Burly Tom Braun
C Tom Braun was a big ole burly outdoors-man that enjoyed playing baseball before his weight became a problem. Growing up just outside of New York City was very hard on him because he didn't like cities and although he liked people he saw deeply how phony most of them really are. When he was a kid most of the other kids remembered him as that big hairy kid that had a full beard at the age of 13.
As a teenager his favorite book was "My Side of the Mountain." He always wanted to get away somewhere quiet, somewhere free. It was on the baseball field in the wide-open air that he first tasted that freedom that he so longed for. In high school he swung that bat like a lumberjack. He also secretly enjoyed the fact that the other kids began to look up to him instead of making fun of him. Since he had absolutely no ambitions in life he embarked upon a professional baseball career.
Although he was a very hard worker and loved the game of baseball he was more interested in fishing, hunting, and drinking Busch beer. To him baseball was just a fun little game that people cared way too much about. To him the best thing about baseball was that he was able to buy a log cabin deep in the woods outside of Asheville, North Carolina. You can call him a hermit but he doesn't care. To him people are so caught up in themselves that they entirely miss the point of life.
Anyhow, in his first professional season of baseball, he was elected to the Continental Baseball Union (AAA) All-Star game hitting .333 34 115. The Dallas Stars were so impressed by his power and enormous girth that they called him up the very next season. He did not disappoint. He instantly became a household name. Every baseball fan knew all about the big ole brawny guy on Dallas.
That offseason, after winning The Rookie of the Year Award, he bought that log cabin. The next spring training he came into camp completely out-of-shape so Dallas withheld him from game-action and put him on an intense training regime. Braun did everything they told him to do when it came to exercise but, um, when it came to food and drink...well, that was a different story.
He kept on packing on the pounds and eventually Dallas was forced to send him down to AAA where he kept on smacking moonshots. One day he came to the conclusion that baseball was no longer a fun game to play. It had become a business. Although he never sustained an injury beyond a mild calf strain or sore shoulder he played it off that he was in pain from time to time. He didn't want to play every day...just on the weekends or something like that.
Eventually the organization cut his playing time and he finally lost all interest. For years the only reason he stuck around was because of his deep sense of loyalty to the league. But one day he just didn't show up anymore. Later on it was discovered that he had snuck-off home retiring to his quiet little paradise in Asheville.
People all around the league just smiled and were very happy for him.
