I wanted to take this opportunity to bid happy trails to two term Milwaukee Brewer slugger Russell Branyan who signed yesterday with our old pal (the man who should be General Manager of the Crew) Jack Zduriencik and his Seattle Mariners. Last season Russell ‘The Muscle’ (I always hated that nickname, it seemed so obvious, but I guess it worked) became an instant fan favorite after being called up from Nashville and subsequently littering Miller Park with some of the most prodigious homeruns Milwaukee fans had ever seen. For a stretch last year Branyan was posting Ruth or Bonds-esque numbers with an astonishingly low rate of AB’s between homeruns (I don’t recall exactly what the number was at its peak, but it was pretty eye-popping). As Ponyboy said it best, “Nothing gold can stay” and the shine wore off Branyan and injuries and Major League breaking balls caught up to him, but personally two of Branyan’s homeruns provided me a couple of my better Brewers memories from the 2008 season.
1) Saturday June 14th against the Twins Russell pinch hit with the Brewers down by a run facing closer Jeff Nathan; two outs, bottom of the 9th and Branyan takes Nathan deep to left field to tie the game and send it to extra innings.
2) Tuesday July 28th, first game of the disastrous 4 game sweep by the Cubs at Miller Park, Branyan pinch hits in the 7th and provides the only real pleasurable moment of the series by taking Bob Howry deep to left to tie the game and swing the momentum in Miller Park back to the Brewers fans.
Unfortunately, both these exciting memories provided by Branyan came in Brewers losses (the bullpen ended up blowing both games mentioned above).
I’m sad to see Branyan go. He was a very solid pinch hitter to have at your disposal. And it is always exciting to have a guy at the plate who you know could take the next pitch deep to potentially tie or win the game in a late inning situation. Watching three-true-outcome hitters at the plate is just downright fun in this guy’s opinion. In the end Branyan is probably no better than a homeless man’s Adam Dunn, but thanks for the memories and when the Brewers send Tony Gwynn Jr to the plate to pinch hit in a one run game in the future I will think of Russell Branyan fondly.
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Kenny Mayne has to be excited about this signing.
ReplyDeleteI love the "Ode to Russell" Captain. He was quite the Brewer...a throwback, if you will, in the mold of Gorman Thomas. His contributions to the Brewers go beyond a sweet nickname and two memorable homeruns. When Russell made his return to the Brewers on May 25, the Crew was 23-26 mired in a dogfight of a series with the Washington Nationals. The Brewers streaked out to a 20-9 record over the next month with Branyan in the batting order regularly. Over the next few months The Muscle saw less playing time, but he was the MVP of June in this blogger's eyes.
ReplyDeleteSolid analysis Chuckie. My only regret of the Branyan era is that I didn't try to augment his nickname to be Russell 'The Love Muscle' over the course of last season.
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