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| photo courtesy of @Indians twitter |
Michael won the award for the very first time in his career back on November 6, 2014, earning himself a
Showing posts with label November 7. Show all posts
Showing posts with label November 7. Show all posts
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Brantley Receives Louisville Slugger's 2014 AL OF Silver Slugger Award!
in what has been a tough start for Michael in 2015, i do have some happy news to report in this short blog. before today's April 12 game at home versus the Detroit Tigers, Michael Brantley was presented with his 2014 AL OF Silver Slugger Award! Indians catcher, Yan Gomes, received his award as well!
Michael won the award for the very first time in his career back on November 6, 2014, earning himself a
Michael won the award for the very first time in his career back on November 6, 2014, earning himself a
Friday, November 7, 2014
Brantley's Thoughts About Winning His 1st Career Silver Slugger Award
Michael did some phone interviews today, on November 7, to talk about
winning his 1st career Louisville Slugger AL OF Silver Slugger Award. he
also talked about his AL MVP candidacy, his approach at the plate this
season, and teammate Yan Gomes receiving a Silver Slugger for the first
time, too.
"it's a great honor, it really is. when i sit back and kind of reflect on the season, from the coaching staff, teammates, to the trainers, to my family's support, just everybody that helped me get through the season, and the fun season we had together... to be recognized for these awards, it's a blessing and an honor."
on how his offense improved this year: "one of the biggest things was that i changed my mental approach. i came into the season ready to drive the ball. i wasn't up there just trying to walk or work counts. i was really trying to get a fastball early and put a good swing on it. in the past, i never tried to do that before really. i used to try to work counts, get on base, make sure i was getting the perfect pitch. i hit more like a leadoff hitter. this year, i wanted to be more aggressive. i wanted, i figured, maybe there's a good first pitch fastball to hit early. i was ready to swing and try to put a good swing on the ball.
with the adjustments of growing up in the major leagues and having more time under my belt, it made it easier to relax and trust my skills and make sure that, i could swing at a bad pitch every now and then, but if i got a good pitch early on, just put a good swing on it."
because that worked out so well, he has no plans to change his offseason routine. "i really pride myself on just kind of working hard in the offseason. i've been kind of doing the same routine for the last couple years. i'm just making sure i stay consistent. i think it's consistency and your workout routines and eating right and making sure that you come in healthy to spring training and ready to play. i'm not a position player that feels like i take spring training to get ready. i want to come into spring training ready to play, so that, you know, once the first game, i'm acclimated and i'm ready to go."
on fellow Silver Slugger winner, Yan Gomes: "it's very exciting, because you see all the hard work that he puts in each and every day. he's a great teammate. he's one of the leaders on our team. he's in the cage with me side by side. he works hard each and every day. as a catcher, it's not easy to catch as many games as he does. to be his teammate and to watch how hard he worked this year, like i said before, i couldn't be more happy for one of my teammates. he deserves it."
what does his father, Mickey, think of all his nominations and his 2014 season? "we were just talking the other day. after kind of a couple awards came out and i was nominated for a couple things, i looked at him and i said, 'hey, pops. i had a pretty good season, huh?' he just laughed at me. he said, 'son, you had a great season.'"
"i've never been that player that is really stat driven. i care about wins and losses and i care about my teammates. that's what comes first and foremost for me. my goal, just like every other year, as soon as i step into spring training, is to get to the postseason and win the World Series. that's a group effort, and we all know that in the locker room. that's #1 on my list."
Michael's full interviews can be found here and here.
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| photo courtesy of TribeVibe blog |
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| photo cropped from a video on Indians.com |
"it's a great honor, it really is. when i sit back and kind of reflect on the season, from the coaching staff, teammates, to the trainers, to my family's support, just everybody that helped me get through the season, and the fun season we had together... to be recognized for these awards, it's a blessing and an honor."
on how his offense improved this year: "one of the biggest things was that i changed my mental approach. i came into the season ready to drive the ball. i wasn't up there just trying to walk or work counts. i was really trying to get a fastball early and put a good swing on it. in the past, i never tried to do that before really. i used to try to work counts, get on base, make sure i was getting the perfect pitch. i hit more like a leadoff hitter. this year, i wanted to be more aggressive. i wanted, i figured, maybe there's a good first pitch fastball to hit early. i was ready to swing and try to put a good swing on the ball.
with the adjustments of growing up in the major leagues and having more time under my belt, it made it easier to relax and trust my skills and make sure that, i could swing at a bad pitch every now and then, but if i got a good pitch early on, just put a good swing on it."
because that worked out so well, he has no plans to change his offseason routine. "i really pride myself on just kind of working hard in the offseason. i've been kind of doing the same routine for the last couple years. i'm just making sure i stay consistent. i think it's consistency and your workout routines and eating right and making sure that you come in healthy to spring training and ready to play. i'm not a position player that feels like i take spring training to get ready. i want to come into spring training ready to play, so that, you know, once the first game, i'm acclimated and i'm ready to go."
on fellow Silver Slugger winner, Yan Gomes: "it's very exciting, because you see all the hard work that he puts in each and every day. he's a great teammate. he's one of the leaders on our team. he's in the cage with me side by side. he works hard each and every day. as a catcher, it's not easy to catch as many games as he does. to be his teammate and to watch how hard he worked this year, like i said before, i couldn't be more happy for one of my teammates. he deserves it."
what does his father, Mickey, think of all his nominations and his 2014 season? "we were just talking the other day. after kind of a couple awards came out and i was nominated for a couple things, i looked at him and i said, 'hey, pops. i had a pretty good season, huh?' he just laughed at me. he said, 'son, you had a great season.'"
"i've never been that player that is really stat driven. i care about wins and losses and i care about my teammates. that's what comes first and foremost for me. my goal, just like every other year, as soon as i step into spring training, is to get to the postseason and win the World Series. that's a group effort, and we all know that in the locker room. that's #1 on my list."
Michael's full interviews can be found here and here.
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Vote Brantley For MLBPAA's 2014 Heart & Hustle Award!
back on July 22, i wrote a blog about how Michael Brantley was the Cleveland Indians' recipient of MLBPAA's 2014 Heart & Hustle Award.
to recap, the Heart & Hustle Award is given annually to active players who demonstrate a passion for baseball and best embody the values, spirit, and traditions of the game. this honor was created by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association and is awarded to 30 preliminary winners, one player on every team. it is the only award in baseball that is voted on by former players.
the MLBPAA has 30 committees made up of alumni players with established relationships to each major league team. these committees choose one player from each team based on his passion, desire, and work ethic both on and off the field. then at the end of the season, fans, alumni, and active players can vote for the final winner of the award from the 30 individual team recipients.
tonight, i was made aware that fans can finally vote. i'm not sure, however, if voting has been open prior to today, and if it has, i'm very sorry that i couldn't alert my readers to it sooner. my Tribe sources should have been a little more on top of this, for the love of Brantley lol anyways, fans can now vote until November 8 at 11:59 pm EST. the fan vote counts for 5% of the total vote, so in all honesty it's probably not going to make much difference. regardless, you can still VOTE FOR MICHAEL HERE.
the final winner will be presented with his Heart & Hustle award on November 18 at the 15th annual Legends for Youth dinner in NYC. good luck, Michael!
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| photo courtesy of Indians mailing list |
to recap, the Heart & Hustle Award is given annually to active players who demonstrate a passion for baseball and best embody the values, spirit, and traditions of the game. this honor was created by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association and is awarded to 30 preliminary winners, one player on every team. it is the only award in baseball that is voted on by former players.
the MLBPAA has 30 committees made up of alumni players with established relationships to each major league team. these committees choose one player from each team based on his passion, desire, and work ethic both on and off the field. then at the end of the season, fans, alumni, and active players can vote for the final winner of the award from the 30 individual team recipients.
tonight, i was made aware that fans can finally vote. i'm not sure, however, if voting has been open prior to today, and if it has, i'm very sorry that i couldn't alert my readers to it sooner. my Tribe sources should have been a little more on top of this, for the love of Brantley lol anyways, fans can now vote until November 8 at 11:59 pm EST. the fan vote counts for 5% of the total vote, so in all honesty it's probably not going to make much difference. regardless, you can still VOTE FOR MICHAEL HERE.
the final winner will be presented with his Heart & Hustle award on November 18 at the 15th annual Legends for Youth dinner in NYC. good luck, Michael!
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