This past week the Milwaukee Brewers made their All-Star left fielder a very wealthy man. Prior to being named the National League's Player of the Week earlier today, Ryan Braun signed a lucrative five-year, $105 Million extension with the Brew Crew. Already under team control until 2015, the deal will keep the 3-time recipient of the Silver Slugger Award in a Brewers uni until at least 2020. In only his fifth big league season, the former Rookie of the Year has already cemented himself among the best slugging outfielders in the league and is currently on pace to break numerous Brewers franchise records.
But even considering how good of a hitter Braun is, I question the deal for the simple fact that it wasn't necessarily appropriate to dish out that kind of money at this time, given the amount of years remaining on his current contract. And with the All-Star slugging first baseman Prince Fielder set to hit the free agent market come November, I think Milwaukee's general manager Doug Melvin might have misread his team's list of priorities. Nonetheless, Milwaukee's stock to win the division hasn't been this high in years, thanks in large part to the front-office bolstering its pitching rotation in the offseason, with the acquisitions of Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke who is yet to see action in a Brewers uniform.
Following Braun's new multi-year pact, the Milwaukee faithful greeted him with a standing ovation and gave him a thunderous applause, to which he responded with an impressive performance, finishing the day 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored, a home run and 3 rbi's. However, that wasn't the only thing they gave him. Sitting in the left field bleachers, a fan decked out in Brewers gear was seen holding a poster board that read, "Marry me Ryan," along with her phone number attached. Little did she know the sign would be caught on camera for all of Wisconsin to see.
After their 14-7 victory over the Houston Astros, Braun received word about the fan and her sign and tried calling the number. Unfortunately for him, several hundred fans had the same idea and beat him to the punch, sending her phone on an endless ringing spree. After eventually being forced to turn her phone off, Braun was hoping to leave her a voicemail, but was once again outdone by the Brewers fan base who left her with a full mail box. Braun jokingly replied, "I guess it wasn't meant to be."
As much as I would've loved to hear Braun's response, one person who can't be too thrilled about the whole thing is his girlfriend. But if Braun who is currently among the league leaders in Runs, Home Runs and RBI's can continue his scorching hot start, don't be surprised if the number of groupies flocking to the yard with their phone numbers on signs begins to increase.
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