Today in Tribe History: December 19, 1975

Corner infielder and occasional outfielder Russell Branyan is born in Georgia.

Branyan was a home run hitting threat throughout his Major League career, often hitting long moonshots that impressed the crowd, only to strike out at frustrating rates while hitting for a low average. He spent his first five MLB seasons with the Indians before being dealt in 2002 to the Cincinnati Reds for Ben Broussard.

He signed with Atlanta in February of 2004 but would be traded back to Cleveland in April. He would not appear at the MLB level and was instead later dealt in July to the Brewers. After stops in Milwaukee, Tampa Bay, and San Diego, he signed in August of 2007 back with the Indians, only to be purchased by Philadelphia two days later.

Following a trade to St. Louis, another trip through Milwaukee, and a free agent deal with Seattle, Branyan returned to Cleveland as a free agent in 2010. The trip was short lived once again as he was traded back to Seattle for Ezequiel Carrera and Juan Diaz. He spent his final big league season split between Arizona and Los Angeles with the Angels in 2011, but did return to the Indians organization one final time late in the 2014 season on a minor league contract.

Related Posts

Today in Tribe History: June 25, 2011

In one of the more unfortunate and unusual losses of the season, the Indians fell to the San Francisco Giants, 1-0, as the lone run of the…

Today in Tribe History: June 24, 1997

Less than three years after signing with the club, 21-year-old right-hander Jaret Wright makes his Major League debut in front of a packed Jacobs Field crowd and…

Today in Tribe History: June 23, 1968

For the sixth time this season, Luis Tiant throws a complete game shutout as he and his Cleveland teammates blank the Detroit Tigers, 3-0.

Today in Tribe History: June 22, 2001

The Cleveland Indians acquire the highly controversial John Rocker from the Atlanta Braves with a minor leaguer for relievers Steve Karsay and Steve Reed.

Today in Tribe History: June 21, 1956

The “Red Baron”, Rick Sutcliffe, is born in Independence, Missouri.

Today in Tribe History: June 20, 1951

Cleveland gets an impressive day at the plate from second baseman Bobby Avila as the Indians knock off the Boston Red Sox, 14-8.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.