Monday, October 5, 2015

Brantley Named Indians 2015 Hank Aaron Award Nominee

today, on October 5, one day after the 2015 regular season ended, it was announced that for the second year in a row and second time in his career, Michael Brantley is the Cleveland Indians' nominee for the 17th annual Hank Aaron Award!

screenshot cropped off Indians.com

the Hank Aaron Award is given to the top offensive player in each league as voted on by fans and, for the 6th consecutive year, a special panel of Hall of Fame players. the panel is led by Hank Aaron himself, comprised of a group of Hall of Famers that Aaron selected to help determine the winners. those HOF players include Roberto Alomar, Johnny Bench, Craig Biggio, Eddie Murray, Frank Thomas, and Robin Yount.

this award
started in 1999 to honor the 25th anniversary of Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's all-time home run record. "it is truly a joy and an honor that the award recognizing the top offensive performers in the game has my name on it," says Aaron.

Commissioner Rob Manfred adds, "the nominees for the 2015 Hank Aaron Awards provide great insight into the considerable young talent in our game today. Hank Aaron was a tremendous all-around offensive performer, and i believe that the diverse skills and competitive spirits demonstrated by these 30 players throughout the 2015 season have honored the Hall of Famer's enduring legacy."

previous winners of the award are:
Manny Ramirez (with the Indians) and Sammy Sosa (1999)
Carlos Delgado and Todd Helton (2000)
Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds (2001 and 2002)
Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols (2003)
Manny Ramirez and Barry Bonds (2004)
David Ortiz and Andruw Jones (2005)
Derek Jeter and Ryan Howard (2006)
Alex Rodriguez and Prince Fielder (2007)
Kevin Youkilis and Aramis Ramirez (2008)
Derek Jeter and Albert Pujols (2009)
Jose Bautista and Joey Votto (2010)
Jose Bautista and Matt Kemp (2011)
Miguel Cabrera and Buster Posey (2012)
Miguel Cabrera and Paul Goldschmidt (2013)
Mike Trout and Giancarlo Stanton (2014)

Michael's numbers this year, while not as strong as last season, are very impressive especially when you consider that he played with injuries for the entire 2015 campaign. his team high .310 BA, team high .379 OBP, team high .480 SLG, team high .859 OPS, 164 H, team high 45 2B, 15 HR, 84 RBI, 68 R, career high 60 BB, team high 15 SB, and career low 51 K are nothing short of remarkable.

you can vote for Michael up to 10 times a day per web browser. VOTE FOR MICHAEL HERE! voting ends on October 11 at 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time. the winners will be presented with their award by Aaron during this year's 111th World Series and i will post a follow up blog once the winners are announced.

congratulations on your second straight nomination, Michael, and good luck! =D

No comments:

Post a Comment