The hashtag was born in early 2016.

The Milwaukee Brewers were in the early stages of what most fans believed would be a long and painful rebuild. A growing list of trades had been made starting the previous summer with Doug Melvin’s final trade deadline and carried into the winter with new GM David Stearns, who turned over half the 40-man roster. But I bristled at the idea of trading away franchise icon Ryan Braun.

As we now know, Braun survived the rebuild. He received MVP votes that year in 2016 and has aged rather gracefully in the years since; he still has never posted a below-average batting line and continues to be a legitimate power-speed threat, reaching the 20+ home run, 10+ stolen base plateau for the 10th season of his career in 2019. Yelich may be the superstar in Milwaukee these days, but Braun remains an important and productive piece of the lineup. And more than that, he is a bridge between competitive eras of Milwaukee baseball; he and Prince Fielder were the catalysts of those great teams in 2008 and 2011, and last year he became the first player in franchise history to appear in three different postseasons when he helped Milwaukee win the NL Central.

Ryan Braun is at or near the top of every offensive record in the history of the Milwaukee Brewers. He has provided countless “clutch” moments over the past 13 seasons, from his clinching home runs in 2008 and 2011, to his multiple multi-homer games during the final weeks of 2018, to his “Win it for Yeli” rallying cry and game-winning grand slam in the ninth inning against St. Louis just this past week. (He hit a home run in the first inning of the first Brewers game I took my oldest kids to back in 2015 to send Bernie down the slide, too.) He’s going to end up fulfilling his entire contract with Milwaukee after years of trade rumors (and one near deal to LA), which is what he was hoping to do all along.

Ryan Braun yesterday. Ryan Braun today. Ryan Braun tomorrow.

#RyanBraunForever.

Ryan Braun has been doing it in Milwaukee for a long time.

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