As the 2022 World Series champion Houston Astros gathered on the podium, the Commissioner’s Trophy was quickly in their hands. Michael Brantley. His teammates made sure that was the case.
The smiles around Brantley tell the story: After 1,430 major league games, he earned his World Series ring.
Brantley hasn’t seen action since June 26 of that season after undergoing right shoulder surgery for the fourth time, but his teammates wanted him to be in the middle of the celebration.
“That was the most special part for me,” Brantley recalled in a phone interview with MLB.com on Thursday. “My teammates put me in the middle and ask me to lift the trophy. I still get goosebumps thinking about it. I will always remember him.”
Now, Brantley enters retirement after an extraordinary career in which he hit .298 in 10 seasons with Cleveland and five with Houston. Ranger hit 129 home runs and drove in 720 runs in those 15 seasons, including being called to five All-Star Games.
“I have young children and it’s time to be a father, first of all,” Brantley said.
