The Indians Are the 2018 AL Central Division Champions!

great news, Tribe fans! after defeating the Detroit Tigers today, on September 15, your Cleveland Indians are the 2018 American League Central Division Champions!👏👏👏

photo courtesy of @MLB on twitter

this is their third straight season winning the division, having clinched it last year on September 16, and on September 26, 2016. the Indians have not won that many consecutive division pennants since 1995-1999! in addition, this marks the club's fourth division title since 2007 and 10th title in

Brantley's 1,000th Major League Game!

today, on July 28, 2018, Michael Brantley played in his 1,000th Major League game!👏👏👏 it came against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park, while he bat 2nd in the lineup and started in left field. when it was over, the Indians lost, 2-1, and Michael went 2-for-4 at the plate. now let me break down all his trips to the plate and defensive plays from this very special day!❶⓿⓿⓿😀

photo courtesy of @Indians on twitter

in Michael's first at bat in the top of the 1st inning with 1 out and no score, he faced left-handed pitcher Blaine Hardy. after an 0-2 count, he hit a line drive single to center field. Francisco Lindor had been at 1st base to begin with after drawing a leadoff walk, but

Goodbye Goon Squad (and a few others)

the non-roster invites and new player signings seem to be done, and almost everyone who's supposed to be in Goodyear with the Cleveland Indians has reported to Arizona for spring training. sadly though, unlike in years past, there are a few faces missing. normally, i write goodbye blogs for players who've been with the team for a significant amount of time and then are traded. in this case, we lost some Indians to free agency this offseason and i would like to say some formal goodbyes to them.

Tribe flashback: remember the Goon Squad? yeah, that's officially defunct now because they've all moved on/moved up. ain't nobody left. Jason Giambi ended his 2-year tour with the Tribe after 2014 (however, he will make a brief appearance in camp this week as a guest instructor); Yan Gomes got promoted from a bench guy to a starter in 2014; and Mike Aviles and Ryan Raburn were not re-signed after 2015. so the Goonies are over. c'est la vie.

okay Mike Aviles, i'm starting with you. let me get this outta the way, how could you sign with the enemy? our division rivals, the Detroit Tigers? seriously? ugh. Aviles first came to the Indians in November 2012 (with fellow Goon Squader Gomes) from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Esmil Rogers. "Handsome Mike" was

Brantley's First Career 20-20 Season

i need to take a minute to wipe away my happy tears and just be in awe of this monumental accomplishment. going into the season, this is not something i even thought about. but towards the end of the month of August, i really started believing it could become a reality. and then of course the writers and announcers kept harping on how close he was, and that no Indians player has had a 20 home run, 20 stolen base season since Shin-Soo Choo in 2010. Choo also went 20-20 in 2009. and now Michael, for the first time in his career, is the latest Indians player and 9th overall in Tribe history, to join the 20-20 club.

the quest began when Michael stole his 20th base of the season. (Michael had previously set a new career high in stolen bases earlier this month on September 5, when he stole #18.) it was September 13 and the Indians were playing against the Detroit Tigers. Michael hit a 2-out single to left field on a 1-0 pitch from Joba Chamberlain in the top of the 8th inning. then Carlos Santana, batting behind him, also hit a single. but it was a weak ground ball to 3rd, so Michael could only advance to 2nd base. that is when he took things into his own hands. the Tribe's lead was tight at 4-3, and i'm sure he knew another insurance run was important. so, on the 0-1 pitch to Yan Gomes, Michael started for 3rd. Gomes swung and missed as Michael safely slid into 3rd base, giving him 20 stolen bases on the year at that time. since then, Michael's stolen 2 more bases, bringing his current 2014 total to 22.

but that was the easy part. the hard part was waiting for home run #20. in the same game that Michael notched his 20th stolen base, he hit his 19th home run. it was the top of the 1st inning and Michael Bourn was at 3rd base after a double to right center field and a Jose Ramirez sac bunt. Michael was facing left-hander Kyle Lobstein and had a tremendous 10-pitch at bat that resulted in a 2-run homer to deep right field. this brought Michael to 19-19 until he stole 3rd base 7 innings later. but would he get that 20th home run before the season came to its conclusion?

remember, this is a guy who had never hit more than 10 home runs in a year before this season. there was no guarantee that he would get to 20 this year. and normally, i would have just been ecstatic about his 19 home run season. but under the circumstances, i found myself hoping for that 1 more home run every time Michael stepped up to the plate. and tonight, on September 19, during his 3rd at bat of the game against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field, he delivered.

Michael led off the top of the 6th inning with the game tied at 2. in his first 2 at bats against Phil Hughes, he struck out looking and flew out to right field. he was DHing in this game, to give him a little break from the field and keep his legs "fresh" for the final stretch run. sometimes a player doesn't adjust well to the DH role, but Michael has done a great job all season as a designated hitter and tonight was no different. he swung at Hughes' first pitch fastball, and before i knew it, he had sent a tape measure job beyond the right field seats onto the concourse area. it was 403 feet high, but the distance was much further than that according to Hammy. and i have been beaming with pride ever since. Michael Brantley is a 20-20 man! the 9th 20-20 Indians player in franchise history! =D

screenshots cropped from a video on Indians.com

i think he was pretty happy about it, too. what do you think?

screenshots cropped from a video on Indians.com

i've never seen him react like that after hitting a home run lol as much as he may say he doesn't care about individual accolades, he knew how special that was and he's obviously grateful. so congratulations!!!

screenshot cropped off Indians.com

"it's a special accomplishment. a lot of hard work goes into accomplishing that. right now, my goal is to get to the playoffs. it will be a special moment when i can reflect on it after the season. 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."

Michael joins the esteemed 20-20 club consisting of former teammates Shin-Shoo Choo (2009-2010) and Grady Sizemore (2005-2008), along with Matt Lawton (2004), Roberto Alomar (1999 & 2001), Albert Belle (1993), Joe Carter (1986-1988), Bobby Bonds (1979), and Toby Harrah (1979).

Michael is now the only player in the big leagues batting at least .300 with 20 home runs, 20 stolen bases, and 90 RBI, as well as the only player in the majors batting .320 or above with at least 40 doubles, 20 home runs, 90 RBI, and 20 steals.

and get this. there have only been 8 players in the major leagues in the past 100 seasons to hit .320 or above with at least 40 doubles, 20 home runs, 90 RBI, and 20 stolen bases. they include Jacoby Ellsbury in 2011 with the Boston Red Sox, Hanley Ramirez in 2009 with the Florida Marlins, David Wright in 2007 with the New York Mets, Roberto Alomar in 1999 with the Cleveland Indians, Larry Walker in 1997 with the Colorado Rockies, Ellis Burks in 1996 with the Colorado Rockies, Chuck Klein in 1932 with the Philadelphia Phillies, and Babe Herman in 1929 with the Brooklyn Robins. it'll be a tall task, but if Michael's current .322 batting average remains steady over the final 8 games of the year, he will be the 9th major league player in history to join that group. good luck!

some more facts about Michael's 20th home run:

--it extended his hitting streak to 10 games
--it extended his on-base streak to 23 games
--it marked his 27th go-ahead hit and 30th go-ahead RBI of the season
--it marked his 187th hit, 2nd most in the American League
--it gave him a team high 62 extra base hits and team high 95 RBI
--it identifies him as the 2nd player in Indians history with at least 40 2B, 20 HR, 90 RBI, and 20 SB (the first being Roberto Alomar in 1999)


the Indians have 8 games remaining. sadly, they lost this game, 5-4, in 10 innings, so playoff hopes are slim. oh how i do not want this season to end yet. not only because i don't want Indians baseball to be over, but also because i'm simply not ready for Michael's remarkable career year to come to an end.

the last real question to be answered about Michael's season is will he get 100 RBI? he'll need to acquire 5 RBI in 8 games to do so. it's certainly not impossible. keep your fingers crossed =D

Brantley's Career High 120 Singles

it took him a while to achieve this one, but today is the day he did it. having already set new highs this year (chronologically) in home runs, extra base hits, total bases, hits, and doubles, Michael finally set a new career high with 120 singles. his old career high came last season when he totaled 119 singles.

Michael came into the September 14th game against the Detroit Tigers with 118 singles. he got his 1st single of the game with 1 out in the top of the 5th inning against Justin Verlander after a 1-0 count, tying his previous career high. i wasn't sure if he would get another (base) hit in the game, but considering the tear he's been on lately, i should have seen what happened next coming.

with the Tribe down, 6-3, Michael led off the top of the 9th inning against closer Joe Nathan. after a 2-2 count, Michael hit a line drive single to right field for his 2nd hit and 2nd single of the game, giving him 120 singles on the season. and that base hit notched yet another personal best for Michael in what has become one of the finest all-around seasons any major league baseball player has strung together this year. that also marks 4 new career highs in the last 4 consecutive days/games, if you're keeping track.

(he later scored on a Carlos Santana RBI double, but the Indians lost the game, 6-4. for all intents and purposes, that probably put the nail in the coffin regarding any Tribe postseason play this year. such a shame that Michael's MVP-esque numbers will be devalued because of the team's performance as a whole.)

Michael very well could end up with close to 130 singles once these final 13 games of 2014 are done. honestly though, i'd like to see him add on a little bit more to his doubles total. he hasn't hit one since he set that new career high 10 days ago. at least give me 40 lol ;D


because i have no pictures or video for you this time, i will re-link all of Michael's career high achievements of the 2014 season through today for your enjoyment (and my bragging rights =P):
hit by pitches, 6/10 (currently has 8)**
home runs, 6/15 (currently has 19)
runs scored, 7/21 (currently has 89)*
extra base hits, 8/7 (currently has 60)*
total bases, 8/8 (currently has 280)*
RBI, 8/9 (currently has 94)*
hits, 9/2 (currently has 180)*
doubles, 9/4 (currently has 39)*
stolen bases, 9/5 (currently has 21)
outfield assists, 9/11 (currently has 12)*
plate appearances, 9/12 (currently has 624)*
at bats, 9/13 (currently has 562)*

*team high
**tied for team lead

Brantley's Career High 557 At Bats

for the third game in a row and 6th time this month, Michael set another career high. (at this point, aren't you just like, what else is new? LOL!) in the game against the Detroit Tigers on September 13, Michael acquired his 12th new career high of the season when he totaled 557 at bats.

in his 3rd at bat of tonight's game, Michael was facing Kyle Lobstein with Mike Aviles at 2nd base and 2 outs in the top of the 5th inning. after a 1-0 count, Michael lined out to right fielder Torii Hunter and the Indians top half of the inning was over. but that out counted as an official at bat, giving Michael the new career high of 557 at bats this season. his previous high was 556 ABs in 2013.

screenshots cropped from a video on Indians.com

this exchange between Torii and Michael is kind of hilarious. while Torii is running in, he gives Michael an "i'm sorry, i had to get you out" type of apologetic look. Michael deadpans back at first, then smiles wide, as if to say, "yeah, just wait until you hit something to left." lol i think it's just typical Michael though, racking up another loud line drive out.

Michael had one other final at bat tonight, resulting in a ground ball single to left field. add that to his 1st inning 2-run home run, and it represented multi-hit game #51 on the year. wow. so when the game was over (a tough 5-4 loss for the Tribe, potentially ending all playoff hopes), Michael had 558 at bats. and with 14 games left, he should finish around 610 ABs this year.

my biggest question now is, what other way is there to say congratulations to this man for his latest accomplishment? well done? way to go? you're a freakin' animal this season? haha ;D

Brantley's Career High 612 Plate Appearances

i said i wasn't gonna blog about this because it's a little capricious, dependent upon things like games played, innings played, batting order position, number of batters who get on base per game, etc. but then i felt weird NOT making a blog about this, so fuck it. here goes.

Michael set another career high tonight, on September 12, in his first at bat of the game against the Detroit Tigers. Francona had Michael batting 3rd, his usual spot in the lineup, but he was DHing instead of playing the field. Francona knows Michael has played in every game so far this year except 5, and he's trying to give him a little "rest" without taking his bat out of the lineup. because let's be real, Michael's is one bat that the Indians badly need right now during their final playoff push.

so anyways, Michael was at the plate facing David Price with 2 outs in the top of the 1st inning. after a 1-2 count, Michael hit a single to left field, and with that, he set a new career high of 612 plate appearances. last season, Michael totaled 611 PA in 151 games, and now he's up to 612 already in 142 games. i think maybe his steady 3 BOP accounts for him breaking this record now, with a maximum of 15 more games still to go. he should finish the year with approximately 670-675 PA if he plays in every game left this month. (at the conclusion of tonight's game, his PA had increased to 615.)

at any rate, i was just very happy that he managed to get a hit and not record an out while accomplishing this new personal best lol there's no video because it wasn't a run scoring hit or anything fancy like that. but that doesn't take away from its importance. many congrats, Michael! =D

oh and btw, Michael will be setting yet another new career high during tomorrow's game. and since i wrote about this one, i will do a quick blog about that one as well. i can't help it. i love to write and i especially love to acknowledge his achievements ;D

Brantley's Career High 38 Doubles

Michael has already set career highs in home runs and extra base hits this year, so it was only a matter of time before he set this new career high. tonight, during the September 4 against the Detroit Tigers, Michael got his first hit of the night in his 2nd at bat when he sent a ball to center that dropped for extra bases. that gave him a new personal best of 38 doubles in a season. he previously had a career high of 37 doubles in his 2012 season.

this is Michael's 2nd new career high in 3 days, both coming during the series against the Tigers. gotta love that. Michael led off the bottom of the 4th inning against Max Scherzer. he swung at the first pitch, a 90 mph fastball, and hit the ball high and deep to center field. he safely made it to 2nd base before Rajai Davis got his throw back in to the cutoff man, and the new career high was achieved! Michael quickly advanced to 3rd base when Carlos Santana reached on an error, and then scored the Tribe's 1st run on Yan Gomes' sac fly. but the Indians were still down, 4-1, due to Trevor Bauer's rough 1st inning. 

in-game edit:

oh, but he wasn't done there. with Michael Bourn at 1st base and 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th inning, Michael swung at the first pitch off left-handed reliever Blaine Hardy. he sent another fly ball to the left center field gap, and this time it was former Indian Ezequiel Carrera who couldn't catch it. Bourn scored on Michael's RBI double and the game was then tied at 4. leave it to Michael to set his career high and then add to it within the same game lol

screenshots cropped from a video on Indians.com

i love his reaction here. i don't think i've ever seen him pound his chest before and then point up to the sky after getting a big hit. congrats, Brant! you're so clutch ;D

(sadly, the Indians ended up losing the game, 11-4, in 11 innings. ouch!)

Michael's 39 doubles are a team high and currently rank tied for 2nd in the American League. before the season began, i made a prediction that he would hit 40 doubles this year. way to deliver on my expectations lol now i think he's going to end up with at least 45. with 23 games to go, i know Michael will easily continue to add onto this career high. i seriously cannot wait to see what all his final numbers for 2014 end up being. he is absolutely killin' it and i am so proud of him! =D

Brantley's Career High 160 Hits

it's been a while since his last, but Michael Brantley set another new career high tonight in his first at bat during the game against the Detroit Tigers on September 2. he now has 160 hits in a season, beating out his previous career high of 159 hits, set in 2012.

Michael was facing left-handed pitcher Kyle Lobstein for the first time ever, and normally in that situation, the pitcher has the advantage. Lobstein threw Michael 3 straight balls and then 2 strikes. after the 3-2 count in the bottom of the 1st inning, Michael hit a 2-out single to right field, setting the new record for himself. he later scored a run when Carlos Santana hit a home run to give the Indians a quick 2-0 lead.

so congratulations again to Michael on another personal best! i am very proud of all of his career highs so far, especially these team leading 160 hits. talk about a "smooth operator" lol and with 25 games left to play, i think he can easily tack on another 20 hits to his new career high. you go, boy! =D


postgame edit:

Cody Allen blew the Tribe's 2-1 lead in the top of the 9th inning. that allowed Michael to bat in the bottom of the 9th, and he hit another 2-out single, this time to left field, off Detroit's closer Joe Nathan after a 3-1 count. that was his 2nd hit of the game, giving him 161 hits now overall. way to add onto that new career high quickly lol sadly, the Indians could not rally any further, and they lost the game, 4-2.

Final Thoughts About Brantley's Bobblehead

header cropped off Indians.com

before i got the Michael Brantley bobblehead, i saw a small preview of it and wrote a sneak peek blog with my first impressions about it. now that i went to the September 1 Labor Day game against the Detroit Tigers and have the Brantley bobble in hand, i can do a final analysis of it. i'm going to include photos in here so people will know exactly what it looks like and what i'm talking about. all the photos were taken by me and have my watermark on them.

so here it is.

this is the first bobble i've ever gotten where it was "open" in the front and you could actually see the bobblehead before taking it out of the box.

now here it is out of the box and protective plastic, from all sides.

i was right about this cream colored jersey not having the name on the back, which i don't particularly think is a good look for a bobblehead. however, i will say this. in person, his bobble's skin tone looks better, or closer to actuality, than i originally thought it was. so that was a pleasant surprise.

but i knew from the promo photo that his face was not much of a dupe of the real thing. let me zoom in on this bobble's face for you.

this does not look like him at all as far as facial features go. it's pretty generic. that doesn't look like Michael's smile or jawline and that is definitely not his nose. i'm shocked they got his brown eyes right. then again, the eye shape is wrong and it almost looks like he's about to doze off lol

another big issue i initially had with this bobble was, prior to getting it, i had no idea what kind of catch this was supposed to be representing. well, the side(s) of the box clarified that immediately.

so look at the bobble again and then look at the box. this would have been a nice catch to emulate in bobble form, but the designer really punked out on the formation of the mold. i said in my sneak peek blog that no player makes a catch with his arm just resting straight up by his head. this particular catch doesn't seem like it would be too tough to do, so why wasn't it done right? i know for a fact that there are other diving catch bobbleheads and jumping up catch bobbleheads that have the player's arm at a different angle than the rest of his body. i just don't see why this catch could not be re-created to a T.

other than body positioning, what else do you see different from the box picture and the bobble? that's right, he's not even wearing the same uniform. face palm. this is the road blue jersey with the gray pants. so why the hell did they decide to put him in the home cream uni? is it because they just recently gave away a Jason Kipnis bobblehead with the blue jersey on? that's not Michael's fault. and they gave him long sleeves. where is that in the original catch? nowhere.

idk if the Indians used a different company to make the bobble or if it was sponsored by someone else who just didn't give a fuck about the process and/or result or what. but the end result is disappointing when you see what it should have been. i remember how eager i was to learn more about this bobblehead when it was first added to the promo schedule, and now i'm like, really? this is what i waited for? this is what you came up with to give me? sigh.

maybe Michael will get another bobblehead made of him next year because he was the best player on the team this season and maybe they'll do better. it would be sweet as hell if they made one of him in his All Star jersey. but i have a feeling Michael's not going to have any more promotional items featuring him for a while, if even ever again.

should i just be grateful that the Indians made a replica jersey for him last year and a bobble this year? probably. am i being overly critical about something that should be considered a sign of respect and admiration? yes. but i'm a stickler for details and i'm so sorry Michael but this bobblehead was such a fail. i hope they do better next time, because you absolutely deserve better.

Sneak Peek of the Michael Brantley Bobblehead Giveaway

photo from Indians.com

here it is. the Michael Brantley bobblehead that's being given away to the first 12,500 fans who attend the Labor Day game vs. the Detroit Tigers on September 1, 2014. this is not the best photo of the bobble, but it's the only one i could find online right now. so let's critique it, shall we?

i know bobbles don't normally look much like the player, but at first glance i think this is one of the worst bobbles i've ever seen. unless i need to go get my eyes checked, this pic makes Michael look light-skinned. so right off the bat, i'm not feeling this.

and what is this pose? the Indians obviously wanted to make this a catch bobble, but that's a very unrealistic catch position. they couldn't make an over-the-shoulder catch? or at least put his glove hand down so the ball is falling into his glove. i wasn't expecting a diving catch because they just did one of those for Bourn earlier this year, but even a newbie baseball fan knows that a player doesn't just hold his arm up next to his head to make a catch. and his footing doesn't work with this "catch" either. the best theory i can come up with for this bobblehead is that Michael is currently in the middle of transferring the ball from his glove to his throwing hand and is about to throw the ball in to a cut-off man. and even that's a bit of a stretch. i mean why would you want to capture that moment in bobble form? i don't get it.

why couldn't they just make Michael's bobble an All Star bobble? that would have been a sweet bobblehead. even Michael in his batting stance would have been better. seriously, who was the designer of this concept? it's not great.

i also dislike that they gave him the cream colored home jersey. so, if this is true to form, that means his name's not going to be on the back of the jersey; only his number (23) will. (when i actually get this bobble in my possession, i will confirm or deny this in a new blog. with bigger pictures.) and because he's wearing the cream jersey, he's gotta wear the hat that goes with it, the C instead of the Wahoo. i'd rather he be rocking the chief on his hat. not to mention i don't like that he's got long sleeves on. is that supposed to represent him at the home opener when it was cold or something? idk.

i'm disappointed in the (lack of) likeness of this bobble, i can't lie. there are many other player bobbleheads out there that are more true to reality and i'm sad his isn't. and because Michael is currently the best player on the team, i think this bobblehead really should have been made with better attention to detail. but maybe i'm just biased because i'm his #1 fan.

regardless, i will be attending the Labor Day game and getting this bobble. who knows? i might actually like it when i see it in person lol i've wanted the Tribe to do a Michael bobble giveaway for so long and i'm very happy he finally got one. if i'm lucky, i'll get Michael to sign it, but considering the fact that i haven't gotten his autograph once yet this season, i'm not going to hold my breath. hopefully he'll take time after the game and sign autos in the players parking lot and i can get it then.

so congrats on your bobble, Michael! and good luck to you in your final month of the season. this has been one hell of a career year for you and i am so proud of you! =D

Brantley's First Career Walk-off Home Run!

earlier tonight, on May 19, 2014, Michael Brantley hit his first career walk-off home run, his 9th home run this season, against the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field in front of 12,709 ecstatic fans. when he came to bat in the bottom of the 10th inning with 2 outs, nobody on, and the game tied at 4, and he swung and missed at the 4th pitch of the at bat, you could tell he just wanted to end the game right there. and i thought how awesome it would be for Michael if he could get himself a walk-off homer and be the hero of the night.

now Michael is no stranger to late inning heroics. he's had plenty of go-ahead RBI hits in his career that gave the Indians a lead they would never relinquish, but he's never had an official walk-off hit. the closest he came was on May 10, 2011, when he drew a bases loaded walk-off walk in the bottom of the 9th inning against Kyle Farnsworth and the Tampa Bay Rays.

but tonight was different. Michael showed patience and confidence at the plate against Detroit's Al Alburquerque. the count was full, and on the 7th pitch, he just pounded that ball to the visitors bullpen in deep right field. i was lucky enough to be able to watch this game on TV because ESPN was kind enough to show it. (i think they were just trying to embarrass Cleveland by showing the Indians-Tigers game in assumption that the Tigers would demolish us. too bad that didn't happen lol) but of course, i still had Hammy on my computer for great audio. Hammy was ahead of the TV by a pitch and when i heard Hammy start screaming, "A SWING AND A DRIVE TO DEEP RIGHT," my eyes lit up and i screamed, "HOLY SHIT!" he finally did it! and to get to see that as it was happening made me very happy. i could not have been more proud.

Michael got absolutely mobbed at home plate, literally running into a waterfall and his teammates. this was nothing like the walk-off walk from 2011, where he was actually running away from his teammates lol he welcomed this celebration and loved every second of it. and he deserved it.

photo courtesy of The Plain Dealer

photo courtesy of The Plain Dealer

"i hit it kind of low," said Brantley, after the first walk-off homer of his career. "i was kind of nervous and trying to run at the same time. i was fortunate enough that the ball went out. after that i don't remember much until i got to my teammates (at home plate) and they started beating on me."

when Brantley got to the plate, his teammates not only mugged him, they doused him with water. "it's cold outside and they're throwing ice cold water on me. then they got me good with the cooler (during a postgame interview). no one gave me a heads up. i heard them coming, but i didn't want to dive out of the way." (postgame quotes courtesy of Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer)


some fun facts about Michael's walk-off home run:

--it's the 71st walk-off home run in Jacobs Field/Progressive Field history.

--it's their 12th walk-off home run against the Tigers, which is the most against any team.

--it's also the first walk-off home run the Indians have hit against the Tigers since Carlos Santana did it on April 29, 2011.


congratulations, Michael! <3