Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Brantley Confirmed For Tribe Fest 2016 + Health Updates!

Happy 2016, Brantley fans! i am back and have some exciting news for you all! today, on January 12, it was announced that Michael Brantley will be attending the 4th annual Tribe Fest, presented by KeyBank.

photo courtesy of @Indians on twitter

unlike in years past, however, there are some big changes to this year's event. due to the current renovations being made at Progressive Field, Tribe Fest will be held at Aloft Cleveland Downtown and the Ernst & Young Tower lobby in Flats East Bank. not only that, but because of limited space, it's just ONE day this year on January 30.

tickets for Tribe Fest are on sale now. you must purchase a general admission ticket--$5 for both adults and children--in order to attend. (NOTE: children under 3 are free.) like usual, fans can purchase general admission tickets alone, or bundle them with an autograph ticket. the two different autograph sessions to choose from are 9 am - 2 pm and 2 pm - 7 pm. while you cannot choose which specific player to get an autograph from, you can pick between a current Indians player ($25 ticket) or an alumni player ($20).

along with Michael, the following players have already confirmed to appear (although this is subject to change):
Cody Allen (just announced today, too)
Abraham Almonte
Cody Anderson
Lonnie Chisenhall
Yan Gomes
Corey Kluber
Jason Kipnis
Francisco Lindor
Jeff Manship
Zach McAllister
Jose Ramirez
Danny Salazar (just announced today, too)
Bryan Shaw
Giovanny Urshela

the alumni scheduled to attend are:
Carlos Baerga
Ellis Burks
Mike Hargrove
Jaret Wright

John Adams will be at this event as well.

in addition to autographs, fans can also attend the celebrity bartending event at Aloft's WXYZ Lounge. various players will participate in two separate sessions, from 2:15 pm - 3:15 pm and 4:45 pm - 5:45 pm. fans need a general admission ticket and a separate $15 ticket for entry.

younger fans will have the opportunity to get their faces painted, sit with caricature artists, get temporary tattoos, and visit Slider and the hot dogs. there will be Q&As with players and games, too.

for more information, go to Indians.com/TribeFest.


now on to the BRANTLEY HEALTH UPDATES:

over the past few weeks, i've read some news about Michael's recovery from shoulder surgery that i've tweeted but haven't posted in any blogs. so to keep you up-to-date, here is the most current information, picking up where we left off after the final update at the Winter Meetings in December:

on December 17, 2015, Paul Hoynes tweeted that Michael was in Cleveland for a checkup (just 9 days after his first one) and President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti said his right shoulder was progressing well.

here he is with Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor in what i assume is the trainer's room at Progressive Field:

photo cropped from @jasonkipnis22 on instagram

(these 3 were all in town to participate in assisting CJ, an interim police chief, find The Crump who stole Christmas. pics from that event can be found here.)

more quotes from Antonetti about Michael's progress were posted on T.J. Zuppe's twitter. "he's doing well. he's chomping at the bit to get our training staff to push things a little bit more quickly because he's feeling so well."

later that night, Michael was seen at the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball game with Kipnis.

photo courtesy of @Indians on twitter

on December 18, 2015, Indians GM Mike Chernoff was quoted as saying, "Brantley told me yesterday the trainers are holding him back. he's ready to go right now." (source: MLB Network Radio)

on December 21, 2015, Antonetti said, "we expect that he'll be back at some point, probably after the first month of the season." (source: MLB Network PR)

and that's the latest news i've got for ya. Michael's already 2 months removed from his surgery, and i'm happy that everything seems to be going as planned so far!


based on Michael's appearances at basketball games and the continued positive reports from his doctor visits, i kind of figured it was only a matter of time before Michael confirmed for Tribe Fest. the Indians originally began promoting it back on December 4, which was understandably way too soon for Michael to commit to it. guess he just wanted to be sure he would be well enough and able to handle it, so we were left in suspense about it for a while.

i also assume we'll be getting more updates about his progress and potentially a more accurate timetable for his rehab and return during the festivities on January 30 as well. 'til then, be sure to follow me on twitter @clevelandgirl23 to get all the Michael updates as i tweet them.

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