Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun wins fifth consecutive Silver Slugger Award – MLB News
The acclaim and accolades continue lavishing on the Milwaukee Brewers’ left fielder Ryan Braun.
He was facing a 50-game suspension the past season for violating Major League Baseball’s banned substance policy. However, Braun not only successfully appealed the case but also went on to lead the National League in home-runs, winning the fifth consecutive Silver Slugger Award.
The Award is based on voting by coaches and managers. It is handed out to both American League and National League's best offensive players at each position.
Braun now retains the longest active streak in Major League Baseball. For the fifth straight year, he had also made it to the All-Star Game this year as well. Also, as an outfielder from the National League, he is the only player from the league to win the honour five consecutive years.
It was in 2007 when he made his debut. Even though he had a relatively successful start as a rookie, he could not win the it back then.
However, he did not look behind after that and has been winning it for half a decade now. The event was broadcast live on the MLB Network.
With the glory coming his way once again, Ryan Braun is now defending the National League Most Valuable Player Award to be announced in the coming week.
In a year that he was faced with a potentially devastating setback of his career, facing a 50-game suspension for reportedly testing positive for elevated testosterone, Braun did not feel bogged down and went on to add to the team’s strength.
Braun had said after the successful appeal, "I am very pleased and relieved by today's decision. It is the first step in restoring my good name and reputation. We were able to get through this because I am innocent and the truth is on our side."
He added, "We provided complete cooperation throughout, despite the highly unusual circumstances. I have been an open book, willing to share details from every aspect of my life as part of this investigation, because I have nothing to hide. I have passed over 25 drug tests in my career, including at least three in the past year."
Consistency personified, Braun led NL in homers, runs, slugging percentage and OPS this year, ultimately winning the Silver Slugger Award. His eyes are now on the NL MVP, something for which he has a tough competitor in San Francisco Giants’ Buster Posey.
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