Braun receives All-Star nod

CHICAGO -- The ultimate goal, of course, is to win a World Series ring. But Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun espoused another last week.

"My goal is to never have an All-Star break," Braun said with a smirk.

So far, he's 2-for-2.

Braun was voted by fans to start the All-Star Game for the second successive season, joining Hall of Famer Robin Yount as the only Brewers players so honored. Braun will be joined in St. Louis for the 80th Midsummer Classic on July 14 by second-time All-Star Prince Fielder.

Braun got the nod via the fan ballot. He received the most votes among NL outfielders, as he did last year, finishing ahead of the Phillies' Raul Ibanez and the Mets' Carlos Beltran. Both Ibanez and Beltran have battled injuries in recent weeks.

Braun, though, is healthy and ready to go. He had been tracking vote totals over the weeks of balloting and could see that he had a good chance.

"I always talk about how I never have an opportunity to reflect on what I'm accomplishing," Braun said last week. "But being there, playing with guys that I admired coming up, like A-Rod and [Derek] Jeter and Manny [Ramirez], and getting to play with and against them, it really put into perspective where I'm at.

"It was an amazing experience, and something I would love to do every year."

The 80th Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and Sportsnet HD and televised around the world by Major League Baseball International, with pregame ceremonies beginning at 7 p.m. CT. ESPN Radio will provide exclusive national radio coverage, while MLB.com will provide extensive online coverage. XM will provide satellite radio play-by-play coverage of the XM All-Star Futures Game.

Braun has been piling up awards since breaking into the Majors in late May 2007. He won NL Rookie of the Year honors that year despite spending most of the first two months at Triple-A, then followed-up in 2008 with a third-place finish in NL MVP balloting.

He's off to another solid start this season, hitting .327 with 16 homers and 58 RBIs through a 2-for-5 afternoon in the Brewers' 11-2 win over the Cubs on Saturday. Braun was riding an 11-game hitting streak into Selection Sunday and is hitting .352 (44-for-125) over his last 30 games with seven of his home runs.



(mlb.com)