Ryan Braun

Ryan Joseph Braun (born November 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and third baseman who played his entire fourteen-season Major League Baseball (MLB) career exclusively for the Milwaukee Brewers from 2007 to 2020.

A standout at the University of Miami, where he earned All-American honors, Braun was selected by the Brewers with the fifth overall pick in the 2005 MLB Draft and debuted the following year, immediately establishing himself as a power hitter by winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 2007 with 34 home runs and 97 RBIs in his first full season.

Ryan Joseph Braun was born on November 17, 1983, in Mission Hills, California, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles. He was raised by his father, Joe Braun, who was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, after much of his extended family perished in the Holocaust, and his mother, Diane Braun, an American of Christian background. The family maintained a tight-knit, interfaith household, with Joe identifying as Jewish and Diane Catholic, though Braun did not regularly attend temple or undergo a bar mitzvah ceremony.

Braun grew up alongside his younger brother, Steve, in Los Angeles, where baseball dominated his early interests alongside a strong parental emphasis on academics. His parents instilled discipline through school performance and sports, shaping a childhood centered on athletic development and education rather than formal religious observance. Braun later described watching Los Angeles Dodgers games with his family as a formative experience, fostering his passion for the sport from a young age. Despite the mixed religious heritage, Braun has publicly embraced his Jewish paternal lineage, particularly in professional contexts.

Ryan Braun was born on November 17, 1983, in Mission Hills, California, to Joe Braun, a Jewish father born in Tel Aviv, Israel, whose extended family suffered significant losses during the Holocaust, and Diane Braun, a Catholic mother of American descent. Raised in a mixed-religion household without regular temple attendance or a bar mitzvah, Braun has nonetheless publicly identified as Jewish and expressed pride in his heritage, noting the influence of his father's background.