Daniel Chodos

In 2007, Brewers third baseman Ryan Braun hit the majors with a splash. When he was called up to the big club, word on the street was that the 2005 5^th overall pick from the University of Miami had a strong bat and could run well, but was also prone to striking out a lot. In his short time in the majors, Braun has more than lived up to this billing, smacking more home runs than anyone else in Major League history to start his career other than Albert Pujols

While Braun became the talk of Wisconsin, his fan base stretched far beyond the Dairy State. The reason for all this hype was not only Braun’s success at the plate, but also his Jewish background.

Not since Shawn Green reached All-Star heights as a Toronto Blue Jay in the 1990’s have North American Jews been able to lay claim to a ballplayer with as much potential as Ryan Braun. However, some of these fans were disappointed to learn that Braun does not truly consider himself Jewish, having grown up half-Catholic and half-Jewish, and observing “no faith” throughout his upbringing. Notwithstanding this secular reality, Jewish publications anointed Braun “The Hebrew Hammer” (see Irwin Cohen’s The Jewish Press article), partly as an homage to Milwaukee legend “Hammerin” Hank Aaron, while also borrowing from the cute but mediocre Adam Goldberg movie of the same name.

Entering the 2008 season, Milwaukee fans could only cross their fingers in the hope that their latest “Hammer” could keep up the seemingly unsustainable pace he set for himself in his rookie campaign. These fans may have been complaining during April, when Braun failed to hit dingers with any kind of regularity, fanning far too much while walking a grand total of once throughout the first month of this season.

However, from that point on, the Southern California native has picked up where he left off last September. The key to his increased success has been his increased patience at the plate, which has permitted him to zero in on a particular pitch, and work the count in his favour. This approach forces opposing pitchers to pound the strike zone early in counts, thereby giving Braun the luxury of being more aggressive on the first and second pitches in his at-bats.

Braun has been particularly successful from mid-July onwards, blasting home runs in five of his past six games, while lifting his batting average above .300 for the first time all season on the strength of back-to-back 4-hit games.

And it seems as Braun goes, so do the Brewers. Winners of their first seven games following the All-Star Break, Milwaukee’s offence has clicked like never before this season, landing them in a first-place tie with the vaunted Chicago Cubs entering their four-game series with the North Siders, a team that stood more than 10 games in front on the Brew Crew as late as mid-May.

Another of the team’s major run producers has been the formerly disgruntled third baseman Bill Hall. In a series at the St. Louis Cardinals, the man from Mississippi achieved a rare feat by hitting game-winning home runs in back-to-back games. After demanding a trade earlier this season, Hall has clearly become more comfortable with his role on the team, raising his average 30 points from .208 to .238 in the process.

As for the pitching department, Salomon Torres has given me a chance to stop complaining about the Brewers’ bullpen by successfully converting all but two of his save chances since being anointed the team’s closer in late-May. Eric Gagne has performed well since returning from the DL, having put up goose-eggs in seven of eight appearances in that time. However, it seems unlikely Torres will cede his job back to Gagne unless his performance slips considerably.

One more name you can cross off the list of potential closers for the Brewers is Derrick Turnbow. The flamethrower who had previously served as Milwaukee’s stopper lost complete control of his command after his demotion to Nashville, is now officially lost for the season after tearing his rotator cuff. Given that he’s in the final year of a three-year contract, Brewers fans may have seen the last of Turnbow and his 100-mile per hour fastball.

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