Three 2010s Brewers Greats Added to Wall of Honor, Walk of Fame

Christmas came early for several early 2000s Milwaukee Brewers and one former Milwaukee Braves player.

On Thursday, the Brewers announced the newest inductees on to the team’s Wall of Honor, as well as their Walk of Fame. You may recognize a few of those names as some of the players most responsible for recent playoff runs.

While Ryan Braun and Jonathan Lucroy get their names added to the Brewers Wall of Honor, Prince Fielder joins the Walk of Fame.

Ryan Braun and Jonathan Lucroy will now be included in the almost 75 names on the Brewers Wall of Honor. They have already been included on the team’s web site list. Prince Fielder, meanwhile, had already been part of the Wall.

Braun officially retired from baseball this past year on September 14th, 2021 after spending his entire 14 seasons with Milwaukee. Fans wondered for a time last season if he might make one final appearance for the Crew during their 2021 playoff run, but that turned out to be just a pipe dream.

Instead, he finished his career as one of the greatest hitters in Brewers history, batting a career .256 with a .358 on base percentage and a .532 slugging percentage as well as 1154 RBIs and a franchise record 352 home runs.

The accolades for Braun are lengthy. He was the NL Rookie of the Year in 2007 and the NL MVP in 2011. He was a six-time All-Star and a five-time Silver Slugger. He also was a part of Milwaukee playoff runs in 2008, 2011, 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Lucroy was with the Crew from 2010 to 2016. He was traded before the deadline in 2016 to the Texas Rangers. One of the players in return for Lucroy was Lewis Brinson, the major piece of the trade with the Miami Marlins that brought Christian Yelich to Milwaukee.

Since joining with the Rangers, Lucroy has played with the Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Angels, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals and most recently with the Atlanta Braves.

Lucroy signed a minor league contract with Atlanta and ended up appearing in two games with them. He was later DFA’d and elected free agency. The Braves would go on to win the World Series, also happening to have former Brewer Stephen Vogt as one of their catchers, but Lucroy did throw out the first pitch before Game 2 of the NLDS against the Braves in Milwaukee.

For his seven-year Brewers career, Lucroy had a .284 batting average and a .779 OPS with 79 homers and 387 runs batted in. He also was a part of the 2011 playoff team and was an All-Star in both 2014 and 2016.

The newly Hall of Fame eligible Fielder will become the 21st inductee for the Milwaukee Brewers Walk of Fame. It was established in 2001, and currently includes such greats as Hank Aaron, Cecil Cooper, Rollie Fingers, Paul Molitor, Allan H. “Bud” Selig, Gorman Thomas, Bob Uecker and Robin Yount, just to name a few. It will very likely include Braun at some point as well.

When Prince was inducted into the Wall of Honor 2018, he threw out the first pitch and Ryan Braun was the catcher. If the roles are reversed, will we get to see their famous boxing celebration one more time? One can only hope.

Wes Covington played from 1956 to 1966 and was on the Milwaukee Braves from 1956 to 1961. His defense was a major part of the team’s success in 1957 World Series and helped the Braves win the whole thing. That year, he hit .284, had 21 home runs and 65 RBIs over just 96 games.

Over his career, Covington was a .279 hitter with 131 home runs and 499 RBIs. Wes spent his life after baseball in Canada and helped operate a sporting goods business. Covington died in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on Independence Day in 2011 at the age of 79.

Wes will be become the 19th member of the Braves Wall of Honor and is also already on the team’s web site.

Congratulations to Ryan Braun, Jonathan Lucroy, Prince Fielder and Wes Covington!