Braun thankful after nearly losing home to wildfire
Milwaukee Brewers leftfielder Ryan Braun has an entirely different perspective about what to be truly thankful for this Thanksgiving.
Braun, who participated as always in the team’s food drive Wednesday morning at Miller Park, escaped with wife Larisa and their two young children before the California wildfires destroyed a significant portion of the Malibu area where they live. How close did his house come to burning down? said.
“We thought we had lost it at one point,” said Braun, who grew up in the Los Angeles area that has been devastated by the fires while also recovering from the nightclub mass shooting. “We feel incredibly fortunate and grateful that we will eventually be able to have a house to go back to.
“There are things that happen that put life in perspective. We’re hoping to be back in our house within the next couple of weeks. We’re just incredibly thankful for the firemen, the policemen, all the first responders. At the same time, we feel just awful for so many friends and family members who lost their houses.
“A lot of friends from our kids’ schools lost their houses. The thought of everybody having to completely start over is a really difficult thing, especially as you approach the holidays.”
With so many people losing their lives, especially farther north in California, Braun said he and Larisa kept up with reports as fires encroached on their Malibu neighborhood. Rather than wait for the last minute to evacuate, as many did with sometimes tragic results, Braun said they made the decision to get out earlier.
“We left before the mandatory evacuations because we saw which direction the wind was coming from,” Braun said. “With two young kids, we didn’t want them to have to sense that panic. In a lot of those areas, there’s only one way in and one way out. You couldn’t go through any of the canyons because that’s where the fires were coming from. But we had no idea how long we’d be out or what extent those fires would turn into.
“It’s almost indescribable. The first time I got back to some of those areas and was able to drive through and see the devastation first-hand, it really does look like a scene out of a movie. It’s apocalyptic. These are areas that had lush greenery and big trees, and shrubs and flowers. To see all of these areas that were so beautiful be completely black is just a really weird thing.
“It’s weird to see in person. Obviously, it’s weird to experience it. It’s sad, it really is. It’s heartbreaking.”
Once power was restored to his neighborhood, Braun said he was allowed to go back to his home to inspect the damage.
“We’re still kind of assessing everything,” said Braun, who currently is staying in a hotel after a brief period at his mother’s home. “The majority of (the damage) is on the outside, so we’re fortunate but there’s plenty of smoke damage on the inside. So, we have to replace furniture, mattresses, beds, a bunch of stuff like that.
“But, again, we’re incredibly blessed and fortunate and grateful that we eventually will have a house to go back to. There so many people that weren’t that fortunate.”
With that backdrop, Braun was asked what he was thankful for on this Thanksgiving, with the knowledge of those far
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he less fortunate back home.
“I’m always thankful for life every day, for being present, for friends, for family,” he said. “This year, specifically, for fire fighters, policemen, first responders. Just for the opportunity to be in this position with an opportunity to give back, to generate some revenue hopefully to give directly to the victims, these families.
“For all of us who live out there and consider that area to be home, we want to do our part to hopefully help get people back on their feet and get their lives together.”
With that in mind, Braun opened his overcoat on the brisk morning – he evacuated his home before thinking to bring hats or gloves – to reveal a newly made “California Strong” T-shirt he hopes to help market to raise funds to help victims of the wildfires. Braun and teammates Christian Yelich and Mike Moustakas, currently a free agent, who also live in Malibu, along with Mike Attanasio, son of Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio, whose area home also was spared, have banded together to find ways to provide financial aid to those who need it.
“We’re starting a campaign right now,” Braun said. “We’re going to be selling this shirt, sweatshirts, hopefully move into some other merchandise. We’re planning to do a charity softball game, and online auction. Just a bunch of stuff to hopefully raise as much money as we can to give back to the victims of the wildfires and shooting as well.”
Braun was among a large group that gathered at the Yelich family home in Westlake Village, another area that was scorched by the fires, last week to be on hand when Yelich learned he had won the National League most valuable player award.
“I’m with Yelich every day; somehow I can’t escape him,” Braun joked. “He’s like a younger brother to me. It was so cool to be at his house and experience that moment with him. It was well-deserved. All of us expected that to be the outcome but you never really know until you hear it.”
As for the remarkable season the Brewers had in 2018, especially the late charge that left them one victory short of making the World Series, Braun said, “Overall, it was an incredibly successful season for us as a team. I think we far exceeded anybody’s expectations.
“It was so much fun down the stretch, the last month, specifically the last couple of weeks of the season and into the postseason.
“At the same time, it was disappointing to lose Game 7 (of the NLCS against Los Angeles) at home, especially after we won Game 6. Game 7 was set up exactly as we had hoped for it to be played. But that’s the beauty and randomness of our game. On any given day, anything can happen.
“On the whole, it was a great year for us as a team, an organization. Hopefully, it will be the beginning of a prolonged period of being consistently competitive, which is what we all hope for.”
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