The Baseball Writers Association of America Hall of Fame ballot arrived Nov. 17, and former Milwaukee Brewers star Ryan Braun is among the newcomers who will be up for consideration.
Braun was one of 12 frist-time candidates, a list that also includes former Brewers pitcher Gio González. Former Brewers pitcher Francisco Rodríguez is a holdover from last year’s ballot.
Players on the list will need 75% of the vote to win election into the Hall of fame, and they’ll remain on the ballot each year, as long as they recieve 5% of the vote.
For Braun, the latter number is the more interesting pursuit. Though he made six all-star teams, won an MVP and Rookie of the Year award and stands as the Brewers’ all-time leader in homers (352) with top-three placements in RBIs (second), slugging (third), runs (third), hits (third), doubles (second), total bases (second), triples (third) and stolen bases (third), his overall numbers don’t represent a conventional Hall of Fame resume.
And even if they did, there’s an even bigger hurdle to clear. Braun’s suspension for performance-enhancing drug usage and his famous denial almost certainly put him in the same camp as players like Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds. Those two are slam-dunk statistical Hall of Fame cases who have been denied enough votes, presumably due to their own connection to banned substances.
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Braun, who was inducted into the Brewers Walk of Fame in 2024, has nonetheless authored some of the most iconic moments in Brewers history, including home runs in 2008 and 2011.
Players like Bonds and Clemens are no longer on the standard ballot and could only achieve induction at a later date through the various “era” committees, frequently enough described under the blanket term of the “Veterans Committee.
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