MLB.com

Team: Milwaukee Brewers
Position: Third base
Stats: .334 AVG, 27 HR, 73 RBIs, 14 SB
Measurements: 6'2", 200 lbs.
Nicknames: "The Hebrew Hammer" (not my creation, but it works)
Signature: Taking the Major Leagues by storm to such an extent that it is completely acceptable for one to say that a red-hot hitter is "going Braun" or has posted a "Braunian" stat line. Yes, he can be an adjective.
Mysteries: He can't possibly keep up this awesomeness ... can he? Has there ever been a bigger discrepancy in talent between two players with the same first and last name? Does the Royals' Ryan Braun despise him for making him look bad?

Background

Entering the 2007 season, the Brewers had third base filled. Though top prospect Ryan Braun lurked in the Minors, he still was considered to be a year or two away and had yet to have even tasted Triple-A. In short, the position was set in stone for Opening Day. The Brewers brass felt comfortable wit their man. His name was Corey Koskie.

Six months later, Koskie still hasn't seen the field due to an unfortunate battle with post-concussion syndrome, and the rest is history.

But let's go deeper than that. How has The Man They Call Braun, who went virtually unowned in all but dynasty leagues entering the season, posted arguably the greatest single rookie season since Albert Pujols in 2001?

To the evidence!

The evidence

Land of opportunity: As it often goes in baseball, one man's loss is another man's gain, and with Braun, the theory holds. With Koskie sidelined, the Brewers quickly realized that having a two-headed monster at third featuring Craig Counsell and Tony Graffanino wasn't such a good idea. Braun quickly made the most of his opportunity by slamming an RBI double and a sac fly in his Major League debut on May 25.

Early bloomer: As can be seen with Justin Upton, Alex Gordon and Cameron Maybin, top prospects are usually slow to adjust and often go through rough patches in their first Major League go-round. This hasn't been the case with Braun ... at all. At the tender age of 23, Braun has upped his batting average 30 points, his on-base percentage 12 points and his slugging percentage 48 points relative to his Double-A marks of a year ago.

Protection agency: Armed with a potent lineup, the Brewers lead the Majors in homers (187) and rank second in the National League in slugging (.452). Hitting around such budding stars as Prince Fielder (.284-40-99) and J.J. Hardy (.275-23-73) has afforded Braun as much protection as one could possibly dream of and left NL hurlers without the luxury of pitching around him.

The chosen one: We all know that Braun has the talent, but talent alone can take you only so far. As has often proved to be the case in Unusual Suspects, Lady Luck has been extremely kind to the Hebrew Hammer this year. His .378 batting average on balls in play is a cool 65 points higher than the Triple-A mark he posted prior to getting the call this season and a 54-point improvement over his Double-A clip of a year ago. With so much good fortune on his side, one can only ask: Is he the Chosen One?

Conspiracy theory

I scratched the surface of this conspiracy in my Aug. 2 Wiretap column, but there's so much more to it, so I had to dig deeper.

As hypothesized with the Chris Youngs, is it possible that there is some conspiracy in Major League Baseball whereby if two players share the same name, only one of them can produce superstar stats at any given time?

Let's take a look at the other Ryan Braun, a little-known reliever for the Kansas City Royals. Before the reign of the Hebrew Hammer, Ryan Braun the pitcher was an unassuming innings eater who posted a workmanlike ERA (4.82) for April. A Joba Chamberlain he was not, but he was considered a work in progress with a bright future ahead of him (2.16 ERA for Triple-A Omaha in 2006).

As noted earlier, Ryan Braun the hitter made his presence felt in Milwaukee immediately upon being called up on May 25. Who could have imagined that his impact would be so extreme that it would reverberate in the American League city of Kansas City?

WARNING: WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ WILL BLOW YOUR MIND.

On May 26, a single day after Ryan Braun the hitter made his debut, Ryan Braun the pitcher imploded by allowing five earned runs in two short innings as his ERA skyrocketed to 7.94 in what was easily his worst outing of the season. In fact, during the Braunian Era, the Royals reliever's ERA sits at a paltry 7.15, compared to the 4.82 mark he posted before his hot-shot namesake got the call.

Still not convinced?

Then why don't you ask Brian R. Hunter (career .234 hitter) and two-time American League stolen base champion Brian L. Hunter (career .264 AVG, 260 SB) what they think about all this?