CLEVELAND — There are not too many ballparks that former Cleveland Indians outfielder Michael Brantley struggled to hit well in consistently, and one can count his home for 10 years, Progressive Field, as one of his favorites.
And in his first at-bat in the 2019 MLB All-Star Game in his former home park, Brantley smashed an RBI double to the wall in left-center field and drove in his Houston Astros teammate Alex Bregman to give the American League a 1-0 lead over the National League in the bottom of the second inning.
After getting the run-producing hit, Brantley threw both hands up in the air and pointed toward the third-base dugout to the jubilation of the crowd and his American League teammates.
Brantley said he was not sure what kind of reception he would get from the Cleveland fans, but they delivered thunderous applause during pre-game introductions, as well as his walk to home plate for the at-bat.
Following the hit, Brantley again received a rousing ovation.
In 1,051 games over his 10 years with the Indians, Brantley collected 1,195 hits in 4,055 at-bats (.295 batting average) with 248 doubles, 19 triples, 87 home runs, 528 runs batted in, 543 runs scored and 351 walks drawn against 479 strikeouts.
In addition to the .295 batting average, Brantley had career .351 on-base, .430 slugging and .781 on-base-plus-slugging percentages.
Brantley’s best season came in 2014, when he finished third in the voting for the American League Most Valuable Player Award.
Brantley, who was the “player to be named” in the Indians’ 2008 mid-season trade of then front-of-the-rotation pitcher CC Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers, was the club leader and set career highs in most offensive categories in 2014.
Brantley was the first player in the 114-year history of the Indians’ franchise, and ninth player in MLB annals, to have 200 hits, and at least 45 doubles, 20 home runs and 20 steals in the same season. Brantley was the ninth member of the Indians’ 20-home run, 20-steals club, and the first Cleveland player since 1996 to reach the 200-hit plateau.
In 2014, Brantley finished second in the American League in hits (200), third in batting average (.327) and doubles (45), fourth in on-base percentage (.385), tied for sixth in runs scored (94), seventh in on-base plus slugging percentage (.890), 11th in steals (23) and 12th in runs batted in (97).
