Milestone Watch, 2012: Ryan Braun

by Kyle Lobner on Feb 17, 2012 1:01 PM CST in Conversation Starters

MILWAUKEE, WI - AUGUST 26: Ryan Braun #8 of the Milwaukee Brewers slides into second base for a stolen base while Darwin Barney #15 of the Chicago Cubs catches the baseball at Miller Park on August 26, 2011 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Scott Boehm/Getty Images)

Obviously, we all know about the questions regarding Ryan Braun in 2012. Depending on the outcome of his pending appeal the reigning NL MVP could be eligible to play 162 games, 112 or something in between this season, and Major League Baseball is taking every possible delay to avoid telling us what's going on. With that said, even if Braun is suspended for the full 50 games there are a fair number of interesting milestones he could pass this season.

First of all, Braun finished the 2011 season with 898 career hits. 102 more will make him the eleventh Brewer to reach 1000:

Brewer	Hits
Robin Yount	3142
Paul Molitor	2281
Cecil Cooper	1815
Jim Gantner	1696
Geoff Jenkins	1221
Don Money	1168
Ben Oglivie	1144
B.J. Surhoff	1064
Charlie Moore	1029
Jeff Cirillo	1000

Prince Fielder finished his Brewer career with 996 hits, so Braun needs 99 to pass him for eleventh place. Braun has averaged about 1.23 hits per game for his career, so both Fielder's spot on the list and 1000 should be attainable even if he plays a short season.

Braun also finished the 2011 season with 506 runs scored, tied with Jeff Cirillo for 12th on the Brewer all time list. With 91 runs in 2012 he could move all the way up to sixth:

Rank	Player	Runs	To Pass
6	Don Money	596	91
7	Prince Fielder	571	66
8	Ben Oglivie	567	62
9	Greg Vaughn	528	23
10	Gorman Thomas	524	19
11	Rickie Weeks	523	18*
12	Jeff Cirillo	506	1

* - Obviously, Weeks is still active and will likely add to that total this season.

Braun stole a career-high 33 bases in 2011, and is now 96-for-120 (80% success rate) for his career. Four more steals are all he needs to join Rickie Weeks and nine other Brewers with 100 steals. Braun's success rate is better than most of the others:

Brewer	Stolen Bases	Success Rate
Scott Podsednik	113	83.1%
Rickie Weeks	100	82.0%
Mike Felder	108	80%
Ryan Braun	96	80%
Tommy Harper	136	78.6%
Paul Molitor	412	78.2%
Pat Listach	112	75.7%
Darryl Hamilton	109	73.2%
Robin Yount	271	72.1%
Jim Gantner	137	63.7%
B.J. Surhoff	102	61.4%

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After the stolen-base tear Braun went on the 2nd half of the season

and now with no Prince behind him, does anyone else think Braun is going to go on a tear stealing bases this year? 45? 50? More?

by Archibaldcrane on Feb 17, 2012 1:18 PM CST reply actions

(erm...well...ignoring the elephant in the room anyway)

by Archibaldcrane on Feb 17, 2012 1:18 PM CST up reply actions

Wouldn't it be the elephant that left the Brewers for more money?

Give him an offspeed pitch down and in. He will swing and miss.

by cooper82 on Feb 17, 2012 6:19 PM CST up reply actions

Yup

In fact, I discussed it here.

Now that's great tasting chicken!

by Kyle Lobner on Feb 17, 2012 1:20 PM CST up reply actions

You stole my thunder

I was typing out that very same question :P

The other thing is will pitchers hold him on more? With Fielder sometimes letting Braun steal to open first to walk Fielder wasn’t a bad option.

by Jason Curtis on Feb 17, 2012 1:21 PM CST up reply actions

Suspension

Depending on the outcome of his pending appeal the reigning NL MVP could be eligible to play 162 games, 112 or something in between this season

Is that last part true? I was under the impression it would be the full 50 or nothing. MLB has a strict suspension policy when it comes to banned substances. I would be very surprised if they deviated from that. Has there been anything said to suggest they might?

"You guys know me. I take a long time to analyze things."
- Ned Yost

by SunglassesAtNight on Feb 17, 2012 3:49 PM CST reply actions

Could be 25

Early on I believe there was mention of a policy stating that if a player was caught with a banned substance but it wasn’t a PED that it could only be 25… for some reason or another after a couple weeks everyone stopped mentioning this, not sure if it got debunked or just fell off the radar.

by CatchTheFever on Feb 17, 2012 4:22 PM CST up reply actions

Not debunked

It could be 25 for a banned substance. Remember a few years ago when we lost Mike Cameron for the first 25 games?

by Whiffleball Tony on Feb 17, 2012 9:07 PM CST up reply actions

In the picture.

If he’s stealing 2nd, why is the ball coming in from the shortstop?

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by tcyoung on Feb 17, 2012 4:20 PM CST reply actions

by Kyle Lobner on Feb 17, 2012 9:40 PM CST up reply actions

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