the Twins and the Mets. His greatest success came from 2004 to 2007 with the Twins. He led all players in Box-Toppers points for three straight seasons (2004 to 2006), something only one other player has done (Randy Johnson led players for five straight years from 1998 to 2002). He led all AL players for four straight years (2004 to 2007). He won two Cy Young Awards in 2004 and 2006 but probably should have won four straight (2004 to 2007).

Here’s a look at Santana’s dominant seasons:

• 2004—26.8 Box-Toppers points, led all players, won AL Cy Young Award, finished sixth in AL Most Valuable Player Award voting.

• 2005—24.1 Box-Toppers points, led all players, finished third in AL Cy Young Award voting.

• 2006—25.7 Box-Toppers points, led all players, won AL Cy Young Award, finished seventh in AL Most Valuable Player Award voting.

• 2007—18.1 Box-Toppers points, led all AL players, ranked fourth among all players, finished fifth in AL Cy Young Award voting.

Santana moved to the Mets in 2008 and while he still had 10 or more Box-Toppers points in each of the four seasons he appeared with them, he never matched his success he had with the Twins. However, in 2008, he had 15.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked ninth among all players, fifth among NL pitchers and third in NL Cy Young Award voting.

Santana had 20 or more Box-Toppers points for three straight years, the fifth-longest streak of consecutive seasons with 20 or more points in Box-Toppers tracking history. He had nine straight years of 10 or more Box-Toppers points (2002-2010) and 10 total seasons with 10 or more points (2002-2010 and 2012).

Santana is a four-time All-Star, led the Majors in wins in 2006, led in earned run average and strikeouts three times and pitched a no-hitter with the Mets in 2012.

Writer Bill Baer compared Santana’s career to Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax. Both played 12 seasons, both were shortened by injury, both had very similar regular season numbers. Koufax was elected to the Hall in his first try and is considered one of the all-time great pitchers, despite his injury-shortened career. Baer deems Koufax’s career as better than Santana’s—but not by much.

While Santana will not appear on next year’s writers ballot for the Hall, there are still other ways he can be enshrined. He could be voted in as early as December by a subcommittee that considers players for induction who appeared after 1988. This year, a similar subcommittee voted to induct two players who had been passed over by writers.

And if Santana is able to comeback and appears in a Major League game, his Hall of Fame clock would be reset and he would be eligible for Hall of Fame voting by the baseball writers again as soon as 2024.

First year of eligibility

There were 19 players who were in their first year of Hall eligibility, having played at least 10 seasons and been retired for five. Two received the 75 percent vote needed for induction (Jones and Thome). Only three others received at least 5 percent of the vote to be eligible for the 2019 ballot—Omar Vizquel, Scott Rolen and Andruw Jones. Fourteen others did not receive the requisite 5 percent of the vote and so will not return to the 2019 ballot. Of those, only eight received votes—Johan Santana, Jamie Moyer, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Chris Carpenter, Kerry Wood, Carlos Lee and Livan Hernandez. Six players received no votes—Kevin Millwood, Carlos Zambrano, Jason Isringhausen, Aubrey Huff, Brad Lidge and Orlando Hudson.

Other facts

For the first time, all candidates on the writers’ ballot played the majority of their careers in the Box-Toppers era from 1995 on. (The candidate who played the largest percentage of his career before Box-Toppers tracking is Fred McGriff, who played nine seasons prior to tracking from 1986 to 1994 and 10 seasons from 1995 to 2004, while tracking was in effect.)

Seventeen of the 33 players on the ballot began their careers in 1995 or after, meaning their entire careers were tracked by Box-Toppers. However, 13 of those players did not receive enough votes to return to the Hall of Fame ballot in 2019. There are 15 players from the 2018 ballot who will return in 2019. Of those, 12 began their careers prior to 1995.

Adding up all the seasons all 33 players on the ballot were active results in 575 player seasons, an average of 17.4 seasons per player. Of those 575 player seasons, 95 took place prior to Box-Toppers tracking in 1995. That means 83.5 percent of all these players’ careers were tracked by Box-Toppers.

Morris and Trammell also to be inducted in 2018

In addition, two other players were voted into baseball’s Hall of Fame in December by the Modern Baseball Era Committee. Pitcher Jack Morris and shortstop Alan Trammell were selected and will be inducted alongside the four players chosen by the writers this week.

The Modern Baseball Era Committee is made up of 16 voters, including eight Hall of Famers, five baseball executives and three media members or historians. They select from a group of 10 candidates who participated in the game during baseball’s “modern era,” from 1970 to 1987.

Morris played from 1977 to 1994 for the Tigers, Twins, Blue Jays and Indians. However, he retired the year before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.

Trammell played for the Tigers from 1977 to 1996. While Box-Toppers wasn’t around to track his play from 1977 to 1994, Trammell did earn 3.5 Box-Toppers points in 1995. He earned no points in his final season, 1996.

In December 2018, a separate Hall of Fame subcommittee will vote on candidates to induct in 2019. That subcommittee will consider participants from “today’s” game, 1988 or later.

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.

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.

Related:

How 2017 Hall of Fame candidates fared in Box-Toppers

How 2016 Hall of Fame candidates fared in Box-Toppers points

How 2015 Hall of Fame candidates fared in Box-Toppers points

Box-Toppers top 100 players of “all-time,” 1995-2017