Brewers Fans Forgive as Braun’s Bat Heats Up

MILWAUKEE — As the slider Ryan Braun had just crushed landed several rows up in the left-field bleachers, a horde of fans scurried to find the ball. The rest of the crowd roared, and fireworks boomed overhead.

Braun put his head down and kept jogging. His face was expressionless; he looked focused, determined.

For the rest of his career, Braun may be a polarizing figure everywhere but Milwaukee, remembered for how he adamantly denied using performance-enhancing drugs, how he accused a test collector of mishandling his sample and how, ultimately, he was linked to the Biogenesis scandal and was suspended for 65 games.

Like other disgraced stars, Braun offered apologies. He expressed remorse through the news media but did not discuss specifics. He wrote a letter to Bud Selig. He had dinner with the test collector. He called Brewers season-ticket holders.

Here, in Miller Park, Braun is safe from judgment, safe from the vitriol that followed him. Brewers fans seem to have forgiven him, at least so long as he keeps producing. This season, his first since the suspension, this is his sanctuary.

“Here, it’s always good,” Brewers Manager Ron Roenicke said. “It’s been great. But on the road, it’s continued to be tough. It used to be, the Cubs fans would boo him; some fans around our division would boo him. Now, it’s everywhere.”

Braun, 30, declined to comment for this article, citing his busy pregame routine. Roenicke seemed mostly pleased with Braun’s season, perhaps because he has not needed Braun to carry the load by himself. Three Brewers players started in the All-Star Game, including catcher Jonathan Lucroy, a potential candidate for the Most Valuable Player award. Fittingly, the Brewers led the National League with 58 wins entering Friday.

And just now, finally, Braun is coming around, Roenicke said.

To this point, he has had an up-and-down season. Over his first 22 games, Braun crushed the ball, with 18 runs batted in. Then an oblique injury cost him about two weeks, and afterward, Roenicke said, it took Braun a while to regain his form.

His power numbers dipped noticeably. Over the first six seasons of his career, through 2012, he averaged about 34 home runs, 76 extra-base hits and 107 R.B.I. a season. Entering Friday, he had a .302 batting average but was on pace for only about 24 homers, 64 extra-base hits and 93 R.B.I. this season.
That home run to left field, though, a two-run shot in Thursday night’s victory over the Mets, extended Braun’s hitting streak to 12 games.

During the streak, Braun was batting .383, with three homers and 11 R.B.I., playing as well as he had all season.

“He looks like himself lately,” Roenicke said, adding: “If you look up there, his numbers are getting where they should be again. He’s slowly picking back up there.

“Really the last week, I’m seeing the guy that we were used to seeing.”

Left fielder Khris Davis, who has pushed Braun to right field, was leading the Brewers with 17 home runs. Four players other than Braun had at least 46 R.B.I. But his standing on the team, after all the drama, appeared unchanged.

“He’s producing, and that’s what we need from him,” third baseman Aramis Ramirez said, adding: “We treat him just like we did last year and the year before. He’s one of our teammates, who just went through a rough time.”


(nytimes.com)