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All Star Reserve
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 897
Thanks: 2
Thanked 4x in 4 posts
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Remembering the Hall of Famers: CF Micheal Bruce
Micheal Bruce:
If ever a player could be described as the "face" of a franchise, or even the "face" of an entire league, it would be Micheal Bruce. Bruce was the foundation of the early Pittsburgh dynasty, and played long enough to lead the next generation of players into battle, as well. Patrolling centerfield year after year for the Pirates, he just kept on piling up the numbers. He won no MVP awards, yet when it was all said and done, Bruce was the first player to achieve both 3,000 hits and 500 HR in a career. In 2022, his final season, he reached the top of the all time hit list, and ranked 3rd in homeruns. Though he lasted less than a year atop of the hit list, he still ranks 22nd all time. He remained in the top 25 of HR until 2056. He also sits at 22nd in RBI, 19th in doubles, tied for 3rd in triples, and 13th in runs scored.
Bruce, of course, did not achieve just personal milestones. From 2003 to 2022, he helped Pittsburgh become the most dominant team of that era. The first World Series championship came in 2005, and then came a run of six consecutive championships from 2008 to 2013. He and the Pirates snagged their 8th and 9th championships in 2015 and 2019, and then Bruce went out on top, winning his and Pittsburgh's 10th championship in his final season in 2022. By then, only Bruce and reserve outfielder Michael Reed still remained from the end of Pittsburgh's 6 year run. Though Bruce still had life left in him, it was time for a new generation of players to make their mark, and he rode off into the sunset after that season.
In addition to the tremendous career numbers that Bruce accumulated, his 14 All Star appearances are strong arguments to his case as the greatest centerfielder to ever play.
Strangely, Bruce's postseason performances tended to be rather lackluster. Despite a career batting average of .299 and a career OPS of .915, Bruce batted just .249 with a .763 OPS in the playoffs. His best postseason performance, in 2014, actually came in a year that Pittsburgh didn't win the championship.
Bruce's stats:
Code:
Career Batting Stats
Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS Teams
2003 75 250 62 6 4 11 30 38 15 56 2 2 .248 .291 .436 .727 PIT
2004 134 511 155 38 4 18 84 78 24 102 6 10 .303 .335 .499 .834 PIT
2005 148 594 173 36 8 20 80 102 45 134 15 12 .291 .341 .480 .821 PIT,NL
2006 86 335 97 18 9 22 63 59 22 59 5 3 .290 .333 .594 .927 PIT,NL
2007 137 448 148 33 9 28 92 85 57 81 7 10 .330 .406 .632 1.038 PIT,NL
2008 153 562 177 46 4 37 118 101 64 114 8 6 .315 .385 .609 .994 PIT,NL
2009 158 631 179 41 14 40 128 122 66 117 8 13 .284 .352 .583 .935 PIT,NL
2010 149 508 148 26 2 32 96 106 82 114 8 14 .291 .390 .539 .929 PIT,NL
2011 150 571 163 46 6 31 96 119 73 69 6 11 .285 .366 .550 .916 PIT
2012 142 536 175 37 6 36 125 109 61 80 11 9 .326 .395 .619 1.015 PIT,NL
2013 152 541 158 53 5 20 105 90 69 82 8 13 .292 .372 .519 .892 PIT
2014 153 566 176 41 10 26 107 109 69 71 24 12 .311 .386 .557 .942 PIT,NL
2015 152 551 153 38 7 31 120 112 68 79 19 10 .278 .357 .541 .898 PIT,NL
2016 156 566 162 35 8 33 119 119 54 77 16 20 .286 .348 .551 .900 PIT,NL
2017 155 592 175 45 4 34 95 105 71 87 0 6 .296 .371 .557 .928 PIT,NL
2018 152 564 172 36 5 36 106 126 68 77 2 3 .305 .380 .578 .958 PIT,NL
2019 154 553 164 46 9 22 88 118 61 72 2 8 .297 .366 .532 .898 PIT
2020 150 558 163 37 6 22 85 80 30 75 4 9 .292 .328 .498 .826 PIT
2021 117 418 133 31 5 21 76 89 52 52 2 4 .318 .394 .567 .961 PIT,NL
2022 142 538 170 41 2 22 116 93 36 73 2 6 .316 .359 .522 .881 PIT,NL
Total 2815 10393 3103 730 127 542 1929 1960 1087 1671 155 181 .299 .365 .550 .915
Career Minor League Batting Stats
Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
2003, AAA 80 323 103 15 5 15 46 47 13 62 17 11 .319 .336 .536 .872
Career Postseason Batting Stats
Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
2004 11 43 10 4 0 1 3 6 3 12 0 1 .233 .283 .395 .678
2005 13 59 14 7 1 1 9 8 1 13 1 0 .237 .250 .441 .691
2007 14 57 13 3 2 1 7 8 5 16 0 1 .228 .290 .404 .694
2008 12 47 13 3 2 1 6 9 5 10 1 1 .277 .346 .489 .836
2009 10 44 12 2 1 0 7 8 2 11 1 0 .273 .304 .364 .668
2010 12 50 12 5 2 2 10 11 4 9 2 1 .240 .296 .540 .836
2011 13 56 14 4 1 3 10 8 5 7 0 0 .250 .311 .518 .829
2013 5 29 8 0 0 1 6 4 6 5 1 1 .276 .400 .379 .779
2014 11 42 15 5 1 3 12 12 3 4 2 0 .357 .400 .738 1.138
2015 14 49 11 3 0 0 6 8 9 10 5 2 .224 .345 .286 .631
2017 10 44 7 4 0 2 6 4 2 9 0 0 .159 .196 .386 .582
2018 14 56 10 4 2 3 8 10 5 12 0 0 .179 .246 .482 .728
2019 11 52 14 6 0 1 10 10 0 11 0 0 .269 .269 .442 .712
2020 7 27 6 2 0 0 5 1 5 4 0 0 .222 .344 .296 .640
2021 11 46 16 3 0 3 10 7 3 8 0 0 .348 .388 .609 .996
2022 11 45 11 1 1 2 7 9 3 9 0 0 .244 .292 .444 .724
Total 179 746 186 56 13 24 122 123 61 150 13 7 .249 .306 .456 .763
Player History
Drafted in 8th round, 125th overall pick, by Pittsburgh in 2003...
Had first career hit on 7/5/2003, off Lyndon Hartwell (LA)...
Hit first career homerun on 7/26/2003, off Earl Mcintire (SD)...
Injured on 4/18/2004 with a Hyper Extended Knee, out for 1-2 weeks...
Was selected to the 2005 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 9/29/2005, hitting .455 with 3 HR, 8 RBI...
Won World Series with Pittsburgh in 2005...
Was selected to the 2006 Allstar game...
Injured on 7/16/2006 with a Ruptured Medial Collateral Ligament, out for full season...
Won Batter of the Month award on 7/1/2007, hitting .373 with 4 HR, 18 RBI...
Was selected to the 2007 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/28/2007, hitting .500 with 3 HR, 9 RBI...
Had 5 hits with 4 RBI against Sacramento on 8/3/2007...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/4/2007, hitting .500 with 3 HR, 7 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/18/2007, hitting .409 with 4 HR, 11 RBI...
Injured on 9/3/2007 with a Inflamed Thigh Muscle, out for one week...
Injured on 9/21/2007 with a Sore Back, out for one week...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/14/2008, hitting .526 with 3 HR, 9 RBI...
Hit 3 homeruns against Sacramento, driving in 4 runs on 4/18/2008...
Was selected to the 2008 Allstar game...
Had 5 hits with 2 RBI against Sacramento on 8/11/2008...
Won World Series with Pittsburgh in 2008...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/14/2009, hitting .423 with 4 HR, 7 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/28/2009, hitting .387 with 3 HR, 10 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 5/1/2009, hitting .400 with 13 HR, 31 RBI...
Was selected to the 2009 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/18/2009, hitting .344 with 4 HR, 10 RBI...
Drove in 6 runs against Sacramento on 8/27/2009...
Won World Series with Pittsburgh in 2009...
Drove in 6 runs against Hartford on 4/28/2010...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/5/2010, hitting .391 with 4 HR, 9 RBI...
Was selected to the 2010 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/14/2010, hitting .476 with 4 HR, 8 RBI...
Won World Series with Pittsburgh in 2010...
Won Gold Glove Award at Centerfield in 2010...
Had 5 hits with 2 RBI against Hartford on 7/19/2011...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/21/2011, hitting .480 with 3 HR, 6 RBI...
Won World Series with Pittsburgh in 2011...
Won Batter of the Month award on 5/1/2012, hitting .379 with 11 HR, 29 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/5/2012, hitting .500 with 3 HR, 9 RBI...
Was selected to the 2012 Allstar game...
Hit for the cycle against Los Angeles on 7/26/2012...
Had 5 hits with 5 RBI against Los Angeles on 7/26/2012...
Won Player of the Week award on 9/8/2012, hitting .500 with 2 HR, 12 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 9/15/2012, hitting .478 with 2 HR, 6 RBI...
Injured on 9/21/2012 with a Broken Wrist, out for full season...
Won Batter of the Month award on 10/1/2012, hitting .478 with 7 HR, 29 RBI...
Won World Series with Pittsburgh in 2012...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/7/2013, hitting .565 with 2 HR, 10 RBI...
Drove in 6 runs against Hartford on 4/27/2013...
Won World Series with Pittsburgh in 2013...
Won Player of the Week award on 6/2/2014, hitting .500 with 0 HR, 7 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 6/16/2014, hitting .381 with 3 HR, 6 RBI...
Was selected to the 2014 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/4/2014, hitting .435 with 3 HR, 7 RBI...
Injured on 10/20/2014 with a Fractured Foot, out for 3 weeks...
Had 5 hits with 5 RBI against Harrisburg on 4/28/2015...
Was selected to the 2015 Allstar game...
Drove in 6 runs against Portland on 7/7/2015...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/14/2015, hitting .385 with 5 HR, 16 RBI...
Won World Series with Pittsburgh in 2015...
Had 2000th career hit on 5/15/2016, off Sahaji Shuichi (SAC)...
Had 5 hits with 2 RBI against Harrisburg on 5/26/2016...
Drove in 6 runs against Portland on 6/1/2016...
Won Player of the Week award on 6/30/2016, hitting .500 with 1 HR, 5 RBI...
Was selected to the 2016 Allstar game...
Was selected to the 2017 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/18/2017, hitting .407 with 5 HR, 10 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 9/1/2017, hitting .330 with 11 HR, 30 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 9/1/2017, hitting .440 with 3 HR, 11 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/5/2018, hitting .444 with 3 HR, 12 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 6/2/2018, hitting .500 with 3 HR, 10 RBI...
Was selected to the 2018 Allstar game...
Won World Series with Pittsburgh in 2019...
Had 500th career homerun on 4/2/2021, off Edwin White (HAR)...
Was selected to the 2021 Allstar game...
Injured on 7/7/2021 with a Torn Abdominal Muscle, out for 5-6 weeks...
Had 5 hits with 0 RBI against Sacramento on 5/15/2022...
Had 3000th career hit on 6/18/2022, off Dexter Gallup (ROC)...
Was selected to the 2022 Allstar game...
Drove in 6 runs against Harrisburg on 8/21/2022...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/25/2022, hitting .400 with 3 HR, 12 RBI...
Won World Series with Pittsburgh in 2022...
Retired and inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2023.
Batting Leader Boards Appearances
AVG
2004 - .303 - 7th
2007 - .330 - 3rd
2008 - .315 - 7th
2012 - .326 - 9th
2014 - .311 - 8th
2022 - .316 - 10th
OBP
2007 - .406 - 5th
2008 - .385 - 8th
2010 - .390 - 9th
2012 - .395 - 7th
2014 - .386 - 7th
SLG
2007 - .632 - 1st
2008 - .609 - 1st
2009 - .583 - 2nd
2010 - .539 - 7th
2011 - .550 - 8th
2012 - .619 - 2nd
2013 - .519 - 8th
2014 - .557 - 3rd
2015 - .541 - 7th
2016 - .551 - 4th
2017 - .557 - 4th
2018 - .578 - 3rd
2019 - .532 - 7th
2022 - .522 - 8th
OPS
2007 - 1.038 - 1st
2008 - .994 - 1st
2009 - .935 - 4th
2010 - .929 - 6th
2011 - .916 - 9th
2012 - 1.015 - 5th
2013 - .892 - 6th
2014 - .942 - 2nd
2015 - .898 - 9th
2016 - .900 - 10th
2017 - .928 - 9th
2018 - .958 - 3rd
2019 - .898 - 10th
2022 - .881 - 9th
Hits
2005 - 173 - 7th
2008 - 177 - 7th
2009 - 179 - 8th
2014 - 176 - 5th
Doubles
2004 - 38 - 6th
2007 - 33 - 9th
2008 - 46 - 2nd
2009 - 41 - 6th
2011 - 46 - 2nd
2013 - 53 - 3rd
2014 - 41 - 7th
2015 - 38 - 8th
2016 - 35 - 10th
2017 - 45 - 9th
2019 - 46 - 3rd
Triples
2005 - 8 - 1st
2006 - 9 - 5th
2007 - 9 - 2nd
2009 - 14 - 1st
2011 - 6 - 5th
2012 - 6 - 10th
2013 - 5 - 6th
2014 - 10 - 1st
2015 - 7 - 8th
2016 - 8 - 3rd
2019 - 9 - 2nd
2020 - 6 - 8th
2021 - 5 - 9th
Homeruns
2007 - 28 - 8th
2008 - 37 - 3rd
2009 - 40 - 2nd
2010 - 32 - 7th
2012 - 36 - 9th
2014 - 26 - 10th
2015 - 31 - 8th
2016 - 33 - 8th
2017 - 34 - 6th
2018 - 36 - 4th
RBI
2007 - 92 - 10th
2008 - 118 - 2nd
2009 - 128 - 2nd
2010 - 96 - 9th
2012 - 125 - 5th
2013 - 105 - 7th
2014 - 107 - 6th
2015 - 120 - 2nd
2016 - 119 - 5th
2018 - 106 - 6th
Runs
2005 - 102 - 4th
2008 - 101 - 2nd
2009 - 122 - 1st
2010 - 106 - 4th
2011 - 119 - 1st
2014 - 109 - 2nd
2015 - 112 - 5th
2016 - 119 - 2nd
2017 - 105 - 9th
2018 - 126 - 2nd
2019 - 118 - 2nd
BB
2010 - 82 - 9th
SB
2014 - 24 - 10th
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