Braun retires

[Daubs]

 

And then...one of the worst cases of self-sabotage that I've ever seen. The PED use itself was no surprise, everyone coming out of Miami in that era was doing it. I remember exactly where I was when I found out he tested positive, it was such a typical 'Brewers' moment of that era to have our first bit of real success tainted so quickly. By the time he owned up the damage was permanent, his celebrity friends permanently disappeared from games, and he was never quite the same player.

 

 

Look at the stat sheet from 2012. He was every bit as good, even after the positive test, as he was in 2011 when he won the MVP and was using.

 

What gets lost in the Braun story is the thumb injury in 2013 and 2014. As I recall, he hurt his thumb in 2013 and tried to play through it while experiencing a major power outage. He missed a month on the DL, came back reaggravated the thumb, was shut down and placed on the DL. It was then that he cut a deal with MLB and served a suspension when he was not liekly to play anyways due to the injury.

 

He again played through the thumb injury in 2014 then had the nerves frozen in his thumb. After that surgery he was 31 and hit .279/.341/.501 for the remainder of his career. Sure maybe not the .900+ OPS player he was at 25, but neither was Mickey Mantle.

 

Pound for pound the best hitter the Brewers had since I started following the team in 1988.

 

Don't bring this up to Keith Law on Twitter.....he's all over the steroid angle.

[KeithStone53151]

Is there any doubt his number will be retired, and relatively quickly?

[Outlander]

I'm sure there is some doubt, there are some that doubted Molitor would be retired. However, they have plenty of time to do that.

[MrTPlush]

Is there any doubt his number will be retired, and relatively quickly?

 

I think if Yelich was still mashing they wouldn't. Yelich seemed primed to be that beloved star and likely HOFer with the Brewers. That would have given them someone to put in the rafters in somewhat recent history. It wouldn't seem necessary to put Braun, with his non HOF troubled past, up there.

 

Now that Yelich has crashed and burned maybe they see Braun as a better number retirement candidate. If not they may not have a number retirement worthy player for decades. I mean, there really isn't a single guy on the current team that has much chance unless Yelich rebounds.

 

I would prefer them to not, as he wasn't a HOFer and due to his rocky PED situation...but it wouldn't bother me a whole lot if they did.

[tmwiese55]

Braun deserves it way more than Rollie Fingers who was barely here. Aaron is debatable but factor in the Braves time in MKE and I get why that makes sense. I'm kind of a stickler on not overdoing number retirements, and I think I'd lean towards Braun getting it. Take away the PED bs and I think they would for sure, with it it becomes debatable and I don't blame either way. But 14 years, ROY MVP, and leader in all hitting stats and borderline level HOF player (but not the longevity for it) I think pushes me to a Yes.

[MrTPlush]

I'm kind of a stickler on not overdoing number retirements, and I think I'd lean towards Braun getting it.

 

I think it comes down to our franchise. We don't really get guys here for 10+ years and certainly not many of Braun's caliber. It will probably be decades before another such deserving candidate exists, unless Yelich revives his career as an AS caliber guy.

[KeithStone53151]

Braun deserves it way more than Rollie Fingers who was barely here. Aaron is debatable but factor in the Braves time in MKE and I get why that makes sense. I'm kind of a stickler on not overdoing number retirements, and I think I'd lean towards Braun getting it. Take away the PED bs and I think they would for sure, with it it becomes debatable and I don't blame either way. But 14 years, ROY MVP, and leader in all hitting stats and borderline level HOF player (but not the longevity for it) I think pushes me to a Yes.

 

We went through roughly 20 years of mediocre-bad baseball before Braun came up. Braun played here a long time and was very very good. Without the PED thing he's definitely hall of very good and he probably did enough to hang around in HOF voting for most of the 10 allotted years. With PED's he probably exits the HOF conversation his first or second year. I don't really think Yelich impacts Braun number retirement one way or the other. I'm not sure how long teams normally wait to do such a thing but I suspect they'll retire Braun's on the earlier side of what's normal.

[tmwiese55]

I'm kind of a stickler on not overdoing number retirements, and I think I'd lean towards Braun getting it.

 

I think it come down to our franchise. We don't really get guys hear for 10+ years and certainly not many of Braun's caliber. It will probably be decades before another such deserving candidate exists, unless Yelich revives his career as an AS caliber guy.

 

Good point and possibly another factor in moving this to a Yes. None of the other players from his come up group will get it. And unless one of the key pitchers now actually sticks here for 10+ years and continues being very good there doesn't seem another one will be anytime soon unless Yeli rights himself.

[AKCheesehead]

Stolen from the thread from 2 years ago tomorrow. One of my favorite Braun moments due to location, clientele, and all the cobras!

 

[formerlybis]

 

I mean, there really isn't a single guy on the current team that has much chance unless Yelich rebounds.

 

I would argue that Hader has a chance, but I think most people expect that he'll be dealt vs. re-signing him when the time comes.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

I'm sure the Brewers will retire his number and deservedly so considering his numbers and loyalty to the team. I dont recall the Brewers ever holding a grudge about the PED use. The only reason they would not do it is if there was indication that the Brewers fans were against it. I dont think that is the case at least in the majority of fans.

[tmwiese55]

 

I mean, there really isn't a single guy on the current team that has much chance unless Yelich rebounds.

 

I would argue that Hader has a chance, but I think most people expect that he'll be dealt vs. re-signing him when the time comes.

 

Right, I'd say Hader if he signs an extension would be #1 Plus, factor in if they win a WS in the next 2-3 years it bumps up all the current guys' resumes a ton as long as they stay on a longer term extension of some kind and remain high level players. I mostly mean Yeli, Hader, Burnes, Wood, Peralta as the main options. Adames as a wild card since he's so young and small sample.

 

ETA: to add to the post below. It seems Mcguire wasn't retired by Oakland either. That's probably the one where he should/could be

[NYChez]

FWIW, Sosa’s and McGwire’s numbers have not been retired by the Cubs and Cardinals.

[MrTPlush]

FWIW, Sosa’s and McGwire’s numbers have not been retired by the Cubs and Cardinals.

 

If we were doing FWIW, Attanasio is a big Braun fan and their families are incredibly close.

 

Now that I think of it >> I’m guessing Attanasio will ask Braun and if Braun wants it, he gets it.

[JosephC]

Considering how ESPN leaves out a key part of the story, I would have to guess that Braun might already have a job lined up there.

 

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/32208038/milwaukee-brewers-slugger-ryan-braun-announces-retirement

 

Braun was one of baseball's best hitters from 2007 to '12, but was never the same after he was suspended midway through the 2013 season for using performance-enhancing drugs. He acknowledged that he took banned substances while rehabilitating an injury and apologized.

[markedman5]

Is there any doubt his number will be retired, and relatively quickly?

 

All,of the Brewer players with retired numbers are Hall of Famers I believe so yes I think there is some doubt.

 

Either way I doubt it happens quickly…….but who knows.

[tigerbrew]

Braun is my favorite Brewers player of all time. Unlike most players, Braun was really loyal to the Brewers and had signed team friendly contracts to stay with the team throughout his career.

 

Even though the Brewers is the smallest market MLB team and hardly made the playoffs during those years, MVP Braun has been genuinely loyal to the team and fans and stayed with the Brewers. He could've join another team this season as a FA, but he didn't and decide to retire a Brewer instead.

 

I give Braun lots of credit for his loyalty to the Brewers and their fans, it's one of the key reasons why he's my favorite Brewers player of all time. I agree that his number should be retired by the Brewers.

[hawing]

I could see 8 not being formally retired, but also not being reassigned - not unlike Jim Gantner. (Obviously for different reasons)

[kalle8]

I always liked Brauny.

 

Then it all fell apart: those Remetee shirts...

[Invader3K]

It will be so weird to not have him being part of the Brewers, even on the periphery. He was such a huge part of making the Brewers a nationally relevant team again, and gave us a ton of good memories.

 

I think hawing is right that they won't officially retire his number, but #8 won't be used by another player for a very long time.

[RobDeer 45]

I miss Ryan Braun. I really wish he hadn't turned to PEDs, he didn't need it. He was a great hitter. My suspicion is it helped him stay healthy with all his nagging injuries. Of course it gives you that little bit of extra juice when people who aren't using, are struggling to stay energized. Either way, he was a great hitter to watch and gave us so many good memories. After everything went down, I always found myself feeling bad for him. It seemed to mute his voice quite a bit, took away some of that swagger, but maybe that was a good thing. Maybe that helped him to be a better teammate, a better person.

 

Speaking of teammates, did Fielder and Braun get along? I think I've maybe asked this before. It always seemed like there was some tension there. It almost seemed like Fielder didn't fully respect him, or didn't feel like he was being genuine. They were both leaders in different ways, but I always got the impression there was a bit of a clash there.

[Outlander]

I always thought they got along when they played together, had that boxing celebration together and even did it when Fielder came back to Milwaukee for his Wall of Honor Ceremony. Fielder left right after the 2011 season and it did feel like there might have been some tension with the PED stuff but maybe Fielder just wanted to move on and didn't want to concern himself with the Brewers. Again, appeared fine when Fielder returned in 2018.

[IIAY]

Many of my favorite Brewers' memories over the past 15 years include Ryan Braun. In the late 2000's, a brewerfan.net user (jarjohm?) created audio highlight mixes for the 2005, 2007, and 2008 seasons. I can't tell you how many times in the last 13 years I have listened to them, but my favorite part was Game 162 in 2008 vs. the Cubs. Listening to BA, Rock, JP, and Ueck call the highlights set to "Put On" still gives me chills every time I listen to it.

[pacopete4]

Braun was great today in how he thanked the fans for sticking by him. You can tell how much he really does appreciate Milwaukee. It’s a shame he’s not apart of this team but this was a great quote today:

 

"If I had came up with the bases loaded there like Yelich did, I think I would've gotten in more than just the one run" - Ryan Braun

[tigerbrew]

Good speech, farewell to my favorite Brewers player of all-time.