Ryan Braun: Controversial Slugger
By Aram David
If the controversy surrounding Ryan Braun’s Jewish identity is not enough, his narrow win for 2007 National League Rookie of the Year has only added to it.
The Milwaukee Brewers’ third baseman received 17 first-place votes out of 128, giving him a slight edge over Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who received 15 first-place votes out of 126. Though Braun’s batting average, home runs, runs batted in and hits are comparable with Alex Rodriguez’s first season in the majors, he committed a whopping 26 errors. Many favored Tulowitzki after he led all other shortstops in the Major League in fielding percentage and had some key hits in very decisive games.
Monster numbers always shine brighter than intangibles in the very stats-dependent world of baseball analysis, and while Tulowitzki seemed to be the only glimmer of hope for the Rockies in the World Series, Braun’s sheer offensive force won him Rookie of the Year. Forget that he hit a grand slam and a three-run homer in his first spring-training game; Braun’s numbers trump those of N.L. rookie winners in the past three years. Braun finished the season with a .324 average, 34 home runs and 97 RBIs.
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The controversy is that Ryan Braun's mother disputes the fact that he's a Jew. The comments she made about the Jewish community were so harsh that they were definately anti-semitic. It was also very disrespectful to her son who is proud of his Jewish heritage, even though he wasn't brought up in it culturally or religiously. If Ryan identifies as Jewish that's fine by me but other Jews might not want to claim him because of his hateful mother.
Where's the controversy? Braun put up monster numbers in a bit more limited time than Tulowitzki. Clearly they both had outstanding rookie seasons and were key parts of their teams sucesses. Braun is still learning to play third, and he wouldn't be the first slugger with a strong error prone arm to be shifted to the outfield. Though I'm proud that Braun is a MOT, that has nothing to do with any controversy. Play ball!
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