Phillies’ Wheeler tops players for Friday, May 23, extending season player rankings lead

Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, extending his lead in season player rankings and becoming the first player in 2025 to reach 10 Box-Toppers points.

Also Friday, Padres pitcher Nick Pivetta rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Cubs rises to first place in 2025 Box-Toppers points among National League batters after earning NL Batter of the Day honors. He rises to ninth place overall.

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Cardinals’ Gray tops players for Monday, May 19; Bubic, Gray rise in top 10 rankings

Cardinals pitcher Sonny Gray is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to eighth place in season player rankings.

Also Monday, Royals pitcher Kris Bubic rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

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Twins’ Ryan tops players for Sunday, April 27; Astros’ Brown rises to 2nd place

Twins pitcher Joe Ryan is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Astros pitcher Hunter Brown rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Other Player of the Game winners include Reds pitcher Nick Lodolo, Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola, Kristian Campbell of the Red Sox and Josh Naylor of the Diamondbacks.

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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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Orioles’ Eflin tops players Sunday, Sept. 1; Phillies’ Nola, Twins’ Ober rise into top 10

Orioles pitcher Zach Eflin is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, two players rise into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after both earn Player of the Game honors: Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola rises to seventh place and Twins pitcher Bailey Ober rises to ninth place.

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Rangers’ Gray tops players for Friday, Aug. 11; Dodgers’ Lynn tops NL players

Rangers pitcher Jon Gray is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Gray struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 2-1 win over the Giants.

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Pirates’ Oviedo tops players for Sunday, Aug. 6; Mariners’ Miller rises to 6th in rankings

Pirates pitcher Johan Oviedo is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Mariners pitcher Bryce Miller rises to sixth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.

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Rockies’ Freeland tops players for Wednesday, May 3; Ohtani, McClanahan rise in top 10

Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to ninth place in season player rankings.

Also Wednesday, two other players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors—Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani rises to fifth place and Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan rises to sixth place.

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How 2023 Hall of Fame candidates fared in Box-Toppers

Third baseman Scott Rolen was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Tuesday in his sixth year on the baseball writers’ ballot.

Box-Toppers did not vote Rolen for induction in a separate internet baseball writers ballot, favoring four other candidates who were not elected.

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Dodgers’ Kershaw tops players for Friday, July 15; Blue Jays’ Manoah tops AL players

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Kershaw struck out six over eighth scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 9-1 win over the Angels.

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Giants’ Rodon tops players for Saturday, July 9, rising to 8th in player rankings

Giants pitcher Carlos Rodon is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to eighth place in season player rankings.

Rodon pitched a complete game, striking out 12 and allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 3-1 win over the Padres.

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Yankees’ Cole tops players for Monday, June 20, rising to 4th in player rankings

Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fourth in season player rankings.

Also Monday, Braves pitcher Max Fried rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game 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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Yankees’ Cole tops players for Saturday, July 10, rising to 2nd in player rankings

Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in season player rankings.

Meanwhile, Rockies pitcher German Marquez rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Saturday’s National League Player of the Day honors. Plus, Nick Castellanos of the Reds rises to lead NL batters in 2021 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

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Indians’ Civale tops players for Friday, June 11; Mets’ deGrom rises to lead NL pitchers in player rankings

Indians pitcher Aaron Civale is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh place in season player rankings.

Also Friday, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, first place among National League pitchers, after earning NL Player of the Day honors. Plus, two other players in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 earn Player of the Game honors—Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff and Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.

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