Last night, Ryan Braun hit his 350th career home run off of Johan Oviedo. The line drive that just got over the wall, joined Braun’s name with 95 others who have had that amount of power. As someone who has seen every single one of those homers and Braun’s greatest hits, I feel comfortable with saying he is the greatest Brewer of all-time. That being said, he’ll most likely fall short of the Hall of Fame.
Ryan Braun vs. Robin Yount
Many, MANY of the older Brewers fans will tell me almost immediately that I’m wrong. That’s why Braun’s 350th homer last night, on Yount’s 65th birthday, was so ironic to me.
Comparing Yount’s and Braun’s numbers can be fun because they are 2 very different players. Yount only had 251 career homers, which was the mark of the franchise until Braun came along. Although Braun has smashed that mark in homers, Yount is one of the 32 players in the 3,000 hit club. With all that in mind, let’s take a look at most of the meaningful numbers.
Era-Free Numbers
Let’s start with the numbers that can try their best to neutralize time period in WAR and OPS+. Yount leads in total career WAR 77.3-46.9. While people will look at this number and tell me I’m an idiot, you have to understand something. Robin Yount was a Gold Glove shortstop. The time when Yount was in his prime years playing a premier position that gets a lot of defensive action, will bolster that WAR number. As for OPS+, Braun wins 135-115. That’s a pretty big margin. OPS+ is adjusted for the ballparks played in. Before you ask, yes, even for all those old ballparks. OPS+ is also important because it’s taking ALL kinds of getting on base, not just regular batting average, which is an outdated stat.
162 Game Averages
With a wash between WAR and OPS+, the only other way to give a truly fair measure is to look at their 162 game averages. “The Kid” has almost DOUBLE the career Plate Appearances in, at the time of this being written, exactly 1100 more games. Here are those averages below:
| Name | PA | H | 2B | HR | RBI | SB | BA | OBP | OPS |
| Yount | 695 | 178 | 33 | 14 | 80 | 15 | .285 | .342 | .772 |
| Braun | 673 | 180 | 38 | 32 | 106 | 20 | .297 | .359 | .892 |
Due to Yount’s much longer career, he is certainly a Hall of Famer. However, as you can see above, Ryan Braun on a 162 game basis, is the FAR more productive player. Braun has the most seasons of anyone in the history of baseball with 180+ hits, 35+ doubles, 30+ home runs, 100+ RBI, and 20 stolen bases. In fact, there have only been 24 such seasons EVER. Players such as Chipper Jones, A-Rod, Larry Walker, Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron have only achieved that combo of speed, production, and power in 1 of their seasons in their respective careers.
Biggest Braun Moments
Not only do Braun’s franchise setting marks make him the greatest Brewer ever, but he also has most of the memorable moments since pretty much 1982. He has played on every postseason team since 1982. Lets look at some of those moments.
Last Week of 2008
The Brewers making the Wild Card in 2008 came down to the final week of the season and even the last day. Including the Brewers winning 6 of those last 7 games. Truth be told there’s a perfect video that encompasses the entire last week that makes me cry because of what it meant to finally at least make the playoffs.
Arguably the biggest moment came on September 25th of that 2008 season. A 2 out walk from current Brewer manager, Craig Counsell, loaded the bases for Braun. On a 2-2 pitch that was right down the middle, Braun HAMMERED a walk-off grand slam that almost reached Bernie’s slide.
Not only did he do that with 3 games to go, but with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th, on the last day of the season and needing help from the then Florida Marlins to beat the Cardinals, Braun would launch his 37th homer of the season to give the Brewers a 3-1 lead and ultimately a playoff spot.
2011 Division Title
You can’t pick out too many specific Braun moments in 2011. That’s due to the fact that the Brewers won the division by 6 games. It is also the season Braun won his MVP award with an insane 38 double, 33 homer, 33 stolen base, and 111 RBI season. That would also be his 4th of his 6 All-Star game appearances.
2019 Grand Slam
10 days short of 8 years since Braun’s monster walk-off grand slam against the Pirates, Braun would come up in a big spot with the bases juiced.
Prior to the game starting, the Brewers were still looking to win the division. With 14 games left in the season, the Brewers were only 4 games back. In September, that means you still have a chance.
In the top of the 9th, Braun was due up 6th. When you’re a player like him, the biggest moments find you. Ben Gamel and Travis Shaw led off the inning with walks. A strikeout from Grisham gave the Brewers 1 out. Yasmani Grandal would walk to load the bases. A Moustakas shallow fly ball wouldn’t score a run, but give Ryan Braun the floor. The count would go full and like every little kids dream, Braun would send an offspeed pitch about 12 rows into the left center bleachers to give the Brewers a 7-4 lead.
End of Career
Despite Braun’s high statistical peak, the ladder years of his career have been plagued by nagging injury and some struggles. However, that didn’t stop him from hitting number 350 last night. Another feather in Braun’s cap. Another chapter closed on the greatest Brewer legacy.