Analyzing 25 years of Box-Toppers points leaders among American League and National League pitchers and batters each season.
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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
The Box-Toppers career points top 10 list had no new members during the 2019 season but saw a massive reshuffling among players ranked fourth through 10th.
Meanwhile, there was one new player rising into the top 10 list among pitchers in “all-time” career Box-Toppers points in 2019 (Cole Hamels of the Cubs). Plus, the top 10 “all-time” points list for batters was largely dormant during 2019 and included just two active players—Albert Pujols of the Angels and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers. However, Cabrera actually rose from sixth to fifth place, while earning just 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2019.
Read MoreMax Scherzer leads players in Box-Toppers points since start of 2014
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2014.
Scherzer has 134.3 Box-Toppers points over the period 2014-2019, 8.9 points ahead of Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has 125.4 points over that span.
Read MoreJustin Verlander leads players in Box-Toppers points over past 2 seasons (2018-19)
Astros pitcher Justin Verlander has more Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons than any other player.
Verlander has earned 51.6 Box-Toppers points over 2018 and 2019. He ranked third in 2018 with 24.1 points and second in 2019 with 27.5.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers top 100 players of ‘all-time’ after the 2019 season
Randy Johnson leads all players in career Box-Toppers points and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Johnson earned 278.8 Box-Toppers points from the time Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995 until he retired in 2009.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers’ top 100 players for 2018-19 and 2014-19
Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is Box-Toppers’ top-ranked player over the past two seasons while Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer ranks first in points over the past six seasons.
Verlander earned 51.6 Box-Toppers points combined in 2018 and 2019 to lead all players in that span while Scherzer earned 134.3 points from 2014-2019, most in that span.
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2020 sees biggest decline in managers who have won World Series with their current team
As of Jan. 14, 2020, for the sixth time ever and the first time in more than 40 years, there is only one manager who has won a World Series on the team he is currently managing (Dave Martinez of the Nationals).
To close 2019, there were six managers who won a World Series with his current team. Going from six such managers to one is the biggest drop in one offseason since the World Series was first played in 1903.
Read MoreHow 2020 Hall of Fame candidates fared in Box-Toppers
Derek Jeter and Larry Walker were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Tuesday.
Both 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.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ big dippers—players whose 2019 point total declined most from 2018: Corey Kluber leads list
Indians pitcher Corey Kluber had the biggest decline in Box-Toppers points from 2018 to 2019.
Kluber, who earned 21.7 Box-Toppers points in 2018 (fourth among all players), earned no points in 2019. His decline of 21.7 points was ahead of Rays pitcher Blake Snell, whose 10.0 points in 2019 represented a 17.2-point drop from the 27.2 points he earned to lead all players in 2018.
Read MoreA look at Box-Toppers’ top 100 players for 2019
Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole tops Box-Toppers list of the top 100 players in 2019.
Cole had 32.2 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, which is the fourth-highest single-season point total in the 25 seasons of Box-Toppers tracking, which began in 1995. It was 1.5 points short of the record, 33.7, set by Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks in both 2000 and 2002.
Read MoreComparing Box-Toppers All-Decade All-Star teams—2010s vs. 2000s
Comparing Box-Toppers’ All-Decade All-Star teams from the 2000s and the 2010s, a couple of interesting things stand out:
Albert Pujols was the leading batter in Box-Toppers points in both decades.
Batters overall earned precipitously fewer Box-Toppers points in the 2010s compared to the 2000s.
Box-Toppers’ 2010s All-Decade All-Star team, plus top 100 players from 2010-2019
Clayton Kershaw and Albert Pujols lead Box-Toppers All-Decade All-Star team for the 2010s.
Kershaw earned the most Box-Toppers points of any player from 2010-2019 (210.1) and Pujols earned the most of any batter over that span (79.9), which is 25th among all players. The All-Decade All-Star team is made up of players who led their position in Box-Toppers points over the span of 2010-2019.
Read MoreBox-Toppers selects six players for Hall of Fame in internet writers’ ballot
Box-Toppers votes Todd Helton, Derek Jeter, Jeff Kent,, Curt Schilling, Billy Wagner and Larry Walker into the Hall of Fame on Internet Baseball Writers of America ballot.
Read MoreBox-Toppers 2019 year-end All-Star teams
The Box-Toppers All-Star teams for the 2019 regular season are led by overall Box-Toppers points leader, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole.
The American League and National League All-Star teams are composed of the players with the highest Box-Toppers point totals by position in each league. In addition to the batters—eight in the NL and nine (including the designated hitter) in the AL—are the top four starting pitchers in each league and the top closing pitcher.
Read MoreA look at players who made biggest gains in Box-Toppers points from 2018 to 2019
Padres rookie pitcher Chris Paddack had the biggest gain in Box-Toppers point totals from 2018 to 2019.
Paddack earned 15.8 Box-Toppers points in his first season in 2019 after obviously earning no points in 2018, making his 15.8-point gain the largest among all players this season.
Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole had the biggest gain in Box-Toppers points among returning players and among American League pitchers. His 14.2-point gain from 2018 to 2019 was the second-biggest of the season.
Read MorePlayers ranking highest in Box-Toppers points in 2019 fail to win any postseason awards
No Box-Toppers points leaders were among the winners in six major postseason awards for 2019.
In fact, looking at Box-Toppers’ ballot in the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, none of the 10 candidates we chose for awards based on Box-Toppers points won an award.
Read MoreBellinger, Trout win MVP Awards ahead of Box-Toppers’ decidedly outlier picks—Cole, Ozuna
Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers, who ranked third among National League batters in Box-Toppers points in 2019 with 11.2, was voted NL Most Valuable Player Thursday.
And Mike Trout of the Angels, who ranked ninth among American League batters in Box-Toppers points in 2019 with 8.7, was voted AL Most Valuable Player.
Read MoreVerlander, deGrom win 2019 Cy Young Awards over Box-Toppers leaders Cole, Strasburg
Gerrit Cole of the Astros, who led all players in 2019 Box-Toppers points and had the fourth-highest single-season point total in Box-Toppers’ 25-year tracking history, fell short of winning baseball’s top pitching prize Wednesday.
Teammate Justin Verlander, who ranked second overall in Box-Toppers points, edged Cole to win the 2019 American League Cy Young Award. Cole finished second in voting. In the National League, Jacob deGrom of the Mets won the Cy Young Award for the second straight year. He finished second among NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points behind leader Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals.
Read MorePadres’ Chris Paddack, Box-Toppers’ dominant rookie for 2019, receives no Rookie of the Year votes; Alonso, Alvarez receive rookie honors
Box-Toppers’ top-ranked 2019 rookie—far and away the top-ranked rookie—did not even receive a single vote in baseball writers’ Rookie of the Year voting.
Padres pitcher Chris Paddack had nearly twice as many 2019 Box-Toppers points as any other player who made their Box-Toppers debut during the season. His 15.8 Box-Toppers points, in fact, ranked 14th among all players and eighth among all National League pitchers, just ahead of NL Cy Young Award finalist Max Scherzer of the Nationals (15.4 points, ninth among NL pitchers).
Read MoreYates, Hendriks win Reliever of the Year Awards from internet baseball writers group
Kirby Yates of the Padres and Liam Hendriks of the Athletics are winners of this year’s reliever of the year awards as voted on by the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA).
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