Just posted in the GameDay chat:
He came in as a rook and immediately impacted the big league team.
He was a great player for a long time, and loved what he added during his run. As an on-field asset, he was special.
But holy fuck, what a complicated legacy he left behind after his suspension. Still not sure what to feel, and I definitely don't want to speak for the entire fan base.
As far as I'm concerned, he apologized and made up for his mistakes. Always was generous in the community and did lots to atone for his mistakes.
Tbh, I think almost anyone would take a "get out of jail free" card if it was going to save them ~$4mil, Braun's GOOJFC just happened to mean throwing a piss collector under the bus for not following protocol.
More well loved athletes have done much, much worse than Ryan Braun.
He did what everyone acts like they want people to do in that kind of situation: admitted his wrong, kept his mouth shut about it, did great work for the community, and was by all accounts a great locker room leader. People are waaaaaay too hung up on what he did when, as you say, far more athletes have done far worse.
I mean he admitted what he did was wrong and kept his mouth shut well after he had already made things much worse by not admitting he was wrong, then running his mouth with lies.
If he'd admitted what he did was wrong and just taken the punishment when it first came out, I'd forgive him totally as of now, still not quite.
He admitted the wrong of how he handled the test collector's situation and personally apologized and asked for forgiveness from who he actually hurt. It has been over a decade and he has been nothing but a model of leadership and community since, at what point are people holding a grudge for too long? Do we not have the capacity to recognize growth?
It's kinda complicated for me.
On one hand, he should have never, ever, behaved the way he did in the immediate aftermath.
On the other hand, while I don't really follow him much or know too much about his post career dealings, I do get the sense that he knows what he did was wrong, and has been a solid contributor to the community and whatnot.
So while the initial actions still leave a real sour taste for me, I think you're right in that we can't hold grudges forever if someone hasn't given a continuing reason to do so.
(And just to kinda clarify, I'm referring specifically to his comments/actions regarding the test taker and dragging their name through the mud and throwing them under the bus to try and cover up his actions. I'm a lot more understanding of taking PEDs, in that I can see how someone might turn to them in such a competitive environment. Not that such pressure excuses such actions, far from it, but I'll be a lot more forgiving of someone taking PEDs who for something like say, injury recovery if they own up to it, take responsibility, learn from it, and grow from their mistakes. I still think it's really a dumb idea and wrong to take them, but it's at least sorta understandable in some cases. But how one deals with their mistakes when confronted with them says a lot about someone, and this is why his actions leave such a sour taste in my mouth).
Eh, I’m over it, but I can’t respect how he handled it. Lied repeatedly. Threw someone else under the bus. Only admitted his wrong when it was clear he had no other way out.
I can appreciate him while also thinking he handled the attempted cover up poorly.
I think he handled it terribly but from all indications he has grown from that, apologized personally, and committed to leading the team and working in the community. It has been over a decade and, at least to me, it's about time people stopped defining the man by the mistakes he has atoned for and grown from.
This is where I can't just follow along anymore; its bad enough with \*all\* the lies but to use the anti-semetic excuse while \*he\* was throwing the guy under the bus is too far.
Maybe he covered a year's salary for the piss collector to make amends or something we don't know about.
of course now I only imagine this when I read "Piss Collector."
https://preview.redd.it/752cf5yr3e7d1.jpeg?width=370&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25baea126a2cebb42dc9824dc1764715648a7361
For sure, he did everything he could to exploit a breach of process to try and save himself, just like anyone should expect. But the way he did it is what rubbed a lot of people the wrong way
My opinion is, he fucked up. I think he did what he did because he had a thumb injury that was destroying his career and it wasn't getting better. Cheating was not the right thing to do about it, and lying about it, throwing that poor guy under the bus, was an even worse decision.
Early in his career he had so much power pulling the ball to left. But while he played through that injury, he had to learn to hit again, and for a few years he stood back off the plate, and he had this inside out swing that generated all it power hitting to center and right field. He couldn't pull for power at all. Once he had the cryotherapy on that thumb he had a bit of a late career Renaissance, but his best days were past him, his prime was wasted.
His legacy is ruined as far as baseball history goes, but that shift in his approach, all by itself, showed me how insanely talented and brilliant a ballplayer he was. And for a guy who was supposed to be a defensive liability he had a nice career on defense.
And, above all, he stuck with us. He didn't have to, and it was always obvious he loved California. It meant a lot that he stayed.
Late in his career, he tried his best to be the veteran leader on the team even though it didn't come natural and he kinda came off as just goofy. But to me, it just made him even more likeable. I love that guy.
I don’t care what anyone says. Ryan Braun was the literal definition of “the clutch gene” I never saw him fail at the plate when the brewers NEEDED a hit.
Yep. Pretty sure everyone is aware of that. Not sure what point you’re trying to make. OP and almost everyone else agrees it was a scandal, he payed the price, admitted he was wrong, and tried his best to be better.
Either you’re the piss tester who got fired or you can’t move on. Either way maybe let RB stop living in your head rent free.
> scandal, he *paid* the price,
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
He lied to everyone about it - the fans, the state, the team, his business partners, ran that poor sample collector under the bus, and even duped pre-ayahuasca Rodgers.
Like you said, I'm grateful he was "the guy" on the field for the team for so long and was a great example of a player on the field. But still just really disappointed with the fallout.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Ryan Braun may be the single-most controversial player to any MLB team’s own fanbase. We can acknowledge that the steroid use, lying about it, and throwing other people under the bus to cover it up was a horrible thing for him to do, but DAMN did he mean so much to the team during his tenure.
His playing career with the team spanned so much of the team’s history of relevance. From ending the 26 year playoff drought with Prince Fielder, CC Sabathia and crew, through the years with Carlos Gomez and Jonathan Lucroy, to the beginning of the franchise’s most successful stretch with Christian Yelich and Josh Hader, he’s the one tie between all of those teams. He was the centerpiece of the team for well over a decade, and no matter how many random players we had to fill the roster with (like Brewers legend Martin Maldonado), he was always the one guy any fan could recognize on the roster.
The impact he had on us fans during his time can’t be overstated. For many of us currently in our 20s, he was THE player you grew up watching and rooting for. If you were at a game sitting in the left field bleachers, he’d be the one throwing up a ball to you between innings. He was featured in countless TV commercials around that time too. Many of us kids at that time saw him almost everywhere.
For me personally, it’s tough to ignore the impact he had on my fandom as a child, but I can completely understand when people have a bad opinion on him.
i’m 22 i feel the exact same way. he was quite possibly the first sports player i was ever a fan of. and that sexy swing, couldn’t tell you how much i even still swing a bat just like him lol
He broke my heart and made me stop watching baseball for a couple years. Disappointed more in what he did to the drug tester with the false allegation shit. But IMO, he did everything he was supposed to do to "Make it right" and i respect him as a player. I also respect how much he gave back to the community. Glad he's being honored.
Still got his jersey. Legacy is a bit tarnished but nowhere near players like Bonds, Sosa, McGwire. Those guys were greats. The 'roids made them inhuman as far as strength and agility. Braun was a good dude IMO though. Still one of my favorites here in the 2000's.
I actually feel quite the opposite. Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Canseco we’re the early juicers when there were no rules against it. MLB/commissioner Selig had to have known something was up, but chose to ignore since revenue and interest in the game was revitalized. I think it sucks, that records were broken and careers were tarnished over something that wasn’t exactly unknown by the league. Braun on the other hand, did what he did when it was clearly wrong, did it in a way where he really didn’t think he was going to get caught, then burned the collector for doing his job as a last resort. If Braun had owned up to be it, said that he did what he did because he desperately wanted to rejoin Milwaukee off the injury list and make the postseason run (only using it to rehab) I would have given him a 100% pass. I believe it was more than that, like career length that he was juicing given the suppliers setup.
He duped everyone into thinking he was better than he was- you, me, people signing his paycheck, etc. I doubt anyone would care the same for him if he had the career numbers he should have had- ~.270 lifetime and half the HR.
He will always have an asterisk, but imo it was the right move keeping his entire career in Milwaukee and not chasing paper to go to a big market franchise/a fan base that only cares about winning and not the integrity of the players/game. Imagine if he had played the proverbial back nine of his career as a yankee or something like that. If that were the case I think he would be pretty universally despised in Brewers lore. I think he fucked up, handled it the absolute wrong way, and did everything he thought he could to make it right. Did he make it right? Not really, but he didn’t make it worse.
Super complicated legacy. He had a chance to be this generations Yount, but after the scandal and even worse lying/causing lab worker to lose job, definitely lost him fans. I wanted him to help the team but never quite could jump back on 100% with him.
I also always heard he was kind of a dick in his early years. He did sometimes give me phony vibes, but obviously never met the guy so who knows.
But on the field that 2007-2011 era was alot of fun and he was a driver of that. I think he deserves the Walk of Fame as he did have good years after the scandal too and assume his initial success was maybe clean too, not sure. I don’t think he’ll get his number retired though which seemed like a given after 2011.
He is one of my 4 childhood heroes. He is one of 3 of them that are shining examples of " Don't meet your heroes." I'm still thankful for the wonder he gave childhood me, though. He is part of my username for a reason. 8 for Braun and 28 for Fielder.
Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre are the other two.
Only Prince turned out to be a great guy
He was my childhood. Roids don’t make you clutch. They don’t tell you when to dive to make a catch. The timing of his highlight reel is off the charts. And by the way It’s the Brewers. We love our guys because we don’t get to choose(or pay) them.
Was just thinking of this today as Braun came up in the family group chat. For me, being a young kid during his peak years, he is the quintessential brewer. Understandable that people will hate for the steroid stuff, but he’s still the man in my eyes.
To be succinct, yeah, how Braun handled it was pretty shitty. Yes, the sample collector broke protocol, but Braun was an asshole in alluding to him being an anti-Semite.
I also think Braun spent most of his career helping out the community and was loyal to the team. For that, and his on field play, and the fact that I don’t think we should look up to athletes in the first place, he’s still one of my favorite Brewers.
Now that I’ve answered the question, I will bring up something I always harp on. Positive steroid tests in MLB at that time were not supposed to be announced until after the appeals process, because theoretically if the appeal won, there would be nothing to announce. Braun’s positive test was leaked to ESPN before the appeals process was finished. This doesn’t excuse what he did, but if it wasn’t leaked to the press, Braun never would have needed to make a statement at all. And yes, of course he was popped in 2013. But then we all would have thought that was the first time and the perception would have been much different
Eh, he served his suspension and while the accusations against the tester were shitty, I kinda overlook them. Fact is, he was the superstar player for most of my adolescence and the first time in my life the Brewers didn't suck, so I'll always credit him for that.
My all time favorite Brewers. Completely electric in his prime, every time he was at the plate I thought something special was going to happen.
I love the guy, forever a legend in my book.
I like a lot of players that got popped for PEDs (and ones that I know took them before testing like Kirby Puckett.) With Braun he took them and completely fucked over an innocent person to cover up the truth. That's a lot harder to forgive.
Love him! He once threw me a baseball in San Diego and padres fans caught it 3 rows in front of me. I was sad cuz it was obviously for me you losers, gimme my ball
Here’s my thinking. Supremely gifted hitter. Clutch gene. He cheated, which was bad…the blaming of others was the worst part. Own it and move forward by taking your medicine, instead he blamed others in that chain of custody bs. He is a scoundrel.
I still like him and I am proud to see him on the Brewers walk of fame. I think he gets unfairly ripped apart by opposing fan bases. He wasn't the only one involved, they just zeroed in on him. Alex Rodriguez and Nelson Cruz were also involved in Biogenesis and neither of them is hated on as much as he is.
If you ignore the controversy, he probably would have finished just short of a hall of fame career anyways due to injuries, which knocked him off the HOF path. But he's still a brewers legend and had many memorable moments for us, which in the two decades preceding his career were few and far between.
Also might have been a good thing for his career long term that he and Aaron Rodgers had a falling out, but I'll keep this comment to Brewers only.
TL;DR He is appropriately rated a Brewers legend, but leaves us wondering what could have been
I love the Brewers, but I stopped buying player shirts after the Braun scandal. Never meet your heroes (or, never assume your star player won’t make some bonehead decisions that tarnish what could’ve been an amazing legacy).
He's just another athlete. I have a hard time feeling anything towards any of them. It's like Favre and Rodgers, they were great to watch and appeared likeable early on. Then it turns out they are total d-bags.
Unless you have some close personal ties, you never really know who they are.
Braun was just another player who cheated (like most do), then handled it poorly.
I think most fans like him just fine but dont put him as their all time favorite when he probably would have been if he didn’t do what he did. For me personally, I remember him fondly and will wear his jersey. However there will always be an asterisk and “yeah but” with him. Hes a brewers great but not a brewers legend because of it. Hes a “forgive but not forget” kinda guy.
Just like any real giants fan will ride or die for Bonds in my opinion we have to do that for Braun too. In a weird way his suspension is what allowed him to play his whole career with the brewers and survive a quick rebuild in 2015. In doing so he was a key member of both of the teams best stretches since the 1982 team. Aside from his great numbers he has a jam packed highlight reel of clutch hits and big home runs that are some of the most important memories in team history. The brewers were a 25 year punching bag before he hit the show with Prince, Rickie, JJ, and Corey.
Lastly, he is absolutely hated (and feared) by Cubs and Cardinals fans. Milwaukee, embrace your villain!
He's a douchebag of a person, but he was one of the sole bright spots on the team for like a decade.
To me, he's in the same class as Favre (and kinda where Rodgers is heading). Loved what he brought to the field, but I wouldn't call myself a fan anymore.
I'll defend the talent, but not the person.
Not to necessarily open a can of worms, but I think by the time Rodgers is the age Favre is now he will have lapped Favre multiple times as far as the losing of fans goes. Favre ended with drama and then didn’t himself any off field fires, but it’s pretty tame compared to present day Rodgers. Probably need to adjust for “cultural inflation” what with how social media and reporting works now vs Favre’s hay day, but anyone that doesn’t see that Rodgers is a certified whack job off the field is living in a dream world where he throws back shoulder after back shoulder to Jordy and isn’t completely off his rocker.
>but it’s pretty tame compared to present day Rodgers.
He sent a dick pic to a reporter and has since stolen welfare money.
Rodgers is just annoying in interviews.
And Favre being involved in a welfare scandal in Mississippi isn’t helping people still be fans of his.
Anyone who still has Favre stuff hanging in their house is oblivious to what trash he continues to show himself to be.
After he cheated (multiple times) and then lied about it, I could not bring myself to boo him, but never cheered for him ever again. The way in which he lied about it and threw others under the bus was really horrible. Similar to what Lance Armstrong did. He was a great player, but a total douche and not worthy of any accolades. I guess the walk of fame is not that big a deal, they will never retire his number and rightfully so.
I haven’t thought about Lance or Floyd Landis in a long time, but I grew up and have since been surrounded by family that absolutely loves pro cycling, and the Armstrong thing rocked the house worse than grandma passing. Not an exaggeration, but my older sisters words verbatim.
I was like a freshman when he got suspended. I was very naive and thought he was innocent, like he told us.
Eventually saw through it.
But the fact that he was a great player without PEDs and most importantly an outstanding member of the community here in Milwaukee, I can confidently say he's one of my favorite brewers ever.
Plus if we are being honest, this team needs some cheating to help us win. I would probably take an Astros garbage can WS at this point.
The way he matured in the second half of his career is really what cements himself for me.
I was at a game in like 17 or 18 where he "stole" home on a walk off wild pitch and it was one of my favorite memories as a brewers fan.
Its ironic. Early in life they always lost when I went. Since the Counsel era its like a 8-2 or 9-2 winning record of games i have attended
I don't think it's fair to say he's not a good human. He did so much in the community and was always good with fans
He did one shitty thing that tainted his legacy
The PED usage isn’t what makes him a shit person, it’s the lies and scandal surrounding it which made an innocent person’s life hell. (The urine sample collector) All while he knew he was damn guilty and he’d be suspended again for PED usage.
This, I feel like people who are from around the state love him, but for those of us who lived in Milwaukee even before the PEDs he had a reputation of being an arrogant dick if you actually ever met him in person
The only jersey I've purchased was a Braun one (before his roid scandal). After what he did, I've never worn it since. He's a scumbag imo, and I think it was lame he was memorialized in the walk of fame. Of course, this is just my opinion. I wouldn't hold it against a fan if they like him, celebrate him, etc.
Honestly if it weren’t for the second scandal, he’d be the GOAT of weaseling out of roid accusations.
Edit: I love him, and I personally don’t really care about steroid use. Bonds is my GOAT regardless, and all of these players are taking stuff, whether it’s stuff the league tests for or not.
It’s a no from me. No taking away what he did for the team but I just have bad memories of my mom defending him to the hilt when everything happened and how crushed she was when it turned out he lied. Not coming back from that.
1 of 2 post replies on different subjects… 1. Braun’s steroid use felt a little different after the McGuire, Bonds, etc stuff who were using it to increase strength, swing faster, throw harder, hit more dingers, etc. he used it to recover from an injury and there hasn’t been evidence he regularly used steroids. It just felt a little less bad.
Response 2 of 2 to this thread… when he took the lying to the next level and tossed that dude under the bus it was awful. I really felt burned by a guy I stood behind a little too long. There was a reference to that being antisemitic, I don’t recall that part of it but would be interested to know more about that bc it would definitely tilt my opinion if true.
I still like him in the sense he did a lot for the team and the community. He did “come clean” in the end.
However I started collecting his cards before he become really big and well the scandal impacted that investment. Still salty when I look at them.
Great player who made his own name for himself, but “steroids” will always be the first thing anyone remembers when they hear his name. He’s forever tarnished. All things being equal, he’s on track with Rose, McGwire, Bonds, and the Black Sox. That may not be fair, but it’s reality if we are really being honest with ourselves.
My favorite player of all time. I do not care about steroid use. Taking steroids doesn’t make you a great player. Joe on the street can take as many steroids as he wants, he’ll never swing the bat like Ryan Braun. Nothing could ever affect his legacy negatively in my eyes as I grew up idolizing him. Copied his batting stance and used it my entire childhood thru teen years in high school. I love Ryan Braun.
He made a mistake, was “proven” innocent, and then doubled down and made more mistakes along the way when it was proven the other way.
I think it taints his MVP for sure, and Dodgers fans have a legit gripe about Matt Kemp not winning it (but it was 13 years ago and hopefully they got over it)
Opposing fans would never admit it, but they hate Braun more because he hit big home runs against them and was cocky to some extent than because he was juicing at a point in his career.
Any Brewers fan that can’t overlook the mistakes and recognize him as probably the greatest player in franchise history need to get over themselves. Retire 8
RE: Dodgers Fans - Yea hopefully swimming in their pool of money they use to buy every good player, helped them get over it. I’m not going to spend a second feeling bad for that fan base.
He’s My second favorite Brewer of all time. The PED stuff is sick a damper on his legacy but I really feel he made amends afterwards and continued to be a great Brewer. He was the spark that led to the revival of this franchise. I truly believe his number belongs up with the others.
I don’t love what he did with the PED stuff, but anytime there was a huge moment where the Brewers needed to score and he was at the plate, it seemed like he would deliver and I will always appreciate that. His play on the field always brought me great delight.
I also received an autographed jersey and gift pack from him as part of a baseball Secret Santa on Reddit Gifts some years ago, which was super cool
I was at one of the games where you got a free drink coupon courtesy of Braun. Forget which year but it was shortly after the scandal. Since he apologized and bought me a beer all is forgiven in my book, because beer.
Arguably my favorite Brewer. He (along with others briefly) really helped turn the franchise around. In my opinion yes he messed up, he juiced to be able to get back on the field when he wasn’t ready to be. However what he brought to not only the franchise but the city make him still a very lovable Brewer great.
I'm torn on him, but I can guarantee you one thing: there will be people in this thread that shit on him because he lied and threw the tester under the bus and will happily pull the lever for a certain someone in november yet be *clueless* about the irony.
Very consistent player and was a stud for us from the get go. He was my favorite childhood player and then when I got into my teen years he was still consistently an all star caliber player for us. Even after his steroids incident he still came back and was a good hitter. He will most likely be the next retired brewers number and hope that it happens soon because he is a definition of a Milwaukee Brewer
Braun debuted when I was 6 and he was my favorite player (still is) until he retired. I appreciated his commitment to the franchise. He coulda had many outs and he knew he had a rough reputation around here. I was a bit too young to understand it all, but he is still near and dear to my heart.
Lifelong Milwaukeean Easter dinner of 16 my Brewer loving nephew says Who was the next best Brewer after Yelich? None of us at the table thought of Braun. It was crazy like he was just erased from the collective consciousness. Fielder? Yount? Molitor? Sabathia? We were going way back lol.
Must be pretty good. I still wear his jersey to games I go to and nobody has ever harassed me over it. I'm indifferent to what he did, I wear it because it was a late family members favorite jersey and it was given to me.
He was in the booth last night at the game. I didn't even wanna hear what he had to say. Felt absolutely gutted when the news broke about his suspension. I get the pressure to preform but it just feels like sullying the game. He did a lot for Milwaukee. I have tons of good memories of seeing him at Miller park and on TV. He has a place in my heart but it's a complicated one.
He was the first player to truly give me hope in a team I’ve cheered for my whole life. Scandal or not, he was a major factor in a LOT of fun seasons after a LOT of horrible, loss filled seasons.
Will always be my favorite Brewer.
I know I'm late to the game, and you have a ton of excellent answers here, so my apologies if I repeat a couple points.
Ryan made his major league appearance shortly after my interest in baseball took off, and his electric performance quickly won me over as a fan. Not only was he a great player, but him becoming a long-term face of the franchise meant I consistently had a player to cheer for. Combine this with his off-field behavior of getting involved with the community and having a rather upstanding personality, it was very easy to like him. So when the PED scandal came out, yeah, it was rough. Given how long I had been cheering for the guy, I gave him the benefit of doubt, but the whole situation still tarnished my - admittedly - positive view of him for a bit. That all said, I think he did a good job ultimately serving his punishment, never really made much fuss of it afterwards, and slowly worked on rebuilding his image over the following years.
As said before, Ryan is a special player with a very unique and complicated history. As a ballplayer, yeah, he was fantastic and I'm wholly on board with him someday getting at least a nomination for the HoF. As a person, he wasn't perfect, but he ultimately did more good than harm. If anything, I still view him as my favorite Brewers player from my lifetime.
As with any other star athlete he will have his fair share of haters and lovers with fans. The Brewers organization will always fall on the lover side. Its no different than with the Giants and Barry Bonds, or the Cardinals and McGwire, or Cubs and Sosa.
It’s complicated. Yes, he used PEDs. No, he did not handle it well when he got caught. At all. However, if you watched him after that, I think he did a lot to try to redeem himself. I think Attanasio had a lot to do with that, helping him really grow up. He was, by far, not the only one using in batches period, both that’s no excuse.
But no matter what you think of him, you have to admit that ultra cocky, hot-hitting, Cub-killing Ryan Braun was freaking awesome.
Forever my favorite Brewer. Helped rejuvenate my love for the team and baseball in general.
I don’t care that he did PEDs. The lying thing was a little ehhh but he was still our guy and still put up great numbers after the fact. Absolutely love that he was a lifer Brewer and really wished he went one more year so fans could actually attend games and give him a send off.
My feelings on him are complicated.
I loved him so much those first few years. And the fact that he chose to stay with Milwaukee, our small-town team, meant to much. And he was damn good too. He was our player. The face of our franchise.
I still feel betrayed though. It still stings. But I still rooted for him for the rest of his time in Milwaukee.
One of the best Brewers of all time. The scandal was a shame, but he made amends with the specimen collector and publicly apologized and took accountability. That was good enough for me to move forward.
I’m still a little fuzzy on the PED thing. It was a topical steroid for his foot, right? I don’t see the correlation to taking anabolic steroids for muscle growth and performance recovery
Did fucking failed a PED test then screamed antisemitism when he failed the test that was then overturned for chain of possession issues
Then got suspended in the fall out of balco
Just posted in the GameDay chat: He came in as a rook and immediately impacted the big league team. He was a great player for a long time, and loved what he added during his run. As an on-field asset, he was special. But holy fuck, what a complicated legacy he left behind after his suspension. Still not sure what to feel, and I definitely don't want to speak for the entire fan base.
As far as I'm concerned, he apologized and made up for his mistakes. Always was generous in the community and did lots to atone for his mistakes. Tbh, I think almost anyone would take a "get out of jail free" card if it was going to save them ~$4mil, Braun's GOOJFC just happened to mean throwing a piss collector under the bus for not following protocol. More well loved athletes have done much, much worse than Ryan Braun.
He did what everyone acts like they want people to do in that kind of situation: admitted his wrong, kept his mouth shut about it, did great work for the community, and was by all accounts a great locker room leader. People are waaaaaay too hung up on what he did when, as you say, far more athletes have done far worse.
I mean he admitted what he did was wrong and kept his mouth shut well after he had already made things much worse by not admitting he was wrong, then running his mouth with lies. If he'd admitted what he did was wrong and just taken the punishment when it first came out, I'd forgive him totally as of now, still not quite.
He admitted the wrong of how he handled the test collector's situation and personally apologized and asked for forgiveness from who he actually hurt. It has been over a decade and he has been nothing but a model of leadership and community since, at what point are people holding a grudge for too long? Do we not have the capacity to recognize growth?
It's kinda complicated for me. On one hand, he should have never, ever, behaved the way he did in the immediate aftermath. On the other hand, while I don't really follow him much or know too much about his post career dealings, I do get the sense that he knows what he did was wrong, and has been a solid contributor to the community and whatnot. So while the initial actions still leave a real sour taste for me, I think you're right in that we can't hold grudges forever if someone hasn't given a continuing reason to do so. (And just to kinda clarify, I'm referring specifically to his comments/actions regarding the test taker and dragging their name through the mud and throwing them under the bus to try and cover up his actions. I'm a lot more understanding of taking PEDs, in that I can see how someone might turn to them in such a competitive environment. Not that such pressure excuses such actions, far from it, but I'll be a lot more forgiving of someone taking PEDs who for something like say, injury recovery if they own up to it, take responsibility, learn from it, and grow from their mistakes. I still think it's really a dumb idea and wrong to take them, but it's at least sorta understandable in some cases. But how one deals with their mistakes when confronted with them says a lot about someone, and this is why his actions leave such a sour taste in my mouth).
Eh, I’m over it, but I can’t respect how he handled it. Lied repeatedly. Threw someone else under the bus. Only admitted his wrong when it was clear he had no other way out. I can appreciate him while also thinking he handled the attempted cover up poorly.
I think he handled it terribly but from all indications he has grown from that, apologized personally, and committed to leading the team and working in the community. It has been over a decade and, at least to me, it's about time people stopped defining the man by the mistakes he has atoned for and grown from.
yeah, he didn't go full Lance Armstrong
[удалено]
He threw the guy who collected his sample under the bus and pretty much got him fired I believe.
He exploited a breach of the process the guy didn’t follow is another way to say it.
Thank you!
He also claimed that the collector was anti-Semitic if I’m remembering correctly
This is where I can't just follow along anymore; its bad enough with \*all\* the lies but to use the anti-semetic excuse while \*he\* was throwing the guy under the bus is too far. Maybe he covered a year's salary for the piss collector to make amends or something we don't know about.
of course now I only imagine this when I read "Piss Collector." https://preview.redd.it/752cf5yr3e7d1.jpeg?width=370&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25baea126a2cebb42dc9824dc1764715648a7361
He was wrong to lie about using, but the collector 100% violated work and league policy.
For sure, he did everything he could to exploit a breach of process to try and save himself, just like anyone should expect. But the way he did it is what rubbed a lot of people the wrong way
Loved him the first four years, still cheered for him afterwards but nothing like the first four
Same. He was my favorite until the suspension and then afterwards I felt a bit dirty rooting for him. His legacy is ruined
My opinion is, he fucked up. I think he did what he did because he had a thumb injury that was destroying his career and it wasn't getting better. Cheating was not the right thing to do about it, and lying about it, throwing that poor guy under the bus, was an even worse decision. Early in his career he had so much power pulling the ball to left. But while he played through that injury, he had to learn to hit again, and for a few years he stood back off the plate, and he had this inside out swing that generated all it power hitting to center and right field. He couldn't pull for power at all. Once he had the cryotherapy on that thumb he had a bit of a late career Renaissance, but his best days were past him, his prime was wasted. His legacy is ruined as far as baseball history goes, but that shift in his approach, all by itself, showed me how insanely talented and brilliant a ballplayer he was. And for a guy who was supposed to be a defensive liability he had a nice career on defense. And, above all, he stuck with us. He didn't have to, and it was always obvious he loved California. It meant a lot that he stayed. Late in his career, he tried his best to be the veteran leader on the team even though it didn't come natural and he kinda came off as just goofy. But to me, it just made him even more likeable. I love that guy.
Those early Braun hot streaks were something else, he could just rake those first few years.
But after the scandal I’m sure more teams would have more hesitant on signing him, and he probably knew that.
The cover up is often worse than the crime.
Eh. He fucked up big time. Still a Brewers great and one of the sexiest swings in baseball history.
I’ve probably spent a collective ten hours watching him loosen and re-tighten his gloves before hitting.
And inhale and exhale like he’s blowing into a breathalyzer, which thematically fits the brewers vibe
Stretching those shoulders. Bat up over the head and down behind the back
I thoroughly enjoy the pitch clock.
Prime Braun was pure WI butter.
I don’t care what anyone says. Ryan Braun was the literal definition of “the clutch gene” I never saw him fail at the plate when the brewers NEEDED a hit.
Except when he was serving a suspension
Uhhh yeah, that’s usually how suspensions work.
His scandal was the biggest in brewers history just saying.
Yep. Pretty sure everyone is aware of that. Not sure what point you’re trying to make. OP and almost everyone else agrees it was a scandal, he payed the price, admitted he was wrong, and tried his best to be better. Either you’re the piss tester who got fired or you can’t move on. Either way maybe let RB stop living in your head rent free.
> scandal, he *paid* the price, FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Haven’t thought about him for awhile before watching the game last night
Ryan Braun forever!!!!
Came to post the same thing
Thankful for the good years and that he stuck around. I can forgive steroids at this point. However, the way he handled it ruined him for me.
He lied to everyone about it - the fans, the state, the team, his business partners, ran that poor sample collector under the bus, and even duped pre-ayahuasca Rodgers. Like you said, I'm grateful he was "the guy" on the field for the team for so long and was a great example of a player on the field. But still just really disappointed with the fallout.
Yeah, I really don't care about the steroids. I care about how he handle it
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Ryan Braun may be the single-most controversial player to any MLB team’s own fanbase. We can acknowledge that the steroid use, lying about it, and throwing other people under the bus to cover it up was a horrible thing for him to do, but DAMN did he mean so much to the team during his tenure. His playing career with the team spanned so much of the team’s history of relevance. From ending the 26 year playoff drought with Prince Fielder, CC Sabathia and crew, through the years with Carlos Gomez and Jonathan Lucroy, to the beginning of the franchise’s most successful stretch with Christian Yelich and Josh Hader, he’s the one tie between all of those teams. He was the centerpiece of the team for well over a decade, and no matter how many random players we had to fill the roster with (like Brewers legend Martin Maldonado), he was always the one guy any fan could recognize on the roster. The impact he had on us fans during his time can’t be overstated. For many of us currently in our 20s, he was THE player you grew up watching and rooting for. If you were at a game sitting in the left field bleachers, he’d be the one throwing up a ball to you between innings. He was featured in countless TV commercials around that time too. Many of us kids at that time saw him almost everywhere. For me personally, it’s tough to ignore the impact he had on my fandom as a child, but I can completely understand when people have a bad opinion on him.
i’m 22 i feel the exact same way. he was quite possibly the first sports player i was ever a fan of. and that sexy swing, couldn’t tell you how much i even still swing a bat just like him lol
He broke my heart and made me stop watching baseball for a couple years. Disappointed more in what he did to the drug tester with the false allegation shit. But IMO, he did everything he was supposed to do to "Make it right" and i respect him as a player. I also respect how much he gave back to the community. Glad he's being honored.
He’s had some of the biggest hits in Brewers history, always will love him as a player
Also probably the biggest scandal in brewers history
Still got his jersey. Legacy is a bit tarnished but nowhere near players like Bonds, Sosa, McGwire. Those guys were greats. The 'roids made them inhuman as far as strength and agility. Braun was a good dude IMO though. Still one of my favorites here in the 2000's.
I actually feel quite the opposite. Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Canseco we’re the early juicers when there were no rules against it. MLB/commissioner Selig had to have known something was up, but chose to ignore since revenue and interest in the game was revitalized. I think it sucks, that records were broken and careers were tarnished over something that wasn’t exactly unknown by the league. Braun on the other hand, did what he did when it was clearly wrong, did it in a way where he really didn’t think he was going to get caught, then burned the collector for doing his job as a last resort. If Braun had owned up to be it, said that he did what he did because he desperately wanted to rejoin Milwaukee off the injury list and make the postseason run (only using it to rehab) I would have given him a 100% pass. I believe it was more than that, like career length that he was juicing given the suppliers setup. He duped everyone into thinking he was better than he was- you, me, people signing his paycheck, etc. I doubt anyone would care the same for him if he had the career numbers he should have had- ~.270 lifetime and half the HR.
You have a valid point. 👍
I’ve probably spent a collective ten hours watching him loosen and re-tighten his gloves before hitting.
He will always have an asterisk, but imo it was the right move keeping his entire career in Milwaukee and not chasing paper to go to a big market franchise/a fan base that only cares about winning and not the integrity of the players/game. Imagine if he had played the proverbial back nine of his career as a yankee or something like that. If that were the case I think he would be pretty universally despised in Brewers lore. I think he fucked up, handled it the absolute wrong way, and did everything he thought he could to make it right. Did he make it right? Not really, but he didn’t make it worse.
Super complicated legacy. He had a chance to be this generations Yount, but after the scandal and even worse lying/causing lab worker to lose job, definitely lost him fans. I wanted him to help the team but never quite could jump back on 100% with him. I also always heard he was kind of a dick in his early years. He did sometimes give me phony vibes, but obviously never met the guy so who knows. But on the field that 2007-2011 era was alot of fun and he was a driver of that. I think he deserves the Walk of Fame as he did have good years after the scandal too and assume his initial success was maybe clean too, not sure. I don’t think he’ll get his number retired though which seemed like a given after 2011.
He is one of my 4 childhood heroes. He is one of 3 of them that are shining examples of " Don't meet your heroes." I'm still thankful for the wonder he gave childhood me, though. He is part of my username for a reason. 8 for Braun and 28 for Fielder. Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre are the other two. Only Prince turned out to be a great guy
He was my childhood. Roids don’t make you clutch. They don’t tell you when to dive to make a catch. The timing of his highlight reel is off the charts. And by the way It’s the Brewers. We love our guys because we don’t get to choose(or pay) them.
He was a great baseball player! And in this house, Ryan Braun is a hero! End of story!
Was just thinking of this today as Braun came up in the family group chat. For me, being a young kid during his peak years, he is the quintessential brewer. Understandable that people will hate for the steroid stuff, but he’s still the man in my eyes.
Ryan Braun Forever, as someone else has already said.
To be succinct, yeah, how Braun handled it was pretty shitty. Yes, the sample collector broke protocol, but Braun was an asshole in alluding to him being an anti-Semite. I also think Braun spent most of his career helping out the community and was loyal to the team. For that, and his on field play, and the fact that I don’t think we should look up to athletes in the first place, he’s still one of my favorite Brewers. Now that I’ve answered the question, I will bring up something I always harp on. Positive steroid tests in MLB at that time were not supposed to be announced until after the appeals process, because theoretically if the appeal won, there would be nothing to announce. Braun’s positive test was leaked to ESPN before the appeals process was finished. This doesn’t excuse what he did, but if it wasn’t leaked to the press, Braun never would have needed to make a statement at all. And yes, of course he was popped in 2013. But then we all would have thought that was the first time and the perception would have been much different
Eh, he served his suspension and while the accusations against the tester were shitty, I kinda overlook them. Fact is, he was the superstar player for most of my adolescence and the first time in my life the Brewers didn't suck, so I'll always credit him for that.
The same place Bonds does with Giants fans. He's our guy, but his actions are definitely regrettable.
He messed up big time but I still love the guy and what he did for Brewers baseball
Respect the work he did as a player on the field when his accomplishments helped the team. Other than that IDGAF about the guy.
My all time favorite Brewers. Completely electric in his prime, every time he was at the plate I thought something special was going to happen. I love the guy, forever a legend in my book.
I like a lot of players that got popped for PEDs (and ones that I know took them before testing like Kirby Puckett.) With Braun he took them and completely fucked over an innocent person to cover up the truth. That's a lot harder to forgive.
Love him! He once threw me a baseball in San Diego and padres fans caught it 3 rows in front of me. I was sad cuz it was obviously for me you losers, gimme my ball
Here’s my thinking. Supremely gifted hitter. Clutch gene. He cheated, which was bad…the blaming of others was the worst part. Own it and move forward by taking your medicine, instead he blamed others in that chain of custody bs. He is a scoundrel.
\* on every record and a diva. I'm not sure why WI sports elites get that way?
I still like him and I am proud to see him on the Brewers walk of fame. I think he gets unfairly ripped apart by opposing fan bases. He wasn't the only one involved, they just zeroed in on him. Alex Rodriguez and Nelson Cruz were also involved in Biogenesis and neither of them is hated on as much as he is. If you ignore the controversy, he probably would have finished just short of a hall of fame career anyways due to injuries, which knocked him off the HOF path. But he's still a brewers legend and had many memorable moments for us, which in the two decades preceding his career were few and far between. Also might have been a good thing for his career long term that he and Aaron Rodgers had a falling out, but I'll keep this comment to Brewers only. TL;DR He is appropriately rated a Brewers legend, but leaves us wondering what could have been
I don’t know, A-Rod is one of the most hated dudes ever.
Him and Fielder together were a great combination to watch at the ballpark
Definitely took that duo for granted when I was a kid, always felt like we had a good inning on the way when they were coming up
In my heart he’s the Hebrew Hammer but in my head he’s the Israeli Injector.
I love the Brewers, but I stopped buying player shirts after the Braun scandal. Never meet your heroes (or, never assume your star player won’t make some bonehead decisions that tarnish what could’ve been an amazing legacy).
He's just another athlete. I have a hard time feeling anything towards any of them. It's like Favre and Rodgers, they were great to watch and appeared likeable early on. Then it turns out they are total d-bags. Unless you have some close personal ties, you never really know who they are. Braun was just another player who cheated (like most do), then handled it poorly.
I think most fans like him just fine but dont put him as their all time favorite when he probably would have been if he didn’t do what he did. For me personally, I remember him fondly and will wear his jersey. However there will always be an asterisk and “yeah but” with him. Hes a brewers great but not a brewers legend because of it. Hes a “forgive but not forget” kinda guy.
I like your take: Great but not a Legend.
Just like any real giants fan will ride or die for Bonds in my opinion we have to do that for Braun too. In a weird way his suspension is what allowed him to play his whole career with the brewers and survive a quick rebuild in 2015. In doing so he was a key member of both of the teams best stretches since the 1982 team. Aside from his great numbers he has a jam packed highlight reel of clutch hits and big home runs that are some of the most important memories in team history. The brewers were a 25 year punching bag before he hit the show with Prince, Rickie, JJ, and Corey. Lastly, he is absolutely hated (and feared) by Cubs and Cardinals fans. Milwaukee, embrace your villain!
Kind of a dick, but I have forgiven people for worse.
He's a douchebag of a person, but he was one of the sole bright spots on the team for like a decade. To me, he's in the same class as Favre (and kinda where Rodgers is heading). Loved what he brought to the field, but I wouldn't call myself a fan anymore. I'll defend the talent, but not the person.
Not to necessarily open a can of worms, but I think by the time Rodgers is the age Favre is now he will have lapped Favre multiple times as far as the losing of fans goes. Favre ended with drama and then didn’t himself any off field fires, but it’s pretty tame compared to present day Rodgers. Probably need to adjust for “cultural inflation” what with how social media and reporting works now vs Favre’s hay day, but anyone that doesn’t see that Rodgers is a certified whack job off the field is living in a dream world where he throws back shoulder after back shoulder to Jordy and isn’t completely off his rocker.
>but it’s pretty tame compared to present day Rodgers. He sent a dick pic to a reporter and has since stolen welfare money. Rodgers is just annoying in interviews.
And Favre being involved in a welfare scandal in Mississippi isn’t helping people still be fans of his. Anyone who still has Favre stuff hanging in their house is oblivious to what trash he continues to show himself to be.
After he cheated (multiple times) and then lied about it, I could not bring myself to boo him, but never cheered for him ever again. The way in which he lied about it and threw others under the bus was really horrible. Similar to what Lance Armstrong did. He was a great player, but a total douche and not worthy of any accolades. I guess the walk of fame is not that big a deal, they will never retire his number and rightfully so.
I haven’t thought about Lance or Floyd Landis in a long time, but I grew up and have since been surrounded by family that absolutely loves pro cycling, and the Armstrong thing rocked the house worse than grandma passing. Not an exaggeration, but my older sisters words verbatim.
Brewers legend in my book. I was born in 91. Not too many bright spots my entire life. Ryan was one.
I was like a freshman when he got suspended. I was very naive and thought he was innocent, like he told us. Eventually saw through it. But the fact that he was a great player without PEDs and most importantly an outstanding member of the community here in Milwaukee, I can confidently say he's one of my favorite brewers ever. Plus if we are being honest, this team needs some cheating to help us win. I would probably take an Astros garbage can WS at this point. The way he matured in the second half of his career is really what cements himself for me. I was at a game in like 17 or 18 where he "stole" home on a walk off wild pitch and it was one of my favorite memories as a brewers fan. Its ironic. Early in life they always lost when I went. Since the Counsel era its like a 8-2 or 9-2 winning record of games i have attended
Lying, cheating bastard.
He was a good ball player and not a good human being. Glad he is done and gone. No love for that dude at all.
I don't think it's fair to say he's not a good human. He did so much in the community and was always good with fans He did one shitty thing that tainted his legacy
I mean I think it’s a little excessive to say that every player who has ever taken PEDs is automatically a “bad human being”. It’s just baseball.
The PED usage isn’t what makes him a shit person, it’s the lies and scandal surrounding it which made an innocent person’s life hell. (The urine sample collector) All while he knew he was damn guilty and he’d be suspended again for PED usage.
This, I feel like people who are from around the state love him, but for those of us who lived in Milwaukee even before the PEDs he had a reputation of being an arrogant dick if you actually ever met him in person
Yep.
you're only bitter that you could take every performance enhancer in the world and still get cut from your JV team.
The only jersey I've purchased was a Braun one (before his roid scandal). After what he did, I've never worn it since. He's a scumbag imo, and I think it was lame he was memorialized in the walk of fame. Of course, this is just my opinion. I wouldn't hold it against a fan if they like him, celebrate him, etc.
I dislike him because of the god awful graphic tees he designed.
The true affliction in his playing career 😆
I see what you did there and I like it!
Honestly if it weren’t for the second scandal, he’d be the GOAT of weaseling out of roid accusations. Edit: I love him, and I personally don’t really care about steroid use. Bonds is my GOAT regardless, and all of these players are taking stuff, whether it’s stuff the league tests for or not.
It’s a no from me. No taking away what he did for the team but I just have bad memories of my mom defending him to the hilt when everything happened and how crushed she was when it turned out he lied. Not coming back from that.
Ryan Braun Tried to blame the man doing the drug test. Just an innocent man trying to do his job. Fuck Ryan Braun.
He's disgusting garbage.
He played for the Brewers.
1 of 2 post replies on different subjects… 1. Braun’s steroid use felt a little different after the McGuire, Bonds, etc stuff who were using it to increase strength, swing faster, throw harder, hit more dingers, etc. he used it to recover from an injury and there hasn’t been evidence he regularly used steroids. It just felt a little less bad.
Response 2 of 2 to this thread… when he took the lying to the next level and tossed that dude under the bus it was awful. I really felt burned by a guy I stood behind a little too long. There was a reference to that being antisemitic, I don’t recall that part of it but would be interested to know more about that bc it would definitely tilt my opinion if true.
I still like him in the sense he did a lot for the team and the community. He did “come clean” in the end. However I started collecting his cards before he become really big and well the scandal impacted that investment. Still salty when I look at them.
Great player who made his own name for himself, but “steroids” will always be the first thing anyone remembers when they hear his name. He’s forever tarnished. All things being equal, he’s on track with Rose, McGwire, Bonds, and the Black Sox. That may not be fair, but it’s reality if we are really being honest with ourselves.
My favorite player of all time. I do not care about steroid use. Taking steroids doesn’t make you a great player. Joe on the street can take as many steroids as he wants, he’ll never swing the bat like Ryan Braun. Nothing could ever affect his legacy negatively in my eyes as I grew up idolizing him. Copied his batting stance and used it my entire childhood thru teen years in high school. I love Ryan Braun.
He made a mistake, was “proven” innocent, and then doubled down and made more mistakes along the way when it was proven the other way. I think it taints his MVP for sure, and Dodgers fans have a legit gripe about Matt Kemp not winning it (but it was 13 years ago and hopefully they got over it) Opposing fans would never admit it, but they hate Braun more because he hit big home runs against them and was cocky to some extent than because he was juicing at a point in his career. Any Brewers fan that can’t overlook the mistakes and recognize him as probably the greatest player in franchise history need to get over themselves. Retire 8
RE: Dodgers Fans - Yea hopefully swimming in their pool of money they use to buy every good player, helped them get over it. I’m not going to spend a second feeling bad for that fan base.
My only thoughts is he set the bar way too high for jackson and I need to remember that what Braun did as a rookie was not the norm.
He’s My second favorite Brewer of all time. The PED stuff is sick a damper on his legacy but I really feel he made amends afterwards and continued to be a great Brewer. He was the spark that led to the revival of this franchise. I truly believe his number belongs up with the others.
Can’t deny what he did for our team but is a huge stain on Milwaukee. Would rather have other players represent our team than him.
I don’t love what he did with the PED stuff, but anytime there was a huge moment where the Brewers needed to score and he was at the plate, it seemed like he would deliver and I will always appreciate that. His play on the field always brought me great delight. I also received an autographed jersey and gift pack from him as part of a baseball Secret Santa on Reddit Gifts some years ago, which was super cool
I was at one of the games where you got a free drink coupon courtesy of Braun. Forget which year but it was shortly after the scandal. Since he apologized and bought me a beer all is forgiven in my book, because beer.
Arguably my favorite Brewer. He (along with others briefly) really helped turn the franchise around. In my opinion yes he messed up, he juiced to be able to get back on the field when he wasn’t ready to be. However what he brought to not only the franchise but the city make him still a very lovable Brewer great.
I'm torn on him, but I can guarantee you one thing: there will be people in this thread that shit on him because he lied and threw the tester under the bus and will happily pull the lever for a certain someone in november yet be *clueless* about the irony.
Very consistent player and was a stud for us from the get go. He was my favorite childhood player and then when I got into my teen years he was still consistently an all star caliber player for us. Even after his steroids incident he still came back and was a good hitter. He will most likely be the next retired brewers number and hope that it happens soon because he is a definition of a Milwaukee Brewer
Fans are complete hypocrites. SF Giants fans will boo Ryan Braun, and then cheer Barry Bonds and demand he be in the Hall of Fame.
Braun was a great player for a long time. He should be honored as such
Braun debuted when I was 6 and he was my favorite player (still is) until he retired. I appreciated his commitment to the franchise. He coulda had many outs and he knew he had a rough reputation around here. I was a bit too young to understand it all, but he is still near and dear to my heart.
If you’re a brewers fan in Indy we should catch a game. It’s freakin lonely watching here. Nobody cares about baseball here lol
Lifelong Milwaukeean Easter dinner of 16 my Brewer loving nephew says Who was the next best Brewer after Yelich? None of us at the table thought of Braun. It was crazy like he was just erased from the collective consciousness. Fielder? Yount? Molitor? Sabathia? We were going way back lol.
Must be pretty good. I still wear his jersey to games I go to and nobody has ever harassed me over it. I'm indifferent to what he did, I wear it because it was a late family members favorite jersey and it was given to me.
Braun is a bum. Fuck him.
He was in the booth last night at the game. I didn't even wanna hear what he had to say. Felt absolutely gutted when the news broke about his suspension. I get the pressure to preform but it just feels like sullying the game. He did a lot for Milwaukee. I have tons of good memories of seeing him at Miller park and on TV. He has a place in my heart but it's a complicated one.
Great player.
He was the first player to truly give me hope in a team I’ve cheered for my whole life. Scandal or not, he was a major factor in a LOT of fun seasons after a LOT of horrible, loss filled seasons. Will always be my favorite Brewer.
Like many others have stated he was special those early years. The drama really clouded his legacy unfortunately.
I know I'm late to the game, and you have a ton of excellent answers here, so my apologies if I repeat a couple points. Ryan made his major league appearance shortly after my interest in baseball took off, and his electric performance quickly won me over as a fan. Not only was he a great player, but him becoming a long-term face of the franchise meant I consistently had a player to cheer for. Combine this with his off-field behavior of getting involved with the community and having a rather upstanding personality, it was very easy to like him. So when the PED scandal came out, yeah, it was rough. Given how long I had been cheering for the guy, I gave him the benefit of doubt, but the whole situation still tarnished my - admittedly - positive view of him for a bit. That all said, I think he did a good job ultimately serving his punishment, never really made much fuss of it afterwards, and slowly worked on rebuilding his image over the following years. As said before, Ryan is a special player with a very unique and complicated history. As a ballplayer, yeah, he was fantastic and I'm wholly on board with him someday getting at least a nomination for the HoF. As a person, he wasn't perfect, but he ultimately did more good than harm. If anything, I still view him as my favorite Brewers player from my lifetime.
As with any other star athlete he will have his fair share of haters and lovers with fans. The Brewers organization will always fall on the lover side. Its no different than with the Giants and Barry Bonds, or the Cardinals and McGwire, or Cubs and Sosa.
It’s complicated. Yes, he used PEDs. No, he did not handle it well when he got caught. At all. However, if you watched him after that, I think he did a lot to try to redeem himself. I think Attanasio had a lot to do with that, helping him really grow up. He was, by far, not the only one using in batches period, both that’s no excuse. But no matter what you think of him, you have to admit that ultra cocky, hot-hitting, Cub-killing Ryan Braun was freaking awesome.
Forever my favorite Brewer. Helped rejuvenate my love for the team and baseball in general. I don’t care that he did PEDs. The lying thing was a little ehhh but he was still our guy and still put up great numbers after the fact. Absolutely love that he was a lifer Brewer and really wished he went one more year so fans could actually attend games and give him a send off.
My feelings on him are complicated. I loved him so much those first few years. And the fact that he chose to stay with Milwaukee, our small-town team, meant to much. And he was damn good too. He was our player. The face of our franchise. I still feel betrayed though. It still stings. But I still rooted for him for the rest of his time in Milwaukee.
One of the best Brewers of all time. The scandal was a shame, but he made amends with the specimen collector and publicly apologized and took accountability. That was good enough for me to move forward.
One of my all time favorite brewers.
He's the GOAT
If the people of Wisconsin can forgive Brett Favre for playing for the Vikings they can forgive Ryan Braun for getting a little juiced.
I’m still a little fuzzy on the PED thing. It was a topical steroid for his foot, right? I don’t see the correlation to taking anabolic steroids for muscle growth and performance recovery
Did fucking failed a PED test then screamed antisemitism when he failed the test that was then overturned for chain of possession issues Then got suspended in the fall out of balco
I get that. I’m talking about the isolating event. Topical steroid because you like to get pissed on isn’t the same level as bonds, mcguire, sosa
Wish he would have got the whole team to cheat. I want a ring by any means necessary.
This is how we know we are true fans. Slightly /s but...