Friday, January 5, 2018
#244 Steve Braun
Consistent
hitter but did not fully break into regular status...Freshman year decent with
a .254 BA and a Topps Rookie award...pressed into infield apprenticeship most
at third so an aging Harmon Killebrew could take first....ambitious endeavor
given he had only played class A ball and missed huge stretches of time to military service....Raised BA by 30 points in 1972 a
mark reached and once exceeded in his
years with the Twins....despite having one of the best on base percentages in
AL was unhappy in Minnesota due to lack of playing time....coming off a BA of
.302 signed a one year contract with the stipulation that he would be offered
in the expansion draft....responded with career best 11 home run 61 RBI....looked
at being picked by Seattle as a new career....reality was he hit underwhelming
.236....hopes for a full comeback never materialized next year and traded to
Royals....starts career as a bench player; sub outfielder and pinch hitter for 7 more seasons.....stops include Kansas City, Toronto, and 5 years in St Louis ending 1985.
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I just remember him with the Mariners. I didn't think his career went back that far. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteI think Braun had an identity crisis. Buried under than big names of Killebrew, Carew, and Oliva, but the Twins also employed the similarly named Steve Brye, who put up similar batting numbers.
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