Milwaukee Brewers longtime announcer and former cinematic Cleveland Indians (and their minor league affiliate, the South Carolina Buzz) call man Bob Ueker has seen his share of unpopular players, both in real life and in the movies. At this moment in his career, Ryan Braun might be the least liked of the lot -- worse even than Roger Dorn before he started sacrificing his body for the team in "Major League."
In Philadelphia yesterday -- one of the most intense environments in which to play -- Braun clocked three home runs. He was booed before and after each one, most loudly after the first shot. By the third one, Philly fans were still on him, but appeared mostly resigned to their fate.
After that third blast, fans pleaded with the twenty-something year old man who caught it to throw it back. He resisted at least as long as the video was on him.
"Get up, get out of here, and gone for Ryan Braun!" Uecker exclaimed after Braun's third. "What a day for Ryan Braun. Wow!"
The hatred Braun inspires in fans isn't tied directly to his now-proven steroid use, but the way he handled accusations going back all the way to 2011: by lying to the public, to his former friend Aaron Rodgers, and for putting the blame on an MLB employee who innocently strayed from testing protocol and was fired for it. On a technicality, Braun evaded the first line of steroid accusations. Eventually, he was proven guilty. His now infamous statement below:
"I have always taken tremendous pride in my image and my reputation in being a role model and handling myself the right way and doing things the right way. And all of that has been called into question by this situation. When you know you're innocent of something, it's extremely difficult to have to prove it when you're in a process where you're 100% guilty until proven innocent."
Last year, Braun hit .298 with 9 home runs in 61 games before being suspended for the last 100. He started off slow this year. After yesterday's barrage, he's now among the league leaders in homers and RBI's.
