Ryan Braun Named National League’s MVP
Ryan Braun is the first Jewish MVP in almost 50 years.
Ryan BraunRyan Braun, outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers and affectionately nicknamed ‘The Hebrew Hammer’, was appointed as the National League Most Valuable Player (MVP). This makes him the first Jewish player is almost 50 years to be MVP since Sandy Koufax in 1963.
Braun, son of an Israeli-born Jewish father, received 20 (of 32) first-place votes and 388 points in voting conducted by the Baseball writers’ Association of America. Matt Kemp- Los Angeles center fielder- came in a distant second with 10 first-place votes and 332 points.
Gerald Eskenazi, retired sportswriter and current Forward writer, said “Ryan Braun is a heck of a player, a significant player and a significant Jew.”
'The Hebrew Hammer' is a nickname that Braun has picked up, but was originally used to described Jewish baseball greats Hank Greenberg and Al Rosen.
“He’s up there in the pantheon with Koufax and Greenberg…I’d put him over Al Rosen,” Eskenazi said.
Although Braun isn’t very religious, he does have a strong connection to his Jewish roots.
“I am Jewish,” Braun said last year. “It’s something I’m really proud of. But I don’t want to make it into something more than what it is. I didn’t have a bar mitzvah. I don’t want to pretend that I did. I didn’t celebrate the holidays.
“It’s a touchy subject because I don’t want to offend anybody, and I don’t want groups claiming me now because I’m having success. But I do consider myself definitely Jewish. And I’m extremely proud to be a role model for young Jewish kids.”
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