Ryan Braun’s Error Log
by South Side Rob
Obviously, I’m not happy with the decision to move Ryan Braun out of 3rd base. I’m not happy with settling to move Bill Hall there, I’m not happy with the signing of Mike Cameron. When I read that Braun is excited to make the move, that tells me either he did not like 3rd base or just didn’t have the confidence needed to play the position which is hard for me to believe. We seen how confident this kid can be with the bat in his hand. I’m still shocked that they have given up this quickly on his ability to play 3rd base. Everybody has had their opinion on Braun’s play at third. Most people have even stepped up and said to me that Braun’s error were the cause of more Brewer losses than anything else on the team even the decisions of manager Ned Yost. At first, I just ran my mouth without being able to prove if Ryan’s errors cost the Brewers wins and if so, how many. Here is the log. Just so everybody knows especially the fans who have bashed Ryan’s play at 3rd base, Ryan was charged with 26 errors in 23 games which breaks down to 21 games with one error, one game with two errors, and one game with three errors. The Brewers record in games which Braun was charged with an error was 12-11. The Brewers were 54-58 in games where Braun started and 54-59 in every game in which he appeared. This could become a very long and boring read but please read it and then make sure to tell us at the Brewer Nation how many games did Braun’s errors cost the Milwaukee Brewers. I will be more than happy to share with any one where I have found this research. Enjoy…
June 1st 2007, Marlins at the Brewers, top of the ninth, Brewers leading 8-4, two outs and a runner on first, Hanley Ramirez reaches on an infield single. On the throw, the runner from first scores because of Ryan Braun’s first error of the season. With Miguel Cabrera batting, Ramirez takes second due to defensive indifference. Cabrera proceeds to strike out and the game ends with the Brewers winning 8-5. Ryan Braun’s first error did allow a run to score but the Brewers won the game anyway.
June 8th 2007, Brewers at the Rangers, bottom of the first, no score, two outs and a runner on first, Sammy Sosa reaches on an infield single. On the throw, the runner from first advances to third because of Ryan Braun’s second error of the season. Victor Diaz then proceeds to strike out to end the first inning with the score tied at 0. Ryan Braun’s second error did not allow a run to score even though the Brewers eventually lost the game 9-6.
June 10th 2007, Brewers at the Rangers, bottom of the third, Brewers trailing 2-0, Marlon Byrd leads off and reaches on a throwing error by Ryan Braun. Byrd advances to 2nd on the bad throw. Byrd then scores on Michael Young’s single in the next at bat. Inning ends with the Brewers trailing 3-0. Ryan Braun’s third error did allow a run to score but the Brewers eventually won the game 9-6 in 12 innings.
June 14th 2007, Brewers at the Tigers, bottom of the seventh, Brewers leading 5-3, Omar Infante reaches on a bunt single and then advances to 2nd on Ryan Braun’s 4th error of the season. Infante lands up stranded and the inning ends without him scoring. The Brewers eventually win the game 6-5.
June 15th 2007, Brewers at the Twins, bottom of the second, no score, no outs and a runner on first, Torii Hunter reaches on Ryan Braun’s 5th error of the season. The runner on first advances to third and Hunter is thrown out trying to go to 2nd. The runner on 3rd scores when the next batter grounds out. The inning ends with the Brewers trailing 1-0. The Brewers eventually win the game 11-3.
July 1st 2007, Brewers at the Cubs, bottom of the third, Brewers trailing 2-0, runner on 2nd and the third run for the Cubs had already scored in the inning when Aramis Ramirez reaches on a Ryan Braun error, his 6th of the year. The runner on 2nd advances to 3rd and eventually scores later in the inning. The inning ends with the Brewers trailing 4-0. The Brewers eventually lost the game 5-1. Ryan Braun’s error did lead to a run scoring. The Brewers did lose the game by 4 runs however.
July 3rd 2007, Brewers at the Pirates, bottom of the third, Brewers leading 1-0, runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out when Freddy Sanchez reaches on a ground ball error from Ryan Braun, his 7th of the season. The bases are now loaded. The runner on 3rd eventually scores in the inning and the inning ends with the score tied at 1. The Brewers eventually lose the game 6-2. While Ryan’s error led to a run scoring, the Brewers ended up losing by 4 runs.
July 7th 2007, Brewers at the Nationals, bottom of the seventh, Brewers trailing 5-3, bases loaded with two outs when Ryan Langerhans hits a foul ball that Ryan Braun misplays and is charged with his 8th error of the season. Langerhans then hits another foul pop to Braun in which he catches to end the inning. Ryan’s 8th error was made in foul grounds and nobody ended up scoring as a result. The Brewers eventually lost the game 5-4.
July 15th 2007, Rockies at the Brewers, top of the seventh, game tied at 2, runner on 2nd with one out when Ryan Spilborghs reaches first on the throwing error from Ryan Braun his 9th error of the season. Inning ends with the score still tied at 2. The Brewers eventually win the game 4-3.
July 16th 2007, Diamondbacks at the Brewers, top of the first, Brewers trailing 1-0, nobody and one out when Eric Byrnes reaches first on a poor throw from Ryan Braun, his 10th error of the season. Byrnes does not land up scoring and the inning ends with the Brewers still trailing 1-0. Top of the third, the Brewers leading 3-1 with one out and a runner on first, Ryan Braun commits his 11th error trying to force the runner on 2nd. The runner eventually winds up at third but does not score. The inning ends with the Brewers still leading 3-1. The Brewers eventually win the game 4-3.
July 27th 2007, Brewers at the Cardinals, bottom of the 2nd, no score, two outs with runners on first and second when Ryan Braun commits his 12th error of the season on a ground ball throw to first to load the bases. The next batter ended the inning and the score remained tied at 0 when the inning was over. The Brewers eventually win the game 12-2.
July 28th 2007, Brewers at the Cardinals, game one, bottom of the third, Brewers leading 6-0, one out, runner on 2nd when Ryan Braun commits his 13th error of the season on a ground ball throw to first. Before the inning ends, two runs score to make the score 6-2 Brewers. The Brewers eventually lose the game 7-6.
July 28th 2007, Brewers at the Cardinals, game two, bottom of the sixth, Brewers trailing 3-2, two outs, nobody on when Ryan Braun commits his 14th error of the season on a misplayed ground ball to 3rd. The next batter ends the inning and the score does not change. The Brewers eventually lose the game 5-2.
July 31st 2007, Mets at the Brewers, top of the 7th, Brewers trailing 2-1, one out, runner on 2nd when Ryan Braun commits his 15th error of the season on a poor throw to first base. The inning ends without the score changing. The Brewers eventually win the game 4-2.
August 5th 2007, Phillies at the Brewers, top of the 9th, Brewers leading 6-4, two outs bases loaded when Ryan Braun misplays a ground ball for his 16th error of the season. Two runners score on the play, and the inning ends with the score tied at 6. Brewers would eventually lose 8-6 in eleven innings.
August 8th 2007, Brewers at the Rockies, bottom of the 4th, Brewers trailing 12-2, nobody out, runner on 2nd when Ryan Braun commits his 17th error of the season with an errant throw to first base. 4 more runs would go on to score in the inning and the score would be Rockies 16, Brewers 2. The Brewers eventually lost 19-4.
August 14th 2007, Cardinals at the Brewers, top of the 5th, Brewers leading 3-2, one out, bases loaded when Ryan Braun commits his 18th error of the season on an attempted force-out. 2 runs score on the play. When inning is over, the Brewers are now trailing 8-3. The Brewers eventually lost 12-4. According to Dave (bowlhl300), this play was a routine double-play grounder that would have gotten the Brewers out of the inning. This was the game that Dave says he will never forget. In his opinion, this game was lost solely on the error by Braun.
August 17th 2007, Reds at the Brewers, top of the 7th, Brewers trailing 4-1, nobody out, runner on 1st when Ryan Braun commits his 19th error of the season attempting to force the runner at 2nd base when throw was wild. 2 runs scored on the play and when the inning ended, the Brewers trailed 6-1. The Brewers eventually lost 8-3.
August 20th 2007, Brewers at the Diamondbacks, bottom of the first, Brewers leading 3-0, nobody out, and nobody on base when Ryan Braun commits his 20th error of the season on a poor throw to first base allowing Chris Young to reach. Nobody scores on the play and when the inning is over, the Brewers are still leading 3-0. The Brewers eventually won the game 9-0.
August 31st 2007, Pirates at the Brewers, top of the first, no score, two outs, nobody on when Freddy Sanchez reached on a poor throw from Ryan Braun which became his 21st error of the season. The inning ended with no score. The Brewers eventually won the game 3-2.
September 15th 2007, Reds at the Brewers, top of the 5th, Brewers leading 3-1, nobody on, nobody out when David Ross reached first on Ryan Braun’s throwing error of a bunt his 22nd error of the season. No scoring would take place in the inning. The Brewers eventually won the game 5-3.
September 24th 2007, Cardinals at the Brewers, top of the 4th, Brewers leading 4-0, one out, nobody on when Aaron Miles reached first after a throwing error by Ryan Braun his 23rd of the season. Miles and another run would eventually score cutting the Brewers lead to 4-2. The Brewers eventually won the game 13-5.
September 27th 2007, Padres at the Brewers, top of the 2nd, no score, 1 out and nobody on when Khalil Greene reached first on Ryan Braun’s 24th error. Greene then advanced to 2nd on a errant throw by Ryan Braun in which he was charged with a 2nd error on the play, his 25th of the season. The inning ended and nobody scored. Top of the 7th, Brewers trailing 5-2, nobody out, runner on 1st when Brady Clark was safe at 2nd when Ryan Braun attempted to force Clark at 2nd on the bunt by Oscar Robles. Both Clark and Robles did score in the inning and when the inning ended, the Brewers were trailing 9-2. The Brewers eventually lost the game 9-5.
The Brewer Nation 
There’s no telling whether Braun will improve at third…assuming he is granted the right to have growing pains..No hit-all field players wax on about defense not being something that can be taught. It seems logical….like drivers hate bikers when they’re driving and the same drivers hate drivers when they are biking. Opportunistic reasoning. There are many examples of botchy fielders who transformed into decent gloves..I think Robin Yount made more than 40 errors at SS during his teens.
Maybe, Braun is better suited for LF. Maybe Hall will be better off at third base.
It’s all very confusing especially since Gwynn is being mentioned as Cameron’s replacement during his 25 game punishment because Gwynn “deserves a chance to prove his worth.” If we trade Hall, aren’t we replacing an old girlfriend with a rebound that resembles the old one? Hall will most likely reach Cameron’s level of defense and is very close to his run production already…as mentioned.
This all seems like TOO MUCH CHANGE for a team that was in 1st place nearly the entire season.
Then again, maybe Kendall and Cameron will fuel inject the bottom of the order and set the table for the top of the order. I hope so. I hope Melvin who already has a Texas Ranger pennant under his belt knows way more than the rest of us.
Your description of the errors seems like a pretty convincing argument that Braun’s errors are not responsible for Brewer losses, but there’s something missing in those write-ups, and that’s the mental and physical toll it takes on your team.
All of these errors have the ability to cause your teammates to lose confidence in you at the corner and start pressing more or perhaps causes them to take a few pitches off. The big one, however, which I can’t say will necessarily matter because i don’t have the numbers, is the number of additional pitches required to finish the inning. We talked a lot about a taxed bullpen and starting staff, but roughly, 26 errors leads to 150 additional pitches, perhaps another inning out of the bullpen, but most importantly it gives the guys at the top of the lineup another shot. The long term effects are not necessarily seen.
That’s just the devil’s advocate talking. I still want him at 3rd as well. i feel like we owe it to Hall, to Matt LaPorta and to Ryan Braun to let these things work themselves out. Are we going to trade Bill Hall next year and let LaPorta play? Bad idea. I guess all we can do is just wait.
The Brewers made no secrets about valuing Bill Hall’s versatility. When they extended his contract last year, it was management that praised his dynamic skills…his ability to play multiple positions. What the Brewers owe Hall is continued recognition of what I consider the most amazing sort of a baseball player…one who can play anywhere on the diamond. Bill Hall entertained at SS and he entertained in CF and I am sure he will entertain at 3B….And beyond the surface entertainment value, he proved to be improving day after day.
I hope Hall is vagabonded all over the field indefinitely…according to situations. I don’t believe in this “my switching positions caused me to slump.” Sure, it’s an obvious possibility, but even Hall wouldn’t make those kinds of excuses.
It wears me down to see the pampering of players and fans reluctance to encourage the Chone Figgins and Bill Halls of baseball versatility.
It’s not quite Babe Ruth pitching and hitting, but I would love to see JJ HArdy or Cory Hart take some throws from atop the mound…end this pampering and collective hunch of an opinion that injuries will result…
To be honest, I know I’ve never made comments about Ryan Braun costing games, but I think you wasted time trying to prove he didn’t. Obviously he wasn’t the cause of a lot of losses if any. I don’t know. An error usually results in a base, not a run. So to me, all the rest of that lies on the Brewers Defense/Pitching. Now, as for the move of Ryan Braun and Bill Hall. I hate it. HATE it. Do I really mind having Braun in left? Not a lot, because he gives speed the position. But we don’t know if he can make those kind of accurate throws when he couldn’t even throw it across the diamond half the time. Hopefully he can make good catches too. Left isn’t necessarily the hardest position, but it’s not easy. So we’ll see about that, but the Bill Hall thing is where I just really draw the line. Bill Hall is not a very good player, I know he’s a great guy and teammate, which everyone agrees on. But he is not a great player. He had a great year, once, but that was it. I mean I think we should just get rid of him before he has no value at all. And maybe I’m wrong, maybe he will have another breakout year, but as far as I’m concerned, his bat is as good as worthless. Not to mention he wasn’t exactly the great center fielder of all time. Hopefully if we do end up keeping him, he does alright at 3rd base.
I don’t know, but I think if we keep Bill Hall, starting at least, our lineup is not going to be very good. Right now, and correct me if I am wrong, but we have basically all righties. And not really good righties, most of them don’t hit very well against both pitching styles (left/right). I think there has to be someone left out there that could move to third base for Bill Hall and perhaps a pitcher.
Itemizing all Brauns mistakes seems pretty negative to me when we are talking about the NL rookie of the year! If I were Bill Hall I would want out of the organization with all the jerking around. Bill Hall has been a real asset and I still believe he was the best SS we have had in the past 5 years overall. He made spectacular plays Hardy could only dream of. Sure he fell off offensively last year, but I suspect he will definitely be back on his game. Its funny how Cappy gives us two great seasons, then a down year and every one wants to dump him. For what? He is more likely to rebound than his replacement is to do well. The Brewers have missed the boat because they needed one more big bat more than anything. With one more big bat thrown into the mix with what they have, they could get by with the pitching they have now for sure. But its a joke if they think Mike Cameron is that bat. Sure, 160 strike outs worth with 70 rbi’s. How is that superior to Jenkins? I feel like the Brewers have just making decisions/signings to see if some guys might work out. Not that any of these guy are specific answers. Kendall may bounce back a bit though. Many of these guys have seen better days and we needed some signings with better days ahead.