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| photo courtesy of TribeVibe |
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| photo courtesy of The Plain Dealer (Chuck Crow) |
to follow my previous format of the Brantley wrap up blog, i'll begin by linking all the past monthly blogs here if anyone wants to refer back to them: March/April, May, June, July, August, and September.
now for the last time, here are Michael's final #s for the 2014 season:
Michael had a total of 676 plate appearances and 611 at bats in 156 games (1304.1 innings). in total, he had 200 hits, 133 singles, 45 doubles, 2 triples, 20 home runs, 97 RBI, 5 sac flies, 94 runs scored, 52 walks, 4 intentional walks, 8 hit by pitches, 23 stolen bases, 1 caught stealing, 16 GIDP, 56 strikeouts (38 swinging, 18 looking), 51 first at bat hits, 309 total bases, 211 left on base, 271 putouts, 12 assists, 2 double plays, and 1 error.
2014 season batting average: .327 (200-611)
OBP: .385
SLG: .506
OPS: .890
overall #s while playing the outfield: 271 putouts, 12 assists, 2 double plays, 1 error, 0.996 fielding percentage (1304.1 innings, 147 games)
Michael put together a career year, accomplishing career highs in almost every offensive category as well as setting some new Indians franchise records. he played fantastic defense in both left and center field this season, too. Michael finished 2014 as the only player in the major leagues with at least a .300 batting average, 40 doubles, 20 home runs, 90 RBI, 90 runs, and 20 steals. talk about extraordinary.
Michael played in 156 of 162 games. he had a hit in 123 of 156 games that he played and reached base safely in 139 games, 28 straight from August 28 - September 24.
as usual, Michael had many significant hitting streaks during the year, including two 9-game, an 11-game, a 12-game, and two 15-game hitting streaks. his second 15-game hitting streak occurred in September, which heavily contributed to his .416 September batting average, best in the majors. Michael also had three 5-consecutive multi-hit games throughout this season, along with an 8-game road hitting streak and a franchise record 19-game home hitting streak.
Michael played 147 games total where he was in the outfield for some portion of the game. he started 146 games in the outfield, completing 138 of those games. he left 3 games early with injury after playing a total of 14.1 innings. he was subbed out of 4 games after playing a total of 27 innings. he was lifted for a pinch runner in 1 game after playing 8 innings. he was a defensive substitute into the outfield in 1 game (after PHing) and played 1 inning. Michael started and was the DH for 8 complete games. Michael was a PH in 2 games. he came in to PH in the top of the 8th inning in 1 game, and then played 1 inning in center field as part of a defensive substitution. he also came in to PH in the bottom of the 9th inning in 1 game.
for the third year in a row, Michael finished the season with the highest batting average on the team. he pretty much smoked everybody. there was a short period of time in July where Lonnie Chisenhall gave him a little run for his money once he had enough plate appearances to be a qualifier, but that didn't last long. Michael spent the majority of the season batting over .300 and was one of the most consistent hitters all year, even with 2 slumps in his records. check this out: he had a BA of .300 or better for 119 of the 156 games he played in this year. the only time he was not batting at least .300 was from April 9 - May 20, and on June 8. but after the June 9 game, Michael's BA stayed at or above .302 for the entire rest of the season. and he ended his year at .327, the 3rd highest batting average in baseball. that is remarkable.
Michael's clutchness continued this year, as displayed by his .376 (56-for-149) batting average with runners in scoring position. not only was that the best on the team, but it also ranked 1st in the American League. his ability to hit anywhere and against anyone helped him immensely in this situation. he bat .353 (106-for-300) at home, with 57 RBI, and .302 (94-for-311) on the road. plus, Michael hit .337 (137-for-406) against right-handed pitchers and .307 (63-for-205) against left-handed pitchers. he was always the guy you wanted at the plate in big game situations, and he rewarded those expectations with 28 go-ahead hits--twice as many as last season--and 31 go-ahead RBI. in fact, Michael had an RBI in over 42% of the games he played in this year.
according to baseball-reference.com, Michael bat .309 in what they consider "late and close" situations, and .304 in "high leverage" situations. he hit .305 against power pitchers and .344 against finesse pitchers. he bat .319 with an .857 OPS against teams with losing records and .336 with a .923 OPS against teams with winning records. oh, and he also bat at least .280 in every inning. (credit to a PD article by D-Man for alerting me to these interesting and incredible stats.)
Michael chose to be more aggressive in his at bats when he needed to be this year, and i quickly learned to stop being so anxious about it. i certainly can't argue with the results; he bat .404 (40-for-99) when swinging at the first pitch and putting the ball in play. some of his other BAs were .435 (27-for-62) in an 0-1 count, .398 (33-for-83) in a 1-0 count, .310 (18-for-58) in a 1-1 count, .316 (6-for-19) in a 2-0 count, and .300 (12-for-40) in a 2-1 count. additionally, Michael hit .179 (5-for-28) in an 0-2 count*, .328 (22-for-67) in a 1-2 count*, .205 (15-for-73) in a 2-2 count*, and .276 (16-for-58) in a 3-2 count* this season. (*these averages do not factor in excess foul balls once he got to 2 strikes in the count.)
my favorite Michael moment of 2014 was probably when he hit the very first walk-off home run of his career. i loved that it came against the division rival Detroit Tigers, too. the game was tied at 4 and there were 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th inning on May 19. Michael became the hero against Al Alburquerque on the 7th pitch of a full count. Hammy went crazy on the computer and i was so proud. then his teammates threw water on him in a home plate mobbing that i will never forget.
Michael had so many other amazing moments this season as well. a few other favorites of mine are his franchise record 19-game home hitting streak, playing in his very 1st All Star Game, and when he passed his father's career high home run total. the amount of times this man put a smile on my face this year are incalculable.
now let's compare his 2014 numbers to his last 3 seasons.
| Category | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 |
| Batting Average | .327 | .284 | .288 | .266* |
| OBP | .385 | .332 | .348 | .318 |
| SLG | .506 | .396 | .402 | .384 |
| OPS | .890 | .728 | .750 | .702 |
| Plate Appearances | 676 | 611 | 609 | 496 |
| At Bats | 611 | 556 | 552 | 451 |
| Games Played | 156 | 151 | 149 | 114 |
| Hits | 200 | 158 | 159 | 120 |
| Singles | 133 | 119 | 112 | 85 |
| Doubles | 45 | 26 | 37 | 24 |
| Triples | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Home Runs | 20 | 10 | 6 | 7 |
| RBI | 97 | 73 | 60 | 46 |
| Sac Flies | 5 | 8 | 4 | 5 |
| Runs Scored | 94 | 66 | 63 | 63 |
| Walks | 52 | 40 | 53 | 34 |
| Intentional Walks | 4 | 1 | 12 | 2 |
| Hit By Pitches | 8 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Stolen Bases | 23 | 17 | 12 | 13 |
| Caught Stealing | 1 | 4 | 9 | 5 |
| Sac Bunts | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Strikeouts | 56 | 67 | 56 | 76 |
| Total Bases | 309 | 220 | 222 | 173 |
| Extra Base Hits | 67 | 39 | 47 | 35 |
| First At Bat Hits | 51 | 42 | 36 | DND |
| Innings | 1304.1 | 1297.1 | 1237 | 971 |
| Putouts | 271 | 257 | 336 | 236 |
| Assists | 12 | 11 | 5 | 5 |
| Double Plays | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Errors | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Fielding % | 0.996 | 1.000 | 0.997 | 0.988 |
| *if he hadn't played injured, i calculated a .281 BA | ||||
| black bold = i did not document this number then | ||||
| blue bold = a career high | ||||
| red bold = he did better last year in that category | ||||
| purple bold = his career high in that category took place 2+ years ago | ||||
as you can see, Michael had career bests in the majority of categories this year. because of that, i can't possibly go through every single one of them in detail here again. (if you would like to re-read my blog about all Michael's career highs, career firsts, and franchise records of the 2014 season, click here.) but i will make a couple of comments and point out a few comparisons.
first, at the end of 2013, i was very concerned about Michael's doubles. i didn't like that he hit 11 less than in 2012. this year, he made huge progress there and it's exactly what i wanted. i don't know if he's going to be able to hit 45 (or more) in the future, but 38-40 per year would be satisfying. hopefully there isn't too much regression next year.
second, i was very pleased with his 11 less strikeouts from last year. he was so close to setting a new career low in that category. but unfortunately, his very last at bat of the season was a strikeout, which tied him to his 2012 career best. if he can now keep his average annual strikeouts in the 50s, that would be tremendous. his 8.3% strikeout rate for the year ranked 3rd best in the American League.
additionally, i love that his walks went up again more towards his total from 2012. he was really close to setting a new career high in that category, too. at this point in his career, he should be drawing a minimum of 50 walks per year because he's got the plate discipline for it. Michael and Victor Martinez were the only players in the AL this season with at least 50 walks and less than 60 strikeouts. not many players can do that, and i think Michael will continue to.
next, i remember how at the end of last season, i wanted to see a substantial increase this year in Michael's OBP, SLG, and OPS. i felt that his OBP should be at least .350, his SLG should be in the .400s, and i hoped that his OPS would fall between .767 and .833 (signifying an above average player according to statistician Bill James). well i definitely got what i wanted and what i knew he could acquire. his .385, .506, and .890 more than met my requirements. awesome.
happily Michael's season was healthy for the most part. although, he did suffer a minor back issue in May while playing consecutive series' on astroturf and had to be removed from a game. then he left a game early in June with what turned out to be a mild concussion. and later in the 2nd half of the season, he left a game early after banging his knee into the center field wall in Cincy. he then dealt with leg soreness on and off for the remainder of the season. but even with all that, Michael still managed to play in 5 more games than last year. #tough
finally, i can't leave out that despite all these career numbers and his phenomenal hitting, Michael struggled through 2 slumps this season (if you can believe it). the first one came towards the end of April, but only lasted a couple days. because it was still early in the season, that gave him plenty of opportunities to get his average up quickly again. his other slump was in August and that one spanned a good 11 games. yet, because this slump came more towards the end of the year, when outs don't hurt the average as much, he managed to stay batting over .300 before he broke out of it. it's kind of amazing. unless you look at the game-by-game numbers and notes, you would never suspect that he had any trouble at all this season.
now how about some thoughts from Michael about his excellent season? every time he was asked, he could not stress enough that he wasn't paying much attention to his stats. and as someone who documented his stats daily, it annoyed the hell outta me lol "i'm not really a big stat guy at all. for me it's just playing every day, hard. at the end of the year, you sit back at home, you can put your feet up and relax and look at the stats. then you can reflect on what you did. for me it's just taking one day at a time, one game at a time, and doing the best i can. i prepare the same way each and every day. there's something to be said about that."
"i just go out there, play the game that i love as hard as i can each and every day and be the best teammate i can every day. i'm gonna try the best i can in whatever i'm doing. my main goal this year when i came into spring training was to get better than last year and i believe i did that and i look forward to doing it again next year. i'm always trying to push myself to see what i can get out of myself and the sky's the limit. i never give up, i always keep climbing to try to get to the top of that mountain."
he said his goal was to eventually develop into this kind of all-around threat. "of course. i want to use every tool that i can and make sure that i continue every day to push myself and continue to work hard. at the end of the year, i'll look back at this and we'll go from there. each and every day, i'm just trying to get better."
even with ambitions to become a better ballplayer, he's still very much a team-first guy. when asked late during the season whether he'd rather make a great catch or get a big hit, he posed another question. "which one is going to win us the game? because that's the one i want to do. i don't care what side of the ball it's on. whatever helps my team win." see, this is what i love and respect about him. he knows there's no "i" in team and he lives that motto. but that doesn't mean he can't continue to be the best hitter on the team lol
so because Michael has always been team-oriented, can he still enjoy the personal accomplishments he's achieved this season? "when i sit back on Monday [September 19], hopefully on my couch, we'll reflect on this year and all the good times and all the bad times. we've just got to make sure we learn from each and every moment."
when asked about placing in the American League MVP voting, he replied, "my job is to take care of what i can do inside those white lines. voting is up to writers. but me personally, i'm just going to do the best i can each and every day." Michael is assuredly going to get votes for AL MVP this year, and i'm excited to find out where he finishes.
after Michael's 200th hit of the season, Francona had this to say about him. "i don't need the stat line. i know that backs up everything, but he has had a remarkable year in every way, shape and form. playing the amount of games he played, he hit 3rd all year, he made an All Star team, he was one of the best teammates you'll ever see, he cares so much, he knows his responsibilities to our team. you're seeing a kid grow up as a baseball player right in front of our very eyes, going from being a good player to one of the better players in the game."
Indians General Manager Chris Antonetti shared that sentiment. "we've always felt Michael was a really good player. he's that guy that's also gotten better each and every year. he came into spring training this year more physical than any year in the past and was really committed to keeping his body strong. in the past, he had a little bit of a tendency, just because of the rigors of a season, to lose a little bit of weight and strength throughout the course of a year. he was pretty determined not to let that happen. he put in the work, going back to last offseason, preparing for the season and he stayed with it throughout the year. it was fun to see his continued development. he's a complete player and we think he's deserving of MVP consideration with the year he had. he was a huge part of our success and we think one of the best players in the American League."
but nobody's perfect. when asked if there were any areas he feels he could get better in, Michael did not hesitate to answer. "every aspect. i'm never gonna sell myself short and not push myself to get better. there's not one area that i wanna get better in more than another. whatever i can improve on, i'm gonna try the best i can and work as hard as i can."
i like how he constantly wants to do better and that he's not satisfied even after this career year. no good athlete should ever be content with what they've done and settle for just that. one thing in particular that sticks out to me is how Michael seemed to lose a little of his newfound power in the 2nd half of the season. granted, this ability to hit 20 home runs a year is very new to him and he may need another season or two to figure out how to keep that power up from April to September. and that's okay. but it's definitely an area that he can work on for the future while he's still in the prime of his career.
but nobody's perfect. when asked if there were any areas he feels he could get better in, Michael did not hesitate to answer. "every aspect. i'm never gonna sell myself short and not push myself to get better. there's not one area that i wanna get better in more than another. whatever i can improve on, i'm gonna try the best i can and work as hard as i can."
i like how he constantly wants to do better and that he's not satisfied even after this career year. no good athlete should ever be content with what they've done and settle for just that. one thing in particular that sticks out to me is how Michael seemed to lose a little of his newfound power in the 2nd half of the season. granted, this ability to hit 20 home runs a year is very new to him and he may need another season or two to figure out how to keep that power up from April to September. and that's okay. but it's definitely an area that he can work on for the future while he's still in the prime of his career.
so how is Michael planning to unwind during the offseason? "i'm gonna get on
the boat, go fishing for a little bit. go play 18 holes of golf and enjoy some
time with friends and enjoy my time with family back home." and that downtime is very well deserved.
before this season began, i blogged about what i expected and hoped to see from Michael in 2014. here is what i predicted:
before this season began, i blogged about what i expected and hoped to see from Michael in 2014. here is what i predicted:
--Michael managed to get through last year without injury, so first and foremost i really hope he can replicate that in 2014.
--i again want to see Michael get close to a .300 batting average. of course i'll settle with a BA between .295-.300. for the past 2 seasons, he's finished with the highest BA on the team. can he do it a third time? i don't know, but it's an obvious call to say he will remain one of our most consistent and clutch hitters.
--the next category to predict is home runs. ah, my favorite statistic lol because of Michael's style of play, he does not need to hit for power. he hits his line drives well enough into the ballpark gaps and uses all parts of the field to get on base and get guys home. so despite the fans' complaints that Michael is not a big long ball hitter, that is not important. if he can go yard at least 8 times this year, that's more than fine for him.
--assuming Michael has the majority of his at bats in the middle of the order again, he should at least match his RBI total from last year. i'll predict/expect at least 75. as long as the top of the order gets themselves on base so Michael can drive them in, then this is a very realistic prediction.
--stolen bases: 22
--runs scored: 65
--doubles: 40
--triples: 5
--walks: 50
--fielding percentage: .998
so, like last year, i was right about some things and i was wrong about some things. but, unlike last year, i wasn't necessarily wrong in a bad way.
--Michael dealt with a few injuries this year including mid-back tightness, a mild concussion, and leg soreness. however, he only missed 3 games from all that. Francona managed Michael's leg soreness by using him as a DH in a handful of games to keep his legs as fresh as possible. lucky for Michael, none of these issues negatively impacted his play, as he still had a career season and played a career high and team high 156 games.
--as for my hopes about him getting a batting average close to .300, i have to laugh now lol Michael finished 2014 batting .327, his best batting average ever. once his BA stayed above .300 for a couple months, i got excited, believing he could potentially end the year batting over .300. boy did he. and that gives Michael the highest batting average on the team for 3 straight years now.
--this year, Michael's 20 home runs doubled his old career high that he set last season. i would have been happy with 8, but he ended up having the 3rd most homers on the team. now that Michael has this newfound power, i know to make my HR prediction a little higher next year. great job.
--i wanted at least 75 RBI from Michael this year, and he finished with a career high/team high 97. that partially stems from the fact that he bat 3rd in the order for most of the season and had many opportunities to drive guys home. fantastic job.
--i predicted 22 stolen bases for Michael, which would have been a new career high, and he finished with 23. so i was pretty damn close there. his 23 SB was also a team high this season. i'd definitely like to see Michael continue to steal over 20 bases a year from here on out.
--i predicted 65 runs scored for 2014 because that was close to what he had last year, and he finished with a career high/team high 94 runs. take out the 20 runs that he scored as a result of his own home runs, and the rest of the team did very well driving him in 74 times. again, i think it helped that he was batting higher in the order this season.
--i predicted 40 doubles and Michael hit 45, another career high and team high. so not only did he increase home runs this season, but he also increased his doubles, some of which only missed leaving the park by inches. i like that.
--i overshot with the prediction of 5 triples as Michael only hit 2 this year. but i can't complain when his home runs and doubles increased as much as they did. you don't need to hit a lot of triples if you're doing well in the other categories.
--i predicted 50 walks this season and he drew 52, 4 of which were intentional. so that was pretty close and i'm happy with that number. and as i said before, he should be averaging 50+ walks because he's such a patient and intelligent hitter.
--as for the fielding percentage, i allowed for one error with my less-than-perfect .998 prediction. and Michael did have one error this season, regardless of whose fault it really was. however, he didn't have enough putouts to get his total fielding percentage above .996. he played the majority of his games in left field this year, and there were several games where he had zero putouts. had he played more center, he would have had more putouts. and everyone knows putouts are the key to getting that % back up after an error. prior to that mistake, he still set a new franchise record with 247 consecutive games in the outfield without an error. and he's still the best defender on the team no matter what those sabermetrics say, so i'm not gonna nitpick.
looking back on my preseason expectations, i mainly feel silly. i put a lot of thought into them and was admittedly nervous making some of those predictions, but now i see i really had nothing to worry about. he made me infinitely happy this year. and i have to laugh at the person who called Michael "replaceable" before this season started. what a joke, but that's Chris Fedor for you. yeah i heard that live chat, and sorry, i'm not sorry that i'm calling you out on it. who exactly do you think could replace Michael, now a .300 hitter (.327 to be exact)? i've been fighting this battle for 3 years. if i ever hear another person call Michael "replaceable" or overrated again, i might explode. #geteducated
Michael had one of the greatest all-around seasons not only in Indians history, but also American League history. he finally got the recognition i've been waiting for. teams are taking notice of him now and pitchers are starting to dread facing him. he's for sure going to get votes for AL MVP this year and he should be one of the Gold Glove finalists (finally) as well. in addition, Michael has become an integral team leader whom rookies love to turn to and learn from, while his growing professionalism and intelligence continues to impress his manager and coaches, making him a joy to watch and work with.
i think one of the reasons Michael did so well this year was due to him signing a long-term extension prior to the beginning of spring training. it's possible that knowing his future in Cleveland was secure allowed him to relax and just play without worry. although, my readers should recall how i was pretty vocal that his agent undersold him. i wished Michael had played this year out before talking numbers and long-term contracts. had he done that, his future salaries could have been WAY more after having such a career year. while i couldn't have guessed that Michael would have this kind of season, i firmly believed that he would improve from 2013 and be able to earn more if he waited. and what do ya know? i was right.
another reason Michael was able to have such an MVP year is because of his offseason routine. for the first time in a few years, Michael did not need to rehab an injury. that enabled him to do all the offseason training that he wanted. he could take as many swings in the batting cage as he wanted, as often as he wanted, and wasn't restricted in any way. i really believe that factored into his much improved season. and since he again is not going to need to rehab during this offseason, i think that's going to be beneficial to him. we'll see just how much of an impact it has when the 2015 season gets going.
now that Michael has shown he's got some power, he may take that into account and do something different to his offseason routine to help him become even stronger. after the final game of the season, i saw and heard Michael talking about giving Josh Tomlin some muscle milk. maybe that's part of Michael's new strength secret (aside from his new daddy strength lol). if he can add a little more muscle weight to his body, OMG, look out baseball. a little more muscle could go a long way and that might be the key to continue putting up numbers like he did this year going forward.
it's hard to argue that Michael's career year wasn't the best individual performance on the team, except when you bear in mind that Corey Kluber had a Cy Young like season on the mound. still, i would award Michael the MVP of the team honor. call me inequitable, but here's my logic. there were so many games this year where Michael was one of the few hitters who could hit against the opposition. i'm not going to bring up his RISP numbers again, but that is another very strong argument in his favor. yes, starting pitching is imperative to championship caliber teams. but if you don't have anybody driving guys home, then it doesn't really matter how good the guy on the mound is pitching.
maybe some people have just come to expect this consistency and clutch hitting from Michael, so they're a little dismissive of his amazing season. some people might feel like Corey should be the MVP with the way he was able to take over the pitching staff and turn into the ace as soon as Justin Masterson made it known that he had no control over it and then later was traded. i'm not trying to take anything away from Kluber here, but before the season, i don't know how many of us had high hopes for Corey. whereas some of us, especially me, were pretty confident that Michael was at least going to have a solid season. my bottom line on the issue is this: a pitcher could strike out 10+ guys every game and give up between 0-2 runs, but if your hitters aren't doing their part and scoring runs, then it doesn't matter. i'm not on board with this co-MVP shit, i'm giving it to Michael outright. did you expect anything else? ;D
in my wrap up blog from 2013, i mentioned how Michael's mission for this year would be to maintain the numbers of the categories he excelled in. mission accomplished. also in that blog, i was excited to see what new records he might set this season. well let me tell you, my head about explodes when i try to recite all the career highs he had this year by memory without looking at my list lol but it's a welcome challenge. and it only makes me more eager to see what he'll do in 2015. in the meantime, i can continue to bask in and brag about all of his 2014 statistics!
watching Michael go from a rookie to an All Star has been quite enjoyable. his journey in the major leagues so far has certainly had its ups and downs, but he's now coming into his own and i'm so proud of him. the only question left is, what's he gonna do next year? i mean seriously, how will he ever top this season? and the reality is he may not. Michael set the bar and his new career highs SO high that he may not be able to exceed these numbers next season. but honestly, is anyone really going to be pissed if next year he only drives in 95 runs compared to 97 this year? or only bats .370 with RISP? of course not. as long as Michael continues to work hard and do the best that he can "each and every day," he will be a successful ballplayer for many years to come.
personally, i got even more detailed in my Michael documentation this season. i included the counts, innings, and pitcher handedness for all of his PAs and ABs. i also added a section to my notebook containing all his numbers against righties, lefties, and the various RISP situations. that came in very handy when doing monthly comparisons. there were other numbers that i kept track of, too, solely in a Word document and updated them as needed after every game. i haven't decided if i will input those into my notebook next season though. right now i'm not sure exactly where i can fit them in because i really like the way i currently have things set up. but i'll think about it during the offseason. i've got lots of time to come up with something lol ;D
whenever anyone wants to know what makes me Michael's #1 fan, or on the rare occasion that somebody challenges me on it, all i need to do is direct them to this blogspot account. i don't know anyone else who does what i do as far as daily documentation of his numbers. not to mention, i've managed to keep track of everything as the games were going on, and i didn't miss any games/at bats and then need to look at the box score at night. i did everything in real time as it was happening. i've also always kept it real. i know i can be biased towards Michael sometimes, but when he struggled or had bad at bats, i didn't hide or ignore that fact. no player is perfect, no matter how good they are, and that's something every fan needs to accept. i was there for every highlight and lowlight, every career high and franchise record that he set, and i am extremely proud and honored to have been around for it all.
now before i close the book on Michael's year once and for all, i want to thank him for his tremendous season. all i really wanted to see was improvement, but he took it a step further by reaching All Star and MVP status. you might hear me being a little louder now with my infamous "here before the Brantley bandwagon" statement since his popularity has skyrocketed, not only in Cleveland, but all around the league. it's what i've wanted for him for the last couple years, and now that he's finally got it, i just wanna scream, "BUT I'VE BEEN THERE FROM THE BEGINNING, AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!" lol possessive much? maybe a tad, but i can't have anyone thinking that i didn't know who Michael was back in 2009 before he became a team leader/fan favorite/All Star ballplayer. i did know. and i believed he would become something special. thank you, Michael, for making me look like a genius. =D
i hope he enjoys his offseason and has fun on his fishing trips and golfing. Michael definitely deserves some rest and relaxation after all the hard work of his career year. because before ya know it, training will be starting again and the 162 grind will be back. with another healthy offseason training routine under his belt, he is bound to pick things up right where he left off before this season came to its conclusion. Indians baseball may have just ended, but i'm already envisioning big things from Michael next year. and i'm counting down the days--183--until i get to watch him in action again at the home opener on April 10, 2015. can't wait!
i also wanna do a quick shout out to a few of my favorite Tribe Scribes for their "assists" to me regarding some of the historical statistics i've posted in my blogs throughout the season, as well as alerting me to a couple other stats that i myself did not document and providing me with many, many quotes from and about Michael himself. so thank you very much to Jordan Bastian, Paul Hoynes, Dennis Manoloff, and Terry Pluto--truly inspirational writers. you boys are fuckin' rock stars!
for even more Brantley details, be sure to read my other blogs:
Brantley's 2014 Career Highs, Career Firsts, & Franchise Records
Brantley's 2014 Game-by-Game Numbers & Notes
Brantley's 2014 Batting Order Position & LF/CF/DH/PH #s
