Braun set to join baseball icons in Wisconsin Athletic HOF

MILWAUKEE -- Former Brewers slugger Ryan Braun will become the latest inductee to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame with ties to pro baseball during an induction ceremony in July.

The Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame was established in 1951 to honor outstanding sports figures who are from Wisconsin or who played in the state, and is recognized as the first state athletic Hall of Fame in the U.S. The inductees span the breadth of the sports world, from baseball, football and basketball to auto racing, water skiing, bowling, cycling and speed skating.

Originally, bronze Hall of Fame plaques were displayed inside the Milwaukee Arena and were viewable only for paying visitors. But for the 50th anniversary in 2001, the plaques were moved to a public plaza outside the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on N. Vel R. Phillips Ave., making them available to sports fans and history buffs for free, year-round.

Here are the inductees with ties to professional baseball.

(Note: ^^ indicates Wisconsin natives)

Hank Aaron (inducted 1988)
“Hammerin’ Hank” was born in Mobile, Ala., but developed deep ties to Wisconsin, starting with his professional debut in 1952 with the Eau Claire Bears, a Minor League affiliate of the Boston Braves. The Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953, and Aaron arrived in the big leagues the following year, launching a Hall of Fame career that included stops in Milwaukee with both the Braves and Brewers.

Ryan Braun (2026)
A first-round Draft pick in 2005 whose arrival in 2007 as the National League Rookie of the Year coincided with the Brewers’ return to contention, Braun won the NL MVP Award in 2011 and finished as the franchise’s all-time home run leader.

Cecil Cooper (2007)
The sweet-swinging first baseman played 11 of his 17 big league seasons for the Brewers and made five All-Star Games.

Prince Fielder (2024)
A slugging first baseman who was a better pure hitter than he often gets credit for, Fielder supplanted Willie Mays as the youngest player to hit 50 home runs in a single season in 2007.

Rollie Fingers (2023)
The mustachioed reliever won the American League Cy Young Award and the AL MVP Award in 1981, and he was inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.

Jim Gantner (2005)^^
A hard-nosed second baseman who wore No. 17 and played all 17 of his big league seasons for the Brewers, Gantner is the pride of Eden, Wis.

Earl Gillespie (2001)
The radio voice of the Milwaukee Braves from 1953-63 also worked for more than two decades for Milwaukee's WITI-TV.

Burleigh Grimes (1954)^^
Born in Emerald, Wis., and known as “Old Stubblebeard,” Grimes played 19 Major League seasons from 1916-34 and was the last pitcher officially permitted to throw the spitball. He led baseball in wins during the 1920s and was selected to the Hall of Fame in 1964 by the Veterans Committee.

Charlie Grimm (1977)
The first manager of the Milwaukee Braves when they moved from Boston for the 1953 season, Grimm had actually managed in Milwaukee before. He skippered the Minor League Brewers in the 1940s and ‘50s, winning American Association titles in 1943 and ‘51.

Joe Hauser (1967)^^
The Milwaukee-born slugger played parts of six seasons in the Majors but was better known for some prolific seasons in the Minor Leagues, including a pair of years with 60-plus homers.

Davy Jones (1964)^^
Hailing from Cambria, Wis., Jones played for the 1901 Milwaukee Brewers in the inaugural season of the American League at the start of a 15-year career.

Addie Joss (1951)^^
Joss pitched two no-hitters (including a perfect game), twice led the Majors in ERA and might have played a lot more than nine seasons had he not succumbed to tuberculosis in 1911 at age 31. He was born in Woodland, Wis., and made it into Cooperstown via the Veterans Committee in 1978.

Ken Keltner (1970)^^
The seven-time All-Star third baseman was born in Milwaukee and may be best known for making a pair of backhanded plays to help end Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak on July 17, 1941.

Herb Kohl (2007)^^
Among the myriad things he’s remembered for in his home state -- businessman, philanthropist, NBA team owner, U.S. Senator -- Kohl was one of the original investors in what became the Milwaukee Brewers.

Ed Konetchy (1961)^^
A slick-fielding first baseman from La Crosse, Wis., Konetchy played in 2,085 Major League games.

Harvey Kuenn (1988)^^
Kuenn grew up playing ball in the sandlots of West Allis and won a batting title with the Tigers in 1959. He took over as Brewers manager midway through the 1982 season and led “Harvey's Wallbangers" to the AL pennant.

Fred Luderus (1957)^^
Before Cal Ripken Jr. and Lou Gehrig, there was Milwaukee's Luderus, who played in 528 consecutive games for the Phillies from 1916-19, a record at the time.

Eddie Mathews (1976)
The Braves’ Hall of Fame third baseman hit 47 homers in 1953, the team’s first season in Milwaukee. He finished with 512 career homers.

George McBride (1952)^^
Another member of the 1901 Milwaukee Brewers in the American League’s inaugural season, the Milwaukee native was among the league’s premier defensive shortstops during a 16-year career.

Paul Molitor (1999)
“The Ignitor" played 15 seasons for the Brewers alongside Robin Yount and Jim Gantner, and he helped turn the Brewers into an AL powerhouse. He went on to win a World Series with Toronto and joined the 3,000-hit club with Minnesota, but he went into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004 wearing a Brewers cap.

Charles A. "Kid" Nichols (1951)^^
Born in Madison, Nichols won 277 games in his first nine Major League seasons alone, including seven seasons of 30-plus victories. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Old Timers committee in 1949.

Bud Selig (2001)^^
Selig was a diehard fan of the Milwaukee Braves who was heartbroken when the franchise left for Atlanta. So, he worked to bring a team back to Milwaukee and succeeded in 1970 with the Brewers. Selig’s office stayed in Milwaukee while he served as the ninth Commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1998-2015, and he was inducted to the Hall of Fame on his 83rd birthday in 2017.

Al Simmons (1951)^^
Simmons, a Hall of Fame outfielder, became known as "The Duke of Milwaukee" because he played like royalty while hitting .334 in a 20-year Major League career.

Warren Spahn (1973)
The winningest left-handed pitcher in Major League history (363 victories) and a Hall of Famer, Spahn played for the Braves for their entire stint in Milwaukee minus their final season.

Billy Sullivan (1953)^^
Fort Atkinson's Sullivan was regarded as one of the best pre-World War I catchers in baseball.

Gorman Thomas (2003)
The swashbuckling center fielder was the Brewers organization’s earliest first-round Draft pick, selected 21st overall by the Seattle Pilots in 1969. He won two American League home run titles with the Brewers.

Bob Uecker (1998)^^
The most beloved .200 hitter in history played for the Milwaukee Braves and then was the radio voice of his hometown Brewers from 1971-2024 before his death from lung cancer in January 2025, just shy of his 91st birthday.

Robin Yount (1995)
The greatest Brewers player of all spent all 20 of his Major League seasons in Milwaukee, starting as an 18-year-old “kid” shortstop in 1974. In 1999, he became the first player inducted into Cooperstown wearing a Brewers cap.