About Box-Toppers
Who are the best players in baseball? How do you even measure such a thing?One way is to determine which players most help their teams win the most games. That’s what Box-Toppers does.
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 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.
How it works
About Box-Toppers
Who are the best players in baseball? How do you even measure such a thing?One way is to determine which players most help their teams win the most games. That’s what Box-Toppers does.
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 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.
How it works
Hello, World!
About Box-Toppers
Who are the best players in baseball? How do you even measure such a thing?One way is to determine which players most help their teams win the most games. That’s what Box-Toppers does.
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.
How it works
About Box-Toppers
Who are the best players in baseball? How do you even measure such a thing?One way is to determine which players most help their teams win the most games. That’s what Box-Toppers does.
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.
How it works
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Box-Toppers 2022 review, 2023 preview
More about what Box-Toppers is all about and how it works and why Box-Toppers was devised.
Here are links to key offseason posts:
Top players, top teams
Year-end 2022 team rankings: Dodgers lead over Astros narrows in final Box-Toppers team rankings report for 2022
Year-end 2022 player rankings: Astros’ Justin Verlander is Box-Toppers’ 2022 Player of the Year
Top 10 player lists
Box-Toppers top 10 players by category (Overall, AL pitchers, NL pitchers, AL batters, NL batters)
2022: Astros’ Justin Verlander is Box-Toppers’ 2022 Player of the Year
2021-22: Shohei Ohtani leads players in Box-Toppers points over past 2 seasons
2017-22: Max Scherzer leads players in Box-Toppers points over past 6 seasons
“All-time” 1995-2022: Verlander rises from 6th to 5th on Box-Toppers’ ‘all-time’ top 10 list during 2022
Box-Toppers All-Star teams
2010s All-Decade All-Star team (2010-19)
2000s vs. 2010s: Comparing Box-Toppers All-Decade All-Star teams from two decades
Box-Toppers’ Top 100 players
2021-22: Shohei Ohtani tops list
2017-22: Max Scherzer tops list
“All-time” 1995-2022: Randy Johnson tops list
Box-Toppers’ most improved, biggest decliners
Box-Toppers’ Most Improved player in 2022: Justin Verlander sets Box-Toppers record for biggest one-season improvement
Box-Toppers’ big dippers: Box-Toppers’ big dippers—players whose 2022 point total declined most from 2021: Max Scherzer leads list
Box-Toppers’ season-by-season leaders
Hall of Fame
Box-Toppers selects 4 players for 2023 Hall of Fame induction in internet writers’ ballot
How 2023 Hall of Fame candidates fared in Box-Toppers: Rolen voted to Hall of Fame, while Box-Toppers’ 4 choices fall short
2022 playoff highlights
American League Championship Series preview: Astros favored because of pitching advantage, but Yankees have bats
National League Championship Series preview: Padres favored over Phillies, but favorites are 0-4 in ’22 NL postseason
World Series preview: Astros hold Box-Toppers points edge over Phillies in 2022 World Series
Astros defeat Phillies in World Series in six games: Valdez tops players as Astros win World Series over Phillies in sixth game Saturday
2022 postseason awards
Box-Toppers’ votes in Internet Baseball Writers Association of America postseason awards: Box-Toppers votes Ohtani AL MVP over Judge—plus our other postseason award picks
Players Choice Awards: Justin Verlander among 2022 Box-Toppers points leaders winning Players Choice Awards
Silver Sluggers: How 2022 Silver Sluggers winners fared in Box-Toppers rankings
Hank Aaron Awards: Yankees’ Aaron Judge, Box-Toppers’ top AL batter, wins 2022 Hank Aaron Award
Reliever of the Year: A look at how 2022 Reliever of the Year winners Diaz, Clase fared in Box-Toppers points
Awards preview: A look at 2022 awards finalists and how they fared in Box-Toppers rankings
Rookie of the Year: Box-Toppers’ top AL rookie Rodriguez wins AL Rookie of the Year; top NL rookie Strider finishes 2nd
Cy Young: Box-Toppers leaders Verlander, Alcantara win 2022 Cy Young Awards
Most Valuable Player: Judge, Goldschmidt win MVP awards over Box-Toppers’ choices Ohtani, Alonso
Summary: Box-Toppers points leaders win 3 of 6 major postseason awards in 2022
2023 preseason
Box-Toppers offseason team rankings prior to 2023: Yankees, Mets lead Box-Toppers offseason team rankings, landing biggest free agents
A look at Box-Toppers 2023 preseason predictions for win totals, division standings, playoff picks: Box-Toppers picks Mets over Yankees in 2023 World Series
Special extras
Will 2023 rules changes finally place a check on pitchers’ decade of dominance?
Pitchers won fewer Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors after foreign substance crackdown, but still dominated in 2021: A Box-Toppers analysis shows batters made gains after June’s more stringent rule enforcement. But overall in 2021, pitchers dominated at a near-record level.
Batters’ share of Box-Toppers points earned plummeted in the decade of the 2010s: Comparing batters’ performance in Box-Toppers points from 2000-2009 to 2010-2019
Box-Toppers marks 25th anniversary. We tracked our first game April 25, 1995, and have tracked top players in 60,000 games over the past quarter century. A look back at the very first Player of the Game winners and a look at Box-Toppers’ history—what has remained a constant and what has changed.
A look at how top draft picks fared in career Box-Toppers points and rankings: Alex Rodriguez has most career Box-Toppers points of all top overall draft picks since 1990