Braun: Brewers’ winning ways made him MVP

Minutes after he was named NL MVP, Ryan Braun appeared on the Bill Michaels Show, a syndicated radio program in Wisconsin. Here’s some of what he had to say:

“It wasn’t expected at all,” Braun told Michaels. “I really had no idea what to expect. I certainly wasn’t going to make any assumptions [and] I expected it to be a really close vote.”

One of Braun’s first congratulatory calls came from another MVP — Super Bowl hero Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers quarterback and one of Braun’s best friends.

Braun said he’d also spoken to runner-up Kemp.

“If [Kemp] had won the award, I couldn’t have argued with it, by any means,” Braun said. “If Prince Fielder had won the award, I couldn’t have argued with it, by any means. I just feel so fortunate to have ended up winning.”

Of Kemp’s candidacy, Braun said, “I think if you honestly assess my season versus Matt Kemp’s, I think Matt Kemp probably had a better year than me, individually. But I was fortunate to be on a better team and had an opportunity to be in some big moments.”

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