Ryan Braun

Ryan Joseph Braun (born November 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played his entire career for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2007 to 2020.

Braun also played right field and first base during his career, and was a third baseman during his rookie season.

Ryan Joseph Braun was born on November 17, 1983, to Joe and Diane Braun.

He and his younger brother Steve were raised in Los Angeles.

He grew up a Los Angeles Dodgers fan.

Braun's PONY League teammates included Jack and Matt Cassel, Jason and Jarron Collins, as well as Jon Garland.

Braun later picked up basketball, which became his favorite sport, and soccer, in which he played forward.

By the time he entered high school, Braun had chosen to focus solely on baseball.

Braun attended Granada Hills High School in Granada Hills, Los Angeles, California.

He was a four-year letterman on the school's 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.

He graduated in 2002, but went undrafted as he told teams that he intended to attend college.

Braun excelled academically as well: his worst grade was one B, in Advanced Placement Chemistry.

Offered baseball scholarships by Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, he instead attended the University of Miami on an academic scholarship, due to his excellent high school grades.

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."

Braun was a two-time All-American at the University of Miami, where he was named National Freshman of the Year by Baseball America in 2003.

There, Braun was named "National Freshman of the Year", and a first-team "Freshman All-American", by Baseball America in 2003, as well as first team All American by the Jewish Sports Review.

He was also named first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball.

After the 2004 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

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.

The Brewers drafted him in the first round (fifth overall) in the 2005 MLB draft.

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 designated hitter (DH).

He moved from shortstop to third base during the year.

His performance earned Braun the Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Player of the Year award, and a spot as one of the finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, the most prestigious individual award in college baseball.

He was the team's Minor League Player of the Year in 2006.

Braun was considered a five-tool player for his ability to hit for power and average, his baserunning speed, and his excellent fielding and arm strength.

He was named the National League Rookie of the Year in 2007, won five Silver Slugger awards (2008–12), and won the NL Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in 2011.

Braun led the NL three times in slugging percentage (in 2007, 2011, and 2012) and once each in hits (2009), home runs (2012), and runs (2012).

He was inducted into the Brewers Wall of Honor in 2022.

He was named to five straight All-Star Games (2008–12), and was later named to a team-high sixth All-Star Game in 2015.

However, Braun came under scrutiny for a testosterone test that he failed in 2011 and then for his connection in 2012 to the Biogenesis of America clinic that provided performance-enhancing drugs to professional baseball players.

He was ranked number seven by the Sporting News in its 2012 list of the 50 best current players in baseball.

On July 22, 2013, Braun was suspended without pay for the remainder of the 2013 season and playoffs (totaling 65 regular-season games) for violating the league's drug policy.

Braun made public his accusations of anti-semitism by the testing facility employee administering the urine sample after initial suspension.

The test and suspension were later dismissed for procedural mishandling of the sample.

However, Braun's connection to Biogenesis of America again led to his suspension from baseball in the middle of the 2013 season until 2014.

He was inducted into the University of Miami Hall of Fame in 2017.