Prince Fielder
Prince Fielder in 2007 with Milwaukee
Detroit Tigers – No. 28
First baseman
Born: (1984-05-09) May 9, 1984 (age 28) Ontario, California
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 13, 2005 for the Milwaukee Brewers
Career statistics (through May 23, 2012)
Batting average	.283
Home runs	237
Runs batted in	681
Slugging percentage	.536
On-base percentage	.388
Hits	1,043
Teams
Milwaukee Brewers (2005–2011) Detroit Tigers (2012–present)
Career highlights and awards
3× All-Star (2007, 2009, 2011) 2011 All Star Game MVP 2× Silver Slugger Award (2007, 2011) 2007 NL Hank Aaron Award Brewers franchise leader for home runs in a season (50 in 2007) 50 home run club 2009 Home Run Derby winner

Prince Semien Fielder (born May 9, 1984) is an American professional baseball player for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball. Playing first base, he is currently listed at 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) (180 cm) and 285 lb (129 kg). He was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the first round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft out of Eau Gallie High School in Melbourne, Florida, and he played for the Brewers from 2005 through 2011.

He is the son of former first baseman Cecil Fielder. Prince and Cecil Fielder are the only father-son combination in MLB history to each hit 50 home runs in a season. Fielder holds the Brewers' team record for home runs in a season, and is the league's youngest player to hit 50 home runs in a season. He became the first Brewer to win the Home Run Derby, defeating Nelson Cruz 6–5 in the final round of the 2009 derby. He is a three-time all-star.

Child of the Big Leagues[link]

Prince, like many sons of prominent major leaguers, was a fixture around his father's teams' clubhouses growing up. In addition, he starred alongside his father in a McDonald's commercial and appeared with him on MTV's "Rock N' Jock Softball".

When his father played for Detroit, Prince would sometimes come along for batting practice. Contrary to popular belief, Fielder did not hit a home run into the upper deck of Tiger Stadium^[1] at the age of 12, but he did hit a home run over the fence as a pre-teen. Fielder set the story straight in a 2007 interview with Fox Sports during a road trip to Detroit, saying that it "just went over the fence."

High school and middle school career[link]

Fielder attended St Edwards school in Vero Beach for 2 years where he played only on Junior varsity

Fielder spent his first three years of high school playing at Florida Air Academy. He then transferred to Eau Gallie High School to play baseball there his senior year (2002).^[2] He hit .524 with 13 doubles, 10 home runs, 41 RBIs, and 47 runs in his senior year. He was named by the Florida Today as the All-Space Coast Player of the Year in 2002.^[3]

Professional career[link]

Milwaukee Brewers (2005–2011)[link]

2005[link]

Fielder began the 2005 season with the minor league Nashville Sounds, and later served as a designated hitter for the Brewers during interleague play. Fielder married his wife Chanel during the Triple-A All-Star Break. He earned his first call-up to the Majors on June 13, 2005, but he was sent back down to the Sounds after the end of interleague play, since Lyle Overbay was already the regular first baseman for the team. Fielder was again called up to the Majors on August 17, 2005, and went on to finish the season with the Brewers, where he was used as a pinch-hitter. He was the 6th-youngest player in the league.

On June 15, 2005, he collected his first major league hit, a double, off Hideo Nomo, and drove in his first big league run with his second hit of the night at Tampa Bay.

2006[link]

Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks at Spring Training, 2005

After Lyle Overbay was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, Fielder became the Brewers' starting first baseman in 2006 and was an early favorite for National League Rookie of the Year.

Prince did not get off to a great start in the 2006 regular season, going 0–9 with 7 strikeouts. In his twelfth at-bat Fielder finally made a big splash, delivering a game-winning hit that drove home Geoff Jenkins for the winning run in the bottom of the 8th inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The hit not only won the game for the Brewers, but secured an opening series sweep. Even with his early season struggles, Prince was named the National League's Rookie of the Month for April, and hit consistently since. On Mother's Day, May 14, 2006, Fielder was one of more than fifty hitters who brandished a pink bat to benefit the Breast Cancer Foundation. With his eighteenth home run of the year, Fielder broke the Brewers' rookie home run record previously held by Greg Vaughn.

He led all major league rookies with twenty-eight homers in the 2006 season. On defense, he had the lowest zone rating among NL first basemen, .804.^[4]

2007[link]

Fielder with the Nashville Sounds

Fielder had a strong first half in 2007, earning a start at first base in the 2007 All-Star game over the previous two MVP winners, Ryan Howard (2006) and Albert Pujols (2005).

On August 13, 2007, Fielder was featured on a magazine cover for the first time when he was featured on the August 13, 2007, issue of ESPN The Magazine.^[5]

On September 15, 2007, Fielder broke the Brewers franchise record for home runs in a season, hitting his forty-sixth in a game against the Cincinnati Reds. The record was previously jointly held by Richie Sexson (twice) and Gorman Thomas.

On September 25, Fielder became the youngest player ever to reach fifty home runs in a season, joining his estranged father in the exclusive club. Fielder has stated that he hopes to surpass his father's total of 51 home runs in a season (1990) as a way of exorcising the demons that have come with being the son of a prominent major leaguer. "A lot of people said that's the only reason I got drafted... I don't mind people comparing me to him but I'm a completely different player. One day I want people to mention my name and not have to mention his," Fielder has said. Earlier in the season, Cecil Fielder had told a magazine that it was his famous name that led to his son being such a highly touted prospect. The younger Fielder also saw his contention in the 2007 NL MVP race as a way of proving his father wrong, but gets little else from the rift but motivation saying, "You've got to look at who's saying it. Let's be honest. He's not really the brightest guy." ^[6]

Fielder ranked first in the National League in home runs (50) in his MVP-caliber 2007 season, was second in slugging percentage to teammate Ryan Braun (.618), second in at bats per home run (11.5) and OPS (1.013), third in RBIs (119) and extra base hits (87), fourth in total bases (354) and hit by pitch (14), fifth in intentional walks (21) and sacrifice flies (8), seventh in runs (109) and times on base (269), and ninth in walks (90).

In 2007 he led all major league first basemen in errors, with fourteen, and was last among eligible major league first basemen in range factor (8.49).

Fielder earned the Milwaukee Brewers Team MVP award, the Player's Choice NL Outstanding Player award, 2007 Silver Slugger award, and was voted the National League's Hank Aaron Award winner.^[7]

2008[link]

Unable to come up with an agreement for a long-term contract with the Brewers, Fielder and his agent, Scott Boras, signed a one-year, $670,000 deal with the Brewers. Fielder was quoted saying, "I'm not happy about it at all," showing his disappointment in not being able to reach an agreement with the club.^[8]

On June 19, Fielder hit the second inside-the-park home run of his career, against the Toronto Blue Jays.

On August 4, Fielder and teammate Manny Parra got into a scuffle in the dugout during a game against the Cincinnati Reds in which Parra was the starting pitcher. They were having a brief conversation, which led to Parra throwing his jacket down and Fielder shoving him. Fielder had to be restrained by teammates Ray Durham, Dave Bush, J. J. Hardy, Ryan Braun, and pitching coach Mike Maddux. ESPN reported that night that the dispute was over Parra heading back to the clubhouse after being pulled from the game instead of staying in the dugout to watch the Brewers bat in the next inning. Baseball Tonight also reports the exchange was started when Parra told Fielder to "get off his fat ass and play defense." Manager Ned Yost said reporters asking questions about the incident was as rude as "going over to the neighbors' house after they've been fighting and asking about it."

On September 23, Fielder hit his second walk-off home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates, helping the Brewers keep pace with the New York Mets in the NL Wild Card race.

Fielder was named the National League Player of the Week for the week of September 15–21 after he batted .462, with 27 total bases, six doubles, 11 RBI, .533 on-base percentage, and a 1.038 slugging percentage.^[9]

Fielder ended the 2008 regular season with a .276 batting average, 34 home runs, 102 RBI, 86 runs and 84 walks. The Brewers finished 90–72, earning the NL Wild Card on the final day of the regular season, their first postseason berth as a National League club and their first since losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1982 World Series. They faced the Philadelphia Phillies and were eliminated in four . Fielder hit the Brewers' only home run of the series, in Game 4.^[10]

2009[link]

Fielder (left), Ryan Howard (center), and President Barack Obama (right) before the start of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, July 14, 2009

After the 2008 season Fielder was seeking an $8 million salary in 2009, while the Brewers filed for $6 million. On January 23 the Brewers and Fielder avoided arbitration and finalized a two-year $18 million contract.^[11]

Fielder hit his first career grand slam against Rafael Perez of the Cleveland Indians on June 15, 2009, at Progressive Field.^{[citation needed]}

Fielder was one of four NL first basemen who made the 2009 NL All Star Team.^{[citation needed]} Fielder won the 2009 State Farm Home Run Derby in St Louis. Fielder began the Derby with a Rickie Weeks bat, but quickly switched to one of Ryan Braun's because it was longer and gave him more plate coverage.^[12] He made the finals with seventeen home runs after the first two rounds, eliminating local favorites Albert Pujols and Ryan Howard. He then beat former Brewers teammate Nelson Cruz with six homers in the final round. His twenty-three long balls tied for the sixth-most in the Derby's history.^[13] He also hit the longest home run of the Derby at 503 feet.^[14]

On August 4, Fielder was involved in an incident with Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Guillermo Mota. With two outs in the ninth inning, Mota hit Fielder with a pitch on the leg, (apparently in retaliation for Mota's teammate Manny Ramirez being hit in the hand by Brewers pitcher Chris Smith). Mota was ejected. After the 17–4 Dodgers victory, Fielder went to the Dodgers clubhouse, in an effort to confront Mota. The Dodgers security guards stopped Fielder from entering, though the incident was captured by a television crew. Both Mota and Fielder were fined by Major League Baseball for their roles in the incident.^[15]

Fielder had a good month of September. While playing the San Francisco Giants on September 6, Fielder hit a walk off home run. This was the second walk off hit Fielder had against the Giants. Then, on September 19, Fielder set the Brewers' single-season record for RBIs at 127, beating Cecil Cooper's 1983 record of 126.^[16] He set this record during a game against the Houston Astros—the team Cooper was managing at the time. The record-breaking RBI was a sacrifice fly, scoring Mike Cameron. He finished the season with 141 RBIs, which surpassed his father's career high of 133 in 1991.

Fielder finished tied for first in the National League in RBIs with Ryan Howard, and second in home runs with 46. He is one of three players in Brewers franchise history to have 100 or more RBIs in three consecutive seasons, along with Richie Sexson (2001–03) and Ryan Braun (2008–10).^[17]

2011[link]

On January 18, Fielder and the Brewers agreed on a one-year, $15.5 million contract.^[18] Fielder was named MVP of the 82nd All Star Game, in which he hit a 3-run home run.^[19]

Along with Fielder, Braun also hit 30 home runs on the season, marking the 4th time the duo each hit at least 30 home runs in a season. Only 6 other duos have done this in major league history.

He became one of three Brewers who have had four 100-RBI seasons, along with Cecil Cooper and Braun.^[20]

On September 27 in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Fielder went 3-for-3 with three homeruns and a walk, and 5 RBIs. It was his first career three-home run game.

In 2011, Fielder batted .299, led the National League in intentional walks (32; a Brewers record), was second in the league in home runs (38), and was third in slugging percentage (.566).^[21] On defense, he led the majors in errors committed by a first baseman (15) and had the lowest fielding percentage of all first basemen (.990).^[22][23] Through 2011, he had the second-highest career slugging percentage (.540) and OPS (.929) of any player in Brewers history, behind Braun, and was second in career home runs (230) to Robin Yount.^[21]

He came in third in the voting for the 2011 National League Most Valuable Player Award, behind winner Ryan Braun and Matt Kemp.^[24]

Detroit Tigers (2012-present)[link]

2012[link]

Following the 2011 World Series, Fielder became a free agent. On January 26, 2012 Fielder agreed to a nine-year, $214 million contract with the Detroit Tigers to play first base and replace the offensive output of the injured Víctor Martínez. ^[25]

On April 5, 2012, Fielder made his debut with the Tigers^[26] and singled in his first at bat.

Fielder hit his first two home runs as a Tiger on April 7, 2012, in a 10-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Personal life[link]

	Biography portal
	Baseball portal

Fielder and his wife Chanel have two children: Jadyn and Haven.^[27]

He had a long running feud with his ex-baseball playing father Cecil Fielder.^[28]

The tattoo on the left side his neck is in Korean. 왕자 means "Prince".^[29]

Prior to the 2008 season Fielder became a vegetarian, removing meat and fish from his diet. Fielder made this choice after reading Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, given to him by his wife Chanel.^[30][31] However, his time as a vegetarian was short-lived; in January 2012, in his introductory press conference as a Detroit Tiger, he stated, "I'm not a vegetarian. I was, for like three months."^[32]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Prince Fielder

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Prince Fielder Interview at Baseball Digest Daily – June 2006
• Prince Fielder Video on FoxSports Video Archive

Ryan Braun
Braun with the Brewers.
Milwaukee Brewers – No. 8
Left fielder
Born: (1983-11-17) November 17, 1983 (age 28) Mission Hills, Los Angeles, California
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 25, 2007 for the Milwaukee Brewers
Career statistics (through May 29, 2012)
Batting average	.312
Home runs	175
Runs batted in	567
Slugging percentage	.566
Runs	540
Stolen bases	106
Teams
Milwaukee Brewers (2007–present)
Career highlights and awards
2011 NL MVP 4× NL All Star (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) 4× Silver Slugger Award, OF (2008–11) 2007 NL Rookie of the Year 2× NL slugging percentage leader (2007, 2011) 2009 NL hits leader 30-30 club Only player to hit 3 home runs in 1 game at Petco Park

Ryan Joseph Braun (born November 17, 1983, in Mission Hills, California) is an American right-handed Major League Baseball left fielder for the Milwaukee Brewers. A perennial standout, he was ranked No. 7 by the Sporting News in its 2012 list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball and is the reigning National League MVP.

Braun was a two-time All American baseball player at the University of Miami, where he was named "National Freshman of the Year" by Baseball America in 2003. The Brewers drafted him in the first round (fifth overall) in the 2005 major league draft. He was the team's Minor League Player of the Year in 2006.

Braun has led the National League (NL) twice in slugging percentage (in 2007, while setting the major league rookie record, and 2011), twice in extra-base hits (2008 and 2011), and once in hits (2009). On defense, he led all major league outfielders in fielding percentage in 2008, led NL left fielders in fielding percentage twice (2009 and 2011), and led NL left fielders in range factor in 2009. His 128 home runs through 2010 were the 8th-most by any major leaguer ever through their first four seasons. Through 2011, he was third among all active ballplayers in career slugging percentage, and first among active left fielders in career fielding percentage.

Braun won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 2007. He was voted a starting All-Star and won the NL Outfielder Silver Slugger Award in each of the past four seasons (2008–11).

High school[link]

Braun was a four-year letterman on the Granada Hills High School baseball team, and three-year team captain and Most Valuable Player (MVP). He played shortstop, and pitched through his junior year. As a sophomore in 2000, he recorded the highest batting average of his prep career (.456), while posting a .654 on-base percentage (OBP). During his junior year, he hit .421, with a .668 OBP. Braun capped off his high school career by batting .451 as a senior, with an OBP of .675, and breaking the school record for career home runs with 25.^[1]

He was a two-time all-area selection by the Los Angeles Times, and a three-time choice by the Los Angeles Daily News. As a senior, Braun was rated the sixth-best shortstop prospect in the country by Team One Baseball, and among the top 100 overall prospects by Baseball America.^[2] He graduated in 2002, but went undrafted as he told teams that he intended to attend college.^[3][4]

Academically, he excelled as well, receiving only one B (in AP Chemistry).^[5][6]

College[link]

Offered scholarships by Stanford University and UC-Berkeley, he instead attended the University of Miami (on an academic scholarship, due to his high school grades).^[5] He chose Miami for its academics, its athletics, and its social scene, noting: "I think the girls were the deal closer on the recruiting trip."^[4][7]

There, Braun was named "National Freshman of the Year," as well as a first-team "Freshman All-American," by Baseball America in 2003, as well as first team All American by the Jewish Sports Review.^[8] He was also named first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball.^[3] He clinched the awards by batting .364 with 76 runs batted in (RBIs) and 17 home runs. As a sophomore shortstop/designated hitter, Braun hit .335, slugged .606, and had 21 stolen bases.

During his junior year, his final and most successful at Miami, Braun batted .396 with 18 home runs, a .726 slugging percentage, 76 RBIs, and 23 stolen bases. He was ninth in slugging and 10th in RBIs in NCAA Division I, and was named to Baseball America's 2005 College All-American Team as the DH. He moved from shortstop to third base during the year. His performance earned Braun a spot as one of the finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, the most prestigious individual award in college baseball, and the Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Player of the Year award.^[3][9]

Minor leagues (2005–2007)[link]

The Milwaukee Brewers drafted Braun in the first round (fifth overall) in the 2005 major league draft as a third baseman, and he signed for $2.45 million.^[10]

Assigned to the Helena Brewers in the Advanced Rookie Pioneer League in 2005, Braun batted .341/.383/.585 in 10 games. He was then promoted to the West Virginia Power in the Class A South Atlantic League, where he hit .355/.396/.645, and was rated the fifth-best prospect in the league.^[11] His most memorable moment there was when he hit a walk-off grand slam to lead the Power into the playoffs.^[12] Following the 2005 season he was rated by Baseball America as the Brewers' Best Minor League Hitter for Average, the fifth-best prospect in the South Atlantic League, and the third-best prospect in the Brewers organization.

Braun began 2006 playing for the A-Advanced Brevard County Manatees. He earned a spot in the Florida State League All-Star game, and played in the All-Star Futures Game. He was rated the top third base prospect in the FSL, and Baseball America rated him the best batting prospect in the league. On June 21, Braun was promoted to the Class AA Huntsville Stars (Alabama) of the Southern League. In July he was voted the Brewers' Organizational Player of the Month, and at the end of the season he was voted the sixth-best prospect in the Southern League.^[13] Collectively between Class A and Class AA, Braun finished with a .289 average, 22 home runs, 77 RBIs, and 26 stolen bases. He received the 2006 Robin Yount Performance Award as the Milwaukee Brewers Minor League Player of the Year.^[14]

Later in 2006, in the Arizona Fall League he hit .326/.396/.641 in 92 at bats for the Scottsdale Scorpions.^[15] He led the AFL with 16 extra-base hits, tied for tops with 9 doubles, ranked second in slugging percentage and HR/AB ratio (1/15), tied for second in home runs (6), and tied for third in RBIs (25). He was rated one of the top three prospects in the league, and was voted to the AFL All-Prospects Team.^[15][16]

Baseball America rated Braun the Brewers' # 2 prospect for 2007.^[13] He began the year with the Nashville Sounds of the AAA Pacific Coast League. Before being called up to the majors in late May, in 113 at bats he led the PCL with a .726 slugging percentage while batting .354 (6th), with 10 home runs (T-2nd) and a .426 on base percentage (5th).^[17]

Major leagues (2007–Today)[link]

2007: Rookie of the Year[link]

The Brewers brought Braun to spring training in 2007.^[15] Their regular third baseman Corey Koskie was suffering from post-concussion syndrome, and missed the entire year.^[18] In 11 spring training games, Braun tied for 10th in the majors in home runs (5), and second in RBIs (15).^[19][20]

In 2007, Braun had what some sportswriters called one of the most dominant rookie seasons in baseball history.^[21] Called up on May 24 by the Brewers, he hit his first major league home run two nights later.^{[22][23][24][25]} Braun was voted the National League (NL) Rookie of the Month for June, ranking first in RBIs (21) and tied for first in home runs (6) among NL rookies that month. He also recorded a .716 slugging percentage and a .435 OBP.^[26] In July, Braun became the fastest in Brewer history to hit 10 major league home runs, doing so in his 38th game.^[27] He hit his 15th home run in the 50th game of his career, and his 20th in his 64th game, making him the fastest to those milestones since Albert Pujols in 2001. He was also the fastest to 20 homers in Brewers history.^[28][29] At month's end, he received his second consecutive NL Rookie of the Month Award, as well as his first NL Player of the Month Award (making him the first player to won both awards in the same month). He hit a league-leading 11 home runs, with 25 RBIs, while batting .345.^[30]

In mid-August, Yost moved Braun from third in the batting order to cleanup, switching him with Prince Fielder. The move was expected to allow Braun to steal more, as batting before Fielder was not conducive to him risking being thrown out on steal attempts. Additionally, successfully stealing a base would hypothetically allow opponents to intentionally walk Fielder and avoid pitching to him.^[31] At the end of the month, however, Yost reverted to his previous batting order.^[32] On August 26, Braun hit his 25th home run in his 82nd game, quicker than any major leaguer since Mark McGwire in 1987.^[33][34]

On September 9, the Brewers became the third team in major league history to start a game with three straight home runs, as Rickie Weeks, J. J. Hardy, and Braun homered in consecutive at bats. Braun said, "That was pretty cool. I was never part of something like that before."^[35] Braun's home run in that game also broke the Brewers rookie record for home runs (28).^[36] Braun hit his 30th homer in his 94th game, a pace no player had set to start a career since McGwire hit 30 in 84 games during 1986 and 1987.^[37]

Braun finished with an NL-leading .634 slugging percentage, a mark that set new all-time rookie and Brewers records.^[38][39] He was fifth in the league in at bats per home run (13.3) and OPS (1.004), tied for fifth in home runs (34), and eighth in batting average (.324) among hitters with at least 490 plate appearances.^[40] He led the Brewers in batting average and slugging percentage, and was second behind Fielder in home runs, runs (91), and RBIs (97), tied for second in triples (6), and third in OBP (.370) and steals (15), despite not having played in the first 48 games of the season.^[41] Braun obliterated the club rookie records of 28 home runs and 81 RBIs, set by Fielder in 2006.^[42]

Braun had considerable success against left-handed pitchers. He had the best batting average (.450), OBP (.516), and slugging percentage (.964) of any major league hitter with at least 125 plate appearances against lefties, and was tied for second in the majors in home runs (15).^[44][45] Braun credits his father with his success against lefties. "My dad is left-handed, so growing up, the majority of time, I took batting practice off of him."^[46]

Braun collected several awards at season's end. He won the 2007 NL Rookie of the Year Award in a vote by 32 members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He beat out Troy Tulowitzki by 2 points in the closest NL vote since the system was revised in 1980.^[47] Of all prior NL Rookies of the Year, only Pujols and Willie McCovey hit for higher batting averages in their rookie year.^[48] Braun was voted the 2007 NL Sporting News Rookie of the Year by 488 major league players and 30 managers.^[49][50] Braun also received the 2007 Players Choice NL Most Outstanding Rookie in a vote by his fellow major league players.^[51] "When your peers recognize you with an award, that's great," he said. "Those are the guys out there on the field with you, competing against you. Their opinion counts the most, for a player."^[52] In voting for the NL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, Braun received two 10th-place votes and finished 24th overall.^[53]

2008: All Star and Silver Slugger[link]

Contract

In March 2008, the Brewers renewed Braun's contract for $455,000, a $75,000 increase.^[54]

Braun then signed an 8-year, $45–$51 million contract extension (the total depending on his "Super 2" service-time ranking after the 2009 season) on May 15, 2008.^[55] The contract is through the year 2015. The deal included Braun's $455,000 salary for 2008, and a $2.3 million bonus in 2008. It could increase to $51 million through incentives. Braun also has a no-trade clause for the first four years, and then a limited no-trade clause allowing him to block deals to 12 teams from 2012 to 2013, and 6 teams from 2014 to 2015. The contract will keep Braun locked up through his age-31 season.^[56]

It was the largest contract in Brewers' history, surpassing Jeff Suppan's. It was also the largest contract in baseball history given to a player with less than three years' experience.^[57] Braun's agent, Nez Balelo, crunched enough numbers to show him what he potentially could have made over the life of this contract if he had chosen not to sign it. "But the question I ultimately asked myself was, `What can't I buy with that amount of money?"' Braun said.^[58]

Regular season and postseason

Braun in 2008

Braun drove in 134 runs in his first 162 games in the majors, more RBIs than any active player.^[59][60] He reached the 150-RBI milestone faster than any major leaguer since Boston's Walt Dropo needed only 155 games, in 1949–51. On June 17, 2008, he drove in his 152nd career RBI, in his 182nd game.^[61]

Braun was named the NL's Player of the Month, after batting .366 in July (6th in the NL) with 9 home runs (3rd), and 23 RBIs (7th). He also led the league with 76 total bases and 18 extra base hits, and was among NL leaders with 37 hits (2nd), 3 triples (2nd), and a 1.163 OPS (3rd). He had back-to-back 4-hit games, just the 5th player in team history to accomplish that feat.^[62] "It's a huge honor," Braun said. "The way I look at it, you're the MVP of the National League for that month. It's definitely a big accomplishment.^[63]

As of August 8, Braun's major league career start was one of the best ever. In 227 games to start a career, he was first with 558 total bases and 133 extra base hits, second with 64 home runs, and tied for second with 181 RBIs.^[64]

On August 9, Braun strained the intercostal muscles around his oblique ribcage. That led to him missing a number of games, and shortening his swing for a few weeks.^[65][66] After returning, on September 25 he hit his first grand slam in "grand" fashion. With the bases loaded, he delivered a 2-out, 2–2 pitch from the Pirates' Jesse Chavez into the left field bleachers of Miller Park in the bottom of the 10th inning, winning the game 5–1, and keeping the Brewers' 2008 post-season hopes alive. Three days later, Braun helped put the Brewers into the post-season for the first time since 1982, by hitting a go-ahead 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th against the Chicago Cubs. The homer was the difference in the game, which gave the Brewers a one-game lead over the New York Mets for the NL wild card.

Braun was a starting outfielder for the NL in the 2008 All Star Game. He finished first in fan voting among NL outfielders, and second among all NL players, with 3,835,840 votes, behind only Chase Utley of the Phillies (3,889,602).^[67] He also finished first in player voting.^[68] Braun was the first Brewers outfielder voted to start an All Star game.^[69] He was one of seven first-time starters in the game, and–along with Kosuke Fukudome and Josh Hamilton–one of only three who had not reached the major leagues until 2007 or 2008.^[67]

Braun came in third in the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium. "It's something you dream about," Braun said. "That's as big a stage as you can get on.... it's going to be a lot of fun."^[70] He had his friend and agent, Nez Balelo, a former minor league infielder, pitch to him.^[71][72] Braun's longest homer was estimated at 448 feet.^[73] He hit seven home runs in each of the first and second rounds, finishing with 14 (three behind finalist Justin Morneau, who hit five in the final round to win the Derby).^[74]

On June 3, Braun became the third-fastest major leaguer to reach 50 career home runs. He did so in 171 career games; the only players to reach that plateau sooner were Rudy York and Mark McGwire.^[75][76] On July 8, Braun hit his 56th home run in his 200th game, the third-highest total ever in a major leaguer's initial 200 games, behind McGwire (59) and York (59).^[77]

In early August, Braun hit his 30th home run, becoming just the second player in MLB history to hit 30 or more homers in each of his first two seasons, joining Pujols.^[66][78] Braun hit 71 home runs in his first two seasons, tying him with Pujols for fourth all-time. Joe DiMaggio tops the list with 75 home runs, followed by Ralph Kiner (74) and Eddie Mathews (72).^[64][79][80]

In 2008, in 151 games Braun hit 37 home runs (tied for 4th in the NL, behind Ryan Howard, Adam Dunn, and Carlos Delgado), with 106 RBIs (9th), and batted .285 with a .553 slugging percentage (5th).^[81] He also led the league with 83 extra base hits, and had 338 total bases (2nd in the NL), 7 triples (6th), 16.5 at-bats-per-home-run (10th), and 611 at bats (10th).^[82] 12.5% of his plate appearances were extra base hits (3rd in the NL; behind Ryan Ludwick and Pujols), he had 29 infield hits (7th), and he stole third base 6 times (9th).^[83][84]

Braun in 2008

Against starting pitchers, Braun hit .244 the first time he faced them in a game, .331 the second time, and .328 with a .672 slugging percentage the third time.^[85] Braun led the Brewers in batting average, slugging percentage, triples, home runs, RBIs, extra base hits, total bases, at-bats-per-home run, OPS (.888), runs (92), and hits (174).^[86]

Braun hit .313 in October against the Phillies in his first post-season series, which the Brewers lost 3–1.

Season awards

Braun was voted to the 2008 NL Sporting News All Star Team, by a panel of 41 major league general managers and assistant general managers.^[87] He also won the 2008 NL Outfielder Silver Slugger Award, in a vote by major league coaches and managers who select the top offensive performer at each position in both leagues. The award, sponsored by Louisville Slugger, is based on a combination of statistics, including batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage, as well as the coaches' and managers' general impressions of a player's overall offensive value.^[88] In voting for the 2008 NL MVP award, Braun was third (with 139 points), behind Pujols and Ryan Howard.^[89]

2009: All Star, Silver Slugger, and Team USA[link]

In 2009, Braun was named to Sporting News' list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball, ranking No. 32. A panel of 100 baseball people, many of them members of the Hall of Fame and winners of major baseball awards, were polled to arrive at the list.^[90]

World Baseball Classic

Braun was invited to play for Team USA in 2009 in the second World Baseball Classic. "I'm really excited to get to represent my country," he said. "It's an honor just to get invited for the event."^[91] He batted .381 as the team's starting left fielder, helping it reach the semi-finals.^[92][93]

Regular season

Braun was named National League Player of the Week for May 4–10, after leading the NL with 12 RBIs for the week while hitting .458/.567/.958 with 3 home runs. He hit the second grand slam of his career and recorded a career-high six RBIs on May 6, and on May 9 he reached base in all five of his plate appearances.^[95]

Braun led all NL outfielders in fan voting for the All Star Game for the second year in a row, with 4.1 million votes, ahead of Raúl Ibáñez and Carlos Beltrán.^[96] He was third among all NL vote-getters, trailing Pujols and Chase Utley.^[97] He was the first Brewer to be voted in as a starter in consecutive years since Robin Yount (in 1982 and 1983), and the third Brewer position player voted to start twice, along with Yount and Paul Molitor (1980 and 1988).^[98][99] Braun started in right field, the first time he had ever played the position, and batted cleanup, going 0–2.^[100]

Braun was second all-time, with 79 home runs over his first two calendar years in the major leagues, to Phillies Hall of Famer Chuck Klein (83); ahead of third-place Joe DiMaggio and Mark McGwire (77).^[101] If Braun continues to hit home runs at the rate he had hit them through July 1, 2009, he will reach 600 home runs in his 15th major league season.^[102] In September, Braun became the second-fastest active player to hit 100 home runs (behind only Ryan Howard), as he hit his 100th homer in his 400th major league game.^[103] Later in the month, he became the second player in major league history (joining Pujols) to hit 30 or more home runs in each of his first three seasons.^[104] Braun's 103 home runs in his first three Major League seasons are sixth-most in baseball history, behind Pujols (114), Mark Teixeira (107), and three Hall of Famers—Kiner (114), Matthews (112), and Joe DiMaggio (107).^[105]

As in 2007, in 2009 Braun had even greater success against left-handed pitchers. Against them he had the second-best OBP (.475), slugging percentage (.723), and OPS (1.198), and third-best batting average (.395), of all NL hitters with at least 125 plate appearances.^[106]

He finished the season with an NL-leading 203 hits, becoming the first Brewer to lead his league in hits since Molitor topped the AL in 1991.^[107] Braun became the fourth Brewer in team history to collect 200 or more hits in a season, and the first in 18 years. He joined Cecil Cooper, Molitor, and Yount.^[108] His .320 batting average at the end of the season was the highest by a Brewer since Jeff Cirillo hit .326 in 1999.^[109]

In 2009, in addition to leading the NL in hits, Braun was 2nd in runs (113), 4th in RBIs (114), total bases (350), extra base hits (77), and hit by pitch (13), 7th in batting average (.320) and power-speed number (24.6), 8th in OPS (.937), 9th in slugging percentage (.551) and doubles (39), tied for 10th in triples (6), and tied for 11th in home runs (32).^[110] He was also 4th in the league in infield hits (25).^[111]

He became only the second Brewer ever to hit 30 home runs and steal 20 bases in the same season.^[112] Braun also became the eighth player in major league history with at least 100 runs, 100 RBIs, 200 hits, 30 homers, 20 stolen bases, and a .300 average in the same season.^[105]

Season awards Braun was voted to the NL Sporting News All Star Team in 2009, making it for the second year in a row. He received votes from all 14 voting NL team executives (as did Pujols and Utley; Mauer was named on all AL ballots).^[113] Braun was awarded the 2009 NL Outfielder Silver Slugger Award, winning it for the second year in a row.^[105] He became the first Brewer since Molitor, more than two decades prior, to win a Silver Slugger Award in consecutive years. Cecil Cooper is the only other Brewer to have done it.^[105]

2010: All Star and Silver Slugger[link]

Braun was named to Sporting News' 2010 list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball, ranking No. 22.^[114]

He was elected a starting NL All Star outfielder for the third year in a row, in 2010.^[115] Braun led all major league outfielders in All Star votes for the third straight year, with 2,972,525, despite Milwaukee being the smallest media market in the majors.^[115][116] As in 2009, he received more votes than any NL players other than Pujols and Utley.^[117] He became the first Brewer to be a three-time All Star starter, passing Yount and Molitor.^[115]

Braun was named NL Player of the Week for August 1–8, after leading the majors with a .538 batting average, 14 hits, and 8 runs scored, and notching a career-best 5-hit performance in one game.^[118][119]

For the season, Braun was 2nd in the NL in hits (188) and doubles (45), 5th in total bases (310), 6th in runs (101), 7th in RBIs (103) and extra base hits (71), and 9th in batting average (.304).^[120]

Braun hit the 8th-most home runs by any major leaguer through his first four seasons (128).^[121] He also became the fifth player in major league history to hit at least 125 homers with a .300 average over his first four seasons, joining Joe DiMaggio, Chuck Klein, Pujols, and Ted Williams.^[122] His 94 home runs in 2008–10 were the most by any right-handed outfielder.^[123]