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Please note that this description was updated to include additional information discovered after the listing of the item.
Ryan Braun, nicknamed The Hebrew Hammer, won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 2007. He also won the Sporting News NL Rookie of the Year, the Baseball America Rookie of the Year, the Baseball Prospectus Internet Baseball NL Rookie of the Year, and the Players Choice NL Most Outstanding Rookie Awards. Over the prior decade, the only other NL hitter to win all 5 awards was Albert Pujols, in 2001. In 2007 Braun had one of the most dominant rookie seasons in the history of the game. In 2007, during which he played in 113 games and had 492 plate appearances, Braun led the National League with a .634 slugging percentage. He set a new all-time major league rookie slugging percentage record, breaking the record set by Mark McGwire, who slugged .618 for Oakland in 1987. He was also was 5th in the league in at bats per home run and OPS tied for 5th in home runs (34) and 8th in batting average (.324) among hitters with at least 490 plate appearances.
He also led the Brewers in batting average and slugging percentage, and was 2nd behind Prince Fielder in home runs, runs (91), and RBIs (97), tied for 2nd in triples (6), and 3rd in OBP (.370) and steals (15) -- despite not having played in the first 48 games of the season. Braun obliterated the club rookie records of 28 home runs and 81 RBIs, set by Fielder in 2006. A projection of his statistics over 162 games put him at 49 homers and 139 RBIs.
Braun was a starting outfielder for the NL in the 2008 All Star Game. He finished first in fan voting among NL outfielders, and second among all NL players. In early August Braun hit his 30th home run, becoming just the second player in MLB history to hit 30 or more homers in each of his first two seasons, joining Albert Pujols. In 2008, in 151 games Braun hit 37 home runs (tied for 4th in the NL) with 106 RBIs (9th), and batted .285 with a .553 slugging percentage (5th He also led the league with 83 extra base hits, and had 338 total bases (2nd in the NL), 7 triples (6th), 16.5 at bats per home run (10th), and 611 at bats (10th).
This bat was manufactured by Hillerich & Bradsby and bears Ryan Braun’s block letter name on the barrel, indicating that he did not have an endorsement contract with the company at the time. The bat has Louisville Slugger professional labeling consistent with the period 2004-08. However, the barrel stamping dates this bat to the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The Model Number F160 appears on the barrel of this bat. The bat has a natural finish. It measures 35 inches in length and currently weighs approximately 31 ounces. This bat exhibits numerous game use characteristics, including heavy Mota Stick residue extending 9 inches on the handle from the knob, hit marks and ball marks. Braun’s uniform number ‘8’ has been written in black marker on the knob.
This bat is uncracked and absolutely pounded with use. It is worth noting that Braun typically uses black Sam bats in games although there is photographic evidence, as verified through Getty images, that Braun has used blond M9 Louisville Slugger bats in games. Braun also does use blond Louisville Sluggers in batting practice so it is difficult to determine precisely how much of the use on the bat may come from BP and how much from actual game use.
Additionally, Braun has signed this bat in blue Sharpie, adding the notation ‘All the Best!’ and his uniform number. The signature is sharp and clean, and measures 5 inches in length. Notably, this bat did go through multiple parties before it was received by GUU. It was discovered after the listing of this bat that the original owner, who received the bat directly from Braun himself, removed a personalized portion of the autograph. While there are no apparent visible remnants of a personalization in the signature, we do want to make any potential bidder aware that a personalization on the autograph did exist on the bat at one time.
All things considered, this may be one of your best opportunities to obtain such a nice, difficult to find bat from one of baseball’s dominant young power hitters.
This item was consigned by Chris Cavalier.View Lot Detail page
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