Winning entry for Braun's nickname comes from Doug Melvin - "Braun-tosaurus"

[molitor fan]

Masshaas posted this in a link report, but this article deserves its own thread for two reasons. One, Doug Melvin's nickname for Ryan Braun, which should be on the tongues of every poster from now on, and the second is that Braun is still driving the same car he drove in high school - a 7 year old Honda Accord. Not every MVP candidate has an Accord as their main "WHIP".

 

 

Link while active, text follows:

 

http://www.al.com/sports/huntsvilletimes/mmccarter.ssf?/base/sports/118699654722440.xml&coll=1

 

It doesn't take a big brain to appreciate Braun

Former Star showing power as Brewers rookie

Contact Mark McCarter at markcolumn@aol.com

Huntsville Times

 

HOUSTON - Are you going to believe your eyes or your ears? Because your eyes say it looks easy.

 

But your ears hear Ryan Braun protest, "It's not easy. Not by any means is it easy. It definitely hasn't been easy by any means."

 

Lurking nearby, teammate Geoff Jenkins interjects.

 

"For some of us," he says, "it's easier than others."

 

The greatest make the difficult look easy. Tom Hanks makes you believe he could be a half-witted rube or he could fly to the moon.

 

Hemingway could write with a house full of cats. Emeril could make a seven-course gourmet meal from things found in a vending machine.

 

And Ryan Braun, the rookie third baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers and former Huntsville Star, makes baseball look easy.

 

To be sure, within hours of his mild protest, Braun made it look difficult. He looked like Popeye with a spinach shortage.

 

Then, the next night, he went Roy Hobbs on the Astros. He jacked a two-out, 0-1 slider for a three-run homer to win the game.

 

Doug Melvin, the Brewers' general manager, isn't the Delta-house, gotta-give-everybody-a-nickname type. But he has come up with one for Braun.

 

"I don't use it around here (with the team) but I do in the front office," Melvin said. "I call him the 'Braun-tosaurus.' That's a nickname I put on him early. Because he's going to put up monster numbers."

 

He already has.

 

After Sunday, in which he extended his hitting streak to 10 games, Braun has 22 homers, 59 RBIs and is batting .348 in 70 games.

 

He's earned a statistical parallel with another former Huntsville third baseman, a guy whose Double-A numbers he almost mimicked. Braun hit his 21st homer on Tuesday in his 65th major league game. Not since Mark McGwire, in 1987, has a player reached the 21-homer mark so quickly.

 

(For the record, in 59 games in Huntsville last season, Braun batted .303 with 15 homers and 40 RBIs, to .303, 10 homers and 53 RBIs for McGwire in 55 games in 1986.)

 

This time a year ago, Braun was playing for the Stars, with barely a full season of pro ball experience after being the fifth overall pick in the 2005 draft. (Proving that baseball has far too many statistics and too much minutiae, somebody reported that he was the highest-drafted Jewish-American player in baseball history.)

 

"Everything's gone by really quick," he said. "It's been a whirlwind of events. I'm trying to take everything in stride."

 

He said he wasn't necessarily surprised by what has happened, "that I've always been very confident in my abilities. I always felt as long as I got here and continued to make adjustments quickly and never was content with where I was, that I'd continue to have success.

 

"Obviously," he said, "I feel like I've got a long way to go to be where I want to be."

 

One afternoon last season, with Braun shooting the breeze in a folding chair near the Stars dugout, the subject of transportation somehow came up.

 

Maybe it was because of the enormous white Hummer driven by Stars catcher Lou Palmisano. Maybe it was the fleet of other nice rides parked outside the Huntsville clubhouse.

 

Ryan Braun drove a Honda. Even with first-round-draft money (a reported $2.45 million bonus), he was still in the 2000 Honda Accord he drove in high school.

 

"I'll reward myself (with a new car) when I make it to the big leagues," he said then.

 

Braun still drives the same old Honda. Smiling at the memory of the conversation, Braun admitted, "This offseason, I'll reward myself."

[Boy Jeenius]

Cool. One correction for the article: Ron Bloomberg was drafted #1.

[uwisfan]

loved the honda piece..not so crazy about the nickname "brauntosaurus" (too long). Don't like the Hebrew Hammer..didnt the Badgers just have that for the the FB Bernstein? I think with a name like "Braun", it should be easy to work off of it. Heck, even the Brawny paper towel man conjures up a more apt image I think.

[Brian the Automator]

Finally, maybe I can find a buyer for my 2001 Mercury Cougar

[Invader3K]

I don't know...in "Mr. 3000", there was a player nicknamed "Tyrannosaurus" and I thought that was cool, so Brauntosaurus works for me.

 

I don't like "Hebrew Hammer"...I'm not the overly PC type, but I could see people getting worked up about that one. It's not like Braun walks around with a big Star of David necklace or something, that I know of. "Brauny" is kind of lame, too, IMO...sounds like a leprechaun in a fairytale or something.

[kgbaseball]

I always use "Ryan Braun, first pitch gone" as my little slogan for him.

[davego]

Ive been going with Braun=God.

[dlk9s]

Braun-tosaurus sounds like something created by the mind of a 5-year-old.

[hawing]

Finally, maybe I can find a buyer for my 2001 Mercury Cougar.

 

http://static.yuku.com/v2//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/laugh.gif Add some bf.net stickers or a license plate holder.

 

No, really, the only Brewers car factoid that has made me smile more was reading the Brian Shouse profile in a Game Day program last year; his first ride was a baby blue AMC Matador.

[bjkrautk]

If I worked for a Car dealership in the Milwaukee area....I'd be mailing Mr. Braun a copy of my business card right about now.

(I see an endorsement deal in his future.)

[HebrewHammer]

I should also add that the fact he plays for the Brewers allows for a pun.

 

He-Brew Hammer. You see, "Brew" is in it!

[Lil Dummy]

"Braun-tosaurus sounds like something created by the mind of a 5-year-old."

 

http://static.yuku.com/v2//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/laugh.gif

 

Agreed. Good move by Melvin to keep it to himself in the clubhouse. Weren't brontosauruses big, slow, and dumb? If the Packers had an offensive lineman named Braun, I could get behind that nickname. For our young infielder, I'm sure we can do better.

[JJHardy7]

My little saying is, "it's long and gone for Ryan Braun"...generic maybe, but I like how it rhymes. Braun rhymes with a lot of things and I'm sure he'll have a good nickname in due time.

 

I'm not a big fan of the Hebrew Hammer much myself. I think it's kind of odd personally the mix the two things, but whatever works I guess.

[valpocrewsader]

I like calling him LeBraun. As in, the next LeBron-esque superstar of MLB. Brauntosaurus works for me, though!

[brettac1]

I still like Hebrew Hammer. Just because that movie was awesome. And it's funny.

[Brian the Automator]

T-Bone.

 

Just because every group of people needs a T-Bone.

[BCZF]

YOU JUST GOT A BAD CASE OF:

 

 

BRAUN-CHITIS! YEAH! WOOO!

 

 

(sigh....I stink....back to the drawing board)

[dlk9s]

T-Bone.

 

Just because every group of people needs a T-Bone.

 

He's lucky there's already a Coco.

[ELCABALLO45]

I always called him the Hebrew Hammer or The Next Big Thing Ryan Braun

[brewtank34]

I've been calling him Hero, and I'll continue to do so. I do like Brauntosauris thought...clever.
Keep swinging Hero!!!!!

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/pimp.gif

[thebruce44]

My buddies and I all started replacing words for "intercourse" with "Ryan Braun." For example, "I would Ryan Braun her." Or the typical text message I receive when Braun does something good will be along the lines of "All the ladies wanna Ryan Braun Ryan Braun." We tried to add this to his Wikipedia page, but that didn't go over too well.

[Mike Felder]

dlk9s beats me to the Seinfeld/T-Bone/Coco joke. That's what I get for waiting until after midnight to read the forums.

Put me down as someone who is a fan of Hebrew Hammer. It sounds cool, the movie was funny, and "Hammer" is a nice reference to Milwaukee's baseball history.

[tigerbrew]

"I don't use it around here (with the team) but I do in the front office," Melvin said. "I call him the 'Braun-tosaurus.' That's a nickname I put on him early. Because he's going to put up monster numbers."

That's a very good one Doug Melvin, I like it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TheMCG]

I call him Gary Glover's Entitilitis. Or Moydge.

[RU Rah Rah]

I am not especially offended by the "Hebrew" moniker, but it's interesting to me that no one would even consider referencing his religious faith if he were blandly Protestant or Catholic. There aren't a lot of guys running around these days with the nickname of "Unitarian Utility Man" or "Lutheran Lefty."

 

It also seems that nicknaming is a kind of an organic thing. Contrived nicknames don't always stick.